Physical Education – Physical Activity – School Partnerships – Active School Week
Research shows that active children find it easier to concentrate and focus, achieve higher test results, behave better and enjoy school more.
February 1st 2023
We were awarded with the Active School Flag in June 2022. The flag is flying, proudly, outside our school along with our Green Flag and Junior Entrepreneur Programme Flag. Achieving this flag took a lot of hard work from all the staff and pupils in our school and it was great to finally be rewarded for all of the tremendous work. We have been keeping this work up this year too, and have been engaging in many of the fun Active School Flag initiatives as well as being as active as we can. Our school twitter is a great place to keep up to date with just some of the activities going on in our school each day. https://twitter.com/cconnellns
Have a look below at some of the ways that we have been keeping active in our school and in our community 😊🏃♂️🤸♂️⚽🏀
When the weather allows, our school yards and astroturf are always busy with loads of fun activities, music and sport.
GAA plays a huge part in our school and community. Before Christmas we took part in various boys and girls gaelic football competitions, with the boys reaching the final of their competition. Thanks to Mr. Murray, Ms. Carroll & Mr. Goggin for helping out with training and games. Congratulations to Jack Hickey who made the East Limerick Sarsfield Cup team and Érin Madigan & Niamh O’Rourke who played with the East Limerick Larkin Shield team. Have a look at some of the pictures below.
We ran a slogan competition in November. We asked children from 2nd-6th class to come up with a slogan a new active slogan for our school. We had one overall winner along with some runners up. Each entrant was also entered in to a draw for a prize too. Our Active School Flag slogan for this school year is……’Your heart needs to beat, so get on your feet’. Well done again to Holly in 4th class for coming up with this catchy phrase to remind us of the importance of exercise.
Some of the ASF initiatives we have been engaging in are the #FeelGoodFridays which take during the last Friday of each month and have a different theme each month. October was all about being a spooky, active school, November was a slogan based day, December was the #SantaDash and January was the #JumpInToJanuary skipping day. We also took part in the #ActiveBreakEveryDay Challenge which proved to be great fun as we included acive breaks throughout each school day for a month.
Congratulations to Alex in 6th who has been recognised by the Active School Flag Programme for the effort he has put in to his skipping over the last 12 months. Well done Alex and well done to all of the children who have a new found love for skipping.
While our school is quite active during PE, active breaks and all the initiatives taking place, it is important also to remember the efforts of the whole school community. Prior to Christmas we were very luck to have a parent, Mr. Diarmuid O’Rourke, take some after school basketball sessions in the village hall. Evan, from Munster Rugby, is currently coaching rugby in our school and 4th class are taking part in a cycling initiative, Cycle Right. Many of the children in our school also play sport and keep active outside of school, which is always very encouraging to see. There are great opportunities for children (and adults) in our wider school community – Rowing in Castleconnell Boat Club, Rugby with Newport or Bohs, Soccer with Lisnagry or GAA with Ahane as well as many more. Our local sports partnership, (https://twitter.com/Limericksports) , is also a great source of ideas and opportunities for exercise and activity in our locality. We look forward to all the upcoming activities in our school such as swimming for different class, hurling training and games, active flag challenges and much, much more. You can keep up to date by following the schools social media accounts and here on the school website.
-The A.S.F. Committee.
December 12th 2021
We are attempting to earn an Active School Flag for our school. An Active School is a school where where physical activity is valued, promoted and enjoyed by all.
We began the process in September and both the staff and students have really been enjoying it so far. We will be engaging in various different initiatives and activities throughout the year in order to achieve the Active School Flag. If you would like to learn more about the Active School Flag process you can visit the website by clicking https://activeschoolflag.ie/.
One of the initiatives that takes place is the #FeelGoodFridays which takes place on the last teaching Friday of each month. In October it was based on Halloween. Our whole school went on a sponsored walk in our spooky costumes. We were very lucky that the weather was nice so we were able to get out and get active. We played games and danced to some Halloween music during our lunch breaks. For our participation in this #FeelGoodFriday we we were awarded with a new speaker which has been getting great use so far.
Between the 8th of November and the 3rd of December, our whole school took part in the ‘Active Break Every Day Challenge’. The aim was to attempt to engage in an active break at least once, every day, during this time. This was a great way to get our school to become more active, more often. Novembers #FeelGoodFriday was based on choosing a new Active School Flag Slogan. Unfortunately, the weather on the day wasn’t very nice so we made up for it the following week when we were outside. Congratulations and well done to Emma in Sixth Class who won the ASF Slogan competition. Emma and some of the runners up were rewarded with skipping ropes and balls as well as having their slogans displayed around the school. The winning slogan was ‘Be Happy, Be Cool, Be a Happy, Active School’. Well done to Emma and all of the entrants.
