Physical Activity

Physical Activity is the promotion and engagement of exercise and movement in addition to the 60 minute per week timetabled curriculum subject of Physical Education. Scoil Chormaic CNS actively promotes the message that children require 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. In Scoil Chormaic CNS we have been extremely busy as we have engaged in a wide variety of different programmes, ideas and initiatives which have inspired the children to become more active.

Scoil Chormaic CNS promotes the full range of fundamental movement skills during break times and pupils are encouraged to run, play and to do ‘talking as you’re walking’. We have two daily playground breaks and our school yard is zoned and marked to allow children to engage in a variety of different activities, namely basketball, skipping and hula hoop games.

All pupils have engaged in an extended classroom or yard based physical activity break during designated weeks of the year while many classes have been incorporating these breaks into regular days throughout the year. Our school has agreed an Active School Flag slogan which is “Help yourself with exercise and keep yourself energised!” Our school incorporates physical activity into school calendar events as we hold different seasonal activities and events.

Tabata

On 26th October, the children got to take part in some really fun tabata dance classes in the hall. They performed lots of different movements and exercises to music with help from our guest teacher Karen and her brilliant assistant Eimear from 5th class! Here are a few pictures where you can see that the children were also kitted out in fancy dress on the day!

Physical Activity Breaks

We had our first of our special Physical Activity Breaks weeks from 19th – 23rd November. The whole school was a buzz of physical activity for the week as teachers and children took some extra active breaks both in the classroom and in the yard. The activities ranged from 10@10 to The Daily Mile and everything in between! Take a look at some of the action shots below!

Disco Dancing!

On 21st December we held a massive whole school dancing disco in the hall! The children really enjoyed moving and dancing to their favourite tunes! We also encouraged them to show off some of the dance routines that they had learned for their winter assembly performances. This led to some cool dance-offs on the stage area! See if you can spot some of our dazzling dancers beside!

Fresh Air Friday

Fresh Air Friday took place in Balbriggan on Friday 15th February 2019 and here at Scoil Chormaic CNS we did our bit for the community! We encouraged as many of our children and parents as possible to walk or cycle to school on the day. With Operation Transformation based in Balbriggan, this was a brilliant way to feel part of the buzz by promoting exercise and healthy living. It was also a great way of helping to reduce those harmful car emissions for the day! For those children that travel to school on the main school bus, it dropped them off at our old school (in Castlemill) at 8.40 where some teachers and parents met them and walked with them up to our school. Other parents and children joined us in the walk up to the school!

Athletics

On the 28th February we had 11 boys and 11 girls from 5th &6th class representing the school in Abbotstown at the National Indoor Arena. The events included 60m, 600m, 60m hurdles, relay, high jump, long jump, shot put. We practised for a number of weeks beforehand to have the boys and girls ready! They all represented the school so well on the day and they really enjoyed trying something new and performing with lots of other schools!

Céilí Mór sa halla

As part of a joint Active School and Seachtain na Gaeilge initiative, we held a céilí mór in the PE hall on 14th March 2019. All of the different classes practised some dance routines such as an Damhsa Mór or The Walls of Limerick for a few weeks beforehand. They all then had a chance to perform their routine in front of the rest of the children in the hall. It was great fun as the children learned the steps while getting loads of exercise! Take a look below!

Sports Conditioning Programme

Our 3rd and 5th classes took part in the Sports Conditioning Programme from the end of April to mid June. This is a programme where the children get to practice and improve their catching, kicking, throwing, running and skipping skills as well as many more! The great thing was that the coaches assessed the children at the beginning of the programme and then at the end of the 8 weeks so the children and teachers could see how our scores had improved in each skill. Have a look at some of our children in action during one of our sessions!

Badminton

Our 6th classes got to do lots of badminton in May and June. We had put a focus on badminton in the school over the year. Some of our teachers had attended a workshop to get trained up and we then had a whole staff session in our PE hall on the 25th of February. We organised for a badminton coach to do some extra sessions with our 6th classes and they participated in a blitz day in Castleland Community Centre on the 12th of June. You can see them getting some practice in below!

Orienteering

Our 5th class boys and girls got to take part in a brilliant Orienteering programme for 3 weeks in September and October 2019. Eileen Young was their coach and she introduced the children to the basic skills of orienteering. The children learned how to properly read maps and correctly identify keys and symbols that are used. On Thursday 17th October, the 3 classes got to go to Ardgillan Castle and Demesne to participate in a finals day with other schools from the area. This was one of the most enjoyable programmes that the children have been able to do in recent times! Take a look at the children in action below!

Marathonkids Programme

In early September, the 5th and 6th class children from Ms Smith’s and Ms Champion’s room took part in the Marathonkids running programme. The concept was simple – to run 25.2 miles in 8 weeks with the final mile of the marathon to be completed in Morton stadium on Santry on 13th November. Each child received a workbook which allowed them to track the distances they had to run each week. The teachers also showed the children weekly videos which gave them some healthy tips on warming up properly as well as advice on their nutrition. You can see the children here as they took on the final mile in Morton stadium in their brand new t-shirts!

Fingal Athletics League

This year was the first year for our school to enter in to the Fingal Athletics League. This is an event for children from 3rd – 6th class and involves boys and girls undertaking their own athletics training in the school in preparation for 3 official meets during the year in Donabate. We selected the maximum of 50 children to attend the first event on 26th September and they represented their school so well on the day!

Notice Board

Homework Review Questionnaire

Dear parents,  

We value your opinion and would love your say!

 We are conducting a review of homework in the school at present. We want the perspectives of staff, pupils, and parents. The idea of this questionnaire is to collect the views of parents on this important topic. Please fill out the following survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHOC98uDqGkZ3XNXMe_Q_Uwwi-dYELRNUFDWazzaE0qi5XkA/viewform?usp=pp_url