Sports:
In our school we take part in lots of school sports both before and after school.
PE:
All pupils do Physical Education (PE) as part of the school curriculum. One hour per week is the allocated time for PE.
PE has six areas (strands) which are covered each year and are outlined in our school PE plan. These areas are supported by a programme called Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) which breaks down the steps in certain skills. We develop these skills through PE and other curricular areas as we know that it is so important for pupils to be able to walk properly, run properly, throw a ball etc.
The six strands of PE are:
The Fundamental Movement Skills which will be developed in all of the strands above are:
Our Active School Team have a display in the school entrance to remind us about the importance of developing these movement skills.
GAA Coaching
In our school we are lucky to have Liam as our new GPO - Games Promotions Officer. He comes in every second Friday to coach all our pupils.
We also do GAA coaching sessions every Tuesday morning for the Junior Infants - 2nd class pupils and on Friday mornings for the pupils from 3rd - 6th at 8.30am. Two parents from the club Donal and David help out with this training as well as other teachers, SNAs and parents in the school.
Rackard League Inter-School GAA Competitions
Each year we join with Danescastle NS to form GAA teams. Every Autumn, Football is the focus and then in Spring time it is Hurling/Camogie.
We look forward to some great games in 2024/2025.
Rounders
Our school also enter the Inter-School Rounders competitions. Rounders is a fun game but also requires certain skills and tactics!
Every June our 6th class pupils play against the teachers and it is super fun (despite the fact that the pupils nearly always lose!!!!!)
Basketball/Dodgeball
These are played at lunchtime. The pupils love these games and they help to develop the pupils’ abilities to take turns, to share, to win and to lose!
Yoga
From time to time we have a Yoga instructor who comes into our school to do Yoga. The pupils love chilling out and they love doing all the breathing techniques. They certainly help the pupils to learn coping strategies for when times get tough!
Athletics/School Sports
Each year we send a cohort of pupils off to compete in the inter-school Athletics competition.
Sports’ Day
This is held each year in June as part of Active School Week. There is a huge variety of games, activities and competitions and all the school community get involved.
Music
We are a very musical school! We believe that music is an integral part of the Curriculum and it allows pupils to engage, create and achieve in different ways.
School Choir
This is formed every September and pupils sing regularly when preparing for school events. The choir sings for Friendship Week Opening Year Mass, First Holy Communion every year and Confirmation every second year. They also sing for Grandparents’ Day which is a very special day in our school. Click on this link to hear our choir sing a different version of My Grandfather’s Clock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYNrEvpSqQ&t=1s
The choir sometimes visits Grantstown Day Care Centre every year to sing for the residents. They partake in Carol Singing at Christmas time when we go to Wallace’s/Tesco. It is wonderful to hear them sing!
Musical Instruments
In our school all of the classes learn to play the tinwhistle. Some pupils partake in other music lessons outside the school in piano, harp, button accordion, banjo, guitar, mandolin etc. Pupils play these instruments for certain school events, religious ceremonies etc.
Music Competitions
For the first time in 2023 some of our pupils took part in Scór music competitions. Some of our pupils from the senior classes played music and sang in different competitions and categories. In February 2024 our Drama group won the Scór! They were thrilled!
Art
Our school takes part in lots of Art events and classes.
Each teacher teaches the Art Curriculum which has 6 strands to cover:
- Drawing
- Paint and colour
- Print
- Clay
- Construction
- Fabric and fibre
We often partake in other art programmes.
In 2019, 5th/6th classes took part in the Living Arts Project which culminated in an Art Exhibition in Wexford Art Gallery.
In 2020, Senior Infants were involved in a Teacher/Artist Partnership with the wonderful artist David Begley. David came in every week for 8 weeks to do lots of interesting art with us. It was on display in our school and it looked amazing!
We also applying for school grants such as Creative Schools.
The overarching aim of our Art Curriculum is to put the arts and creativity at the heart of our children’s lives.