You can keep an eye on our school website and the school twitter account for updates, pictures and videos on our Active School Flag journey during the year.
Monday 24/1/22
Hello everyone,
Please have a read below for some of the updates about our Active School Flag Journey and some of the things happening in Castleconnell NS recently.
The weather in December may have been wet and rainy but that didn’t stop all of the classes in our school being as active as possible each and every day. Our school continued the ‘Active Break Every Day Challenge’ where all the classes in the school continued to engage in active and movement breaks throughout the day. You can read more about this challenge above.
Decembers #FeelGoodFriday was the ‘Santa Dash’. Each class in the school took on this challenge in their own unique way and had great fun in doing so. There are lots of pictures and videos on our school twitter page so be sure to check them out. https://twitter.com/cconnellns – https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1471873396216680452/video/1
Just to make you all aware that the Limerick Sports Partnership is our Local Sports Partnership. The aim of Limerick Sports Partnership (LSP) is “Getting Limerick Active” together with: Increasing participation in sport. The LSP website is packed full of information about opportunities for young people, of all abilities and their families to get active in their local community. It is definitely worth having a look at & we will also be posting about some of these opportunities on our school social media sites.
We are looking forward to this months #FeelGoodFridays: JUMP in to January (28th January)
ASF encourages teachers and their classes to bring out their skipping ropes for this month’s #FeelGoodFriday ‘Jump in to January’ We will be adding all our skips up and engaging in lots of fun activities and challenges on Friday. Fingers crossed the weather is good 😊😎🌞
Wednesday 16/2/2022
Hello,
Please see below for some updates on how active our school has been recently.
Januarys #FeelGoodFriday was certainly one to remember!!! (How could we forget? The children haven’t stopped skipping since!). There is, without a doubt, a new found love for skipping amongst the children of Castleconnell NS. It was a wonderful day filled with great fun and enjoyment. We posted lots of videos and pictures to our school twitter, some of which you can see below.
https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1487090301697155074/video/1
https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1487089499075231756/video/1
https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1487081854192787456/video/1
There will be no specific #FeelGoodFriday this month but I’m sure all of the teachers and staff in the school will be keeping the children as active as possible before next months event.
We have a brand new ASF Pupil Committee who are already working hard surveying all of the children in the school, making announcements and organising PE equipment. Lydia, Charlie, Annabelle, Kelvin, Brían, Niamh, Cian and Emma were selected to represent their classes and the entire school as we aim to achieve the Active School Flag.
https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1488138125645910018/photo/1
This week, the ASF Pupil Committee surveyed all of the children in the school. ‘What club are you in?’ was the question. The results of this survey will give a great sense of how active our school children really are and showcase all of the physical activity opportunities that exist in our local community. Stay tuned for the results!!
In the past few days we received new signage for a brand new Active School Walkway. We are really looking forward to setting this up. The walkway will serve a number of purposes particularly Supporting the PE Curriculum, Energising the School Day & Promoting Learning on the Move. Mr. Ryan, Mrs. O’Callaghan, Mr. Goggin and children from the senior classes have already started to plan out the route. Keep an eye here and on our twitter page for further updates.
Boys Hurling training and Girls Gaelic Football training in the senior classes is taking place on Wednesdays at lunch time as our teams prepare for the upcoming 7s competitions. There will be 15 a side competitions later on in the year also. In the junior end of the school Limerick Senior Gaelic Footballer, Peter Nash, has been treating the children to some wonderful coaching. Peter brings fantastic experience and, most importantly, great fun and energy to our school. The children are very lucky to be learning new skills from him.
https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1491386050882973700/photo/1
As always, Limerick Sports Partnership have been busy creating and providing some incredible opportunities for the communities of Limerick to be as active as possible. Please see below for some examples of these and a link to their website.
Website – https://limericksports.ie/
Desk to 5KM – https://twitter.com/cconnellns/status/1491386050882973700/photo/1
Coaching Girls in Sport – https://limericksports.ie/coach-education/?mc_cid=3e175e47e8&mc_eid=024ef05b4c
Please keep an eye on our school twitter and our ASF Blog for future updates,
The Active School Flag Committee
Wednesday 16/3/2022
Hello everyone,
Our Active School Flag Journey continues 😀. Have a look at what has been going on in our school lately.
Our Active School Flag Walkway is finally up and running. 14 signs have been put up at different locations around our school yard. Each sign corresponds to a different physical activity as well different activities for cross-curricular learning. All of the classes have been using the Walkway in various ways, while keeping active. It has been very encouraging to see all the classes learning on the move. Please see below for some more detail.
We will be launching our new walkway at the end of the month. We will be celebrating our walkway by engaging with #FeelGoodFridays: WALKWAY Day (March 25th). All classes will be making use of the walkway and trying out lots of new challenges.
