Active Flag

 
We are an Active Flag School and work hard to ensure that physical activity is valued, promoted and enjoyed by all. The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department of Education and Skills Initiative supported by healthy Ireland, and part of the National Physical Activity Plan.
The ASF initiative provides schools with a framework to guide, support and incentivise them to work towards achieving a physically educated and physically active school community.
We were awarded an Active Flag in 2020 and are working hard to ensure we renew our flag this year. Here’s a look at some of the areas we are working on:

Physical Education

All pupils in St. Nicholas of Myra N.S are provided with at least 60 minutes of PE each week. We are very lucky to have a large yard and green pitch where we can run, jump, skip, hop and play all the games we want!! We have a fully stocked P.E shed with a great selection of equipment for all sports and activities.

 We teach all 6 strands of the Physical Education Curriculum and this year were lucky enough to begin swimming lessons at ALSAA Sport’s Club beside Dublin Airport. 4th and 5th class partook in a 6 week swimming block and all student’s made great progress. This block will happen yearly.

Along with the 6 strands of the curriculum, we also ensure that we teach the Fundamental Movement skills to all students. These experiences should lead to a physically literate pupil, who has the movement competence, confidence, and understanding to continue participation in physical activity throughout their lives.

 

Physical Activity

  • Movement Breaks- daily all classes take part in movement breaks in the yard. We feel it is important to give students a brain break and give them the chance to get moving between lessons. When the weather is wet we use Just Dance, Go Noodle, Bizzy Breaks or exercise videos on Youtube.
  • Olympic Movement Breaks- The Olympic Movement Breaks are a series of 20 short videos led by Olympians and High-Performance athletes demonstrating fun exercises and activities that students of all abilities can do. The short videos, across a variety of different sports including athletics, boxing, rugby sevens, swimming, breakdancing, and para powerlifting, will help generate classroom-based movement opportunities. We will be running this at school from 5th Feb- 8th Mar in every class in the school.
  • Run Around Ireland- this activity encourages schools (teachers too) to walk, run or roll to visit some of Ireland’s most famous landmarks. We will run this activity during the month of June. It’s a great way to build physical activity into the school day and to bring learning outdoors. It supports the Athletics strand of the PE programme and gives students the opportunity to develop good running technique. Classes will record their progress each week on the chart and we will update the sites we have reached around Ireland.
  • Active School Slogan- We held a competition throughout our school to come up with a school slogan. The 6th class students of our ASF committee ran this art competition in each class and voted on the winner. Our slogan as voted for by students in the school, was designed by student Adam in 5th class- “You gotta hustle for the muscle!”
  • Feel Good Friday- Physical Activity makes you feel good! International research proves that being physically active improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression and negative moods and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. To raise awareness about these facts, and because we know how important it is to find lots of different ways to keep everyone active throughout the year, we are introducing a NEW initiative called FeelGoodFridays. Each Friday from April- June students will complete a an Active/ Wellbeing activity. Once a month we will come together as a school to do this together.
Playground Leaders- Students in 6th class take turns throughout the year being Playground Leaders. This involves helping to supervise the  Junior yard, teaching the younger students to play games, helping the younger students to e line up when yard is finished and keeping the P.E equipment and store neat and tidy. 

  • Yard equipment- Our School provides equipment for the children to use during break and lunch time as part of our Active Schools programme. Bouncy balls, footballs, basketballs, hula hoops and skipping ropes are given to students by the Playground leaders. 
  •  Active Walkway- ​Active School Walkway is up and running in our school. Through our Active School Walkway, we aim to energise our school day by walking before school, having more active break times, hosting various events using the walkway, using it for movement breaks and step challenges. We also hope to use our walkway during orienteering and to develop our fundamental movement skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Partnerships

Partnerships within and outside the school are an important aspect of the Active School Flag to promote a physically active school community.
  • Pupils- One of the most important partnerships in the Active School Flag programme is with the pupils of the school. Our Student Council do a great job promoting active initiatives in our school and ensuring that everyone is encouraged to be as active as possible! The team meet regularly with our principal to identify priorities, offer suggestions, problem-solve any issues and plan new ideas. As there are members from each class (2nd- 6th) the Active School Flag process is inclusive of everybody. 
  • GAA- We have a strong partnerships with two of our local GAA clubs- Inisfails and O’Tooles. Coaches from both clubs visit our school regularly throughout the year to provide coaching in football & hurling/camogie to each class. The children look forward to these sessions and always enjoy them immensely. These sessions have also been brilliant for promoting GAA in our school. We have many new members joining our school teams, equipped with the skills they learn from our coaches. (See the ‘Sports’ section of our website for more information on Gaelic football and hurling/ camogie in our school.)

​

  • Soccer- we are lucky to have an FAI coach visiting our school. He works with students to develop their skills. We also have both boys and girls 5- a- side teams that play in the FAI 5-a-side programme. 

​

  • Fyffes Fit Squad- every year we welcome the Fyffes Fit Squad to our school. The coaches take pupils through a series of exercises and balances and the sessions always go down a treat with students. 

Active Week

This is the biggest event in the Active School calendar and a favourite initiative for many students, staff and their families. Active Week will run from 10th-14th June in our school. During this week we will take part in many amazing activities such as Playground games stations, Sport’s stations, Teachers V their class challenges, Teachers V 6th class Basketball match, Sport’s Day, Orienteering activities, Active Walkway challenges and some taster sessions with local sport’s clubs.