Recently, the ASF Pupil Committee surveyed all of the children in the school. ‘What club are you in?’ was the question. The results of this survey give a great sense of how active our school children really are and showcase all of the physical activity opportunities that exist in our local community. See results in the tweet below.
We have started our latest ASF challenge this week also. The children of Castleconnell NS are ‘Running Around Ireland’ by running laps of our school astroturf. Classes build up kilometers by running laps and aiming to ‘run’ to various landmarks around Ireland in the process. Classes are really enjoying the challenge so far.
Our school has been very active recently. GAA training continues while the boys get ready for the Mini 7s Hurling and the girls prepare for the Mini 7s Football. 4th Class and 5th Class have started Swimming Lessons in the Castleoaks also. In an effort to remain as active as possible and linking in with our Green Schools initiative both classes have been walking to and from the pool. Swimming has been a great success so far!!
The ‘Erasmus Cup’ kicked off last week. The cup started off with 16 teams with all the children from 3rd-6th taking part. We are down to the last 4 teams as semi-finals are due to take place next week. Ireland play Spain while the Netherlands are against Ukraine. Keep an eye on our social media for results.
As always, we highly recommend that members of our wider school community keep an eye on Limerick Sports Partnership. Our Local Sports Partnership continue to provide incredible opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to get out and get as active as possible. Click the link below for more.
Date for your diary: Castleconnell NS – Active School Week: 13/6/22-17/6/22.
Our Social Media accounts will continue to be updated with news, initiatives, photos and videos so be sure to watch out!
Thanks,
Castleconnell NS Active School Flag Committee
Friday 6/5/2022
As always, our school has been keeping as active as possible lately. This has become much easier with all the wonderful weather that we have been having lately 😎🌞
The Run Around Ireland Challenge took place before the Easter Holidays and was a huge success. Teachers in our school will continue to include Active and Running breaks during school days for children as they are very beneficial.
We were very fortunate to win two more prizes for taking part in different ASF initiatives recently. We won 15 5ft Coloured Pool Noodles that can be used for lots of different physical activity games. We also won a mini basketball hoop set that has been getting great use in the younger classes. Keep a close eye our social media to see these prizes in use. We also won a fantastic large bluetooth speaker that gets used every single day in our school.
Our Playground Leaders are finally up and running also. Over 40 children from 5th and 6th Class have volunteered to give up their break and lunch times to help out with the children from Junior Infants to 2nd Class. The leaders help out in lots of different ways with the younger children while they are on the yard or school astro. The leaders teach new games, model positive behaviour and help the younger children to stay active and have lots of fun during their break times. There is a two week rota system in place with each child volunteering for at least one day. If a leader is out, there are always loads of volunteers to fill in. You will see the leaders on the yard wearing their playground leader bibs or lanyards.
Our ASF Pupil Committee have been quite busy lately too. The were tasked with taking suggestions from the children in our school about what activities they would like to see take place during #ASW22. There are some wonderful suggestions. The ASF Teacher Committee will be working hard to ensure some of these excellent suggestions are included for our upcoming Active School Week.
We see and hear loads about the sporting and physical activity achievements of our students outside of school. We are so proud of all of the children in our school. Lisnagry u12 Soccer Team won their cup recently. The team featured players from 5th and 6th Class in our school. You can see below also that some of the cailíní (past and present pupils) in our school have been lining out in the colours of Lisnagry FC.
Plenty of the children in our school have been keeping fit and active playing football, camogie and hurling for Ahane too.
Congratulations also to UL Bohemians RFC as they won their u13 Cup recently. One our students made a huge contribution to this victory.
Massive congratulations are also due to the boys who went for trials, made the team and won the competitions for East Limerick. East Limerick won both the Mackey (Hurling) and Sarsfield (Football) Cups. Well done to Cian and Sam for winning the Sarsfield Cup and Cormac on winning BOTH cups!!!
We have lots of wonderful activities planned for our Active School Week 22 including Dance, Yoga, Rugby, Soccer, Whole school activities and much more. During this week school tracksuits can be worn instead of uniforms and written homework will be replaced by physical activity challenges and tasks. We will have different visitors coming to the school as well as organising our own events and games. We also plan to make use of our Active School Walkway and our local physical amenities. We are really looking forward to what will be a fun and active week for our whole school.
Date for your diary: Castleconnell NS – Active School Week: 13/6/22-17/6/22
As usual we suggest keeping an eye on our social media sites for further updates as well as watching out for events and initiatives that are being run by Limerick Sports Partnership our Local Sports Partnership. LSP offer many excellent initiatives and opportunities for staying fit and active throughout the county.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Limericksports
Website: https://limericksports.ie/
Thanks for reading,
The Active School Flag Committee 🏃♂️⚽🏓🏐
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