Active School Week 2019

Just before the Easter break, the Active School Committee met to plan their Active School Week. It was decided that the best time was 13th-17th May, 2019 and what an action- packed week they have planned!! Have a look at our timetable and if you have any other suggestions please let us know!

And so we’re off!!!!


Monday

On Monday, we started our ASW with a whole school 10 @ 10 activity. We based our activities around walking and running- beginning with a gentle walk then running two laps around the pitch before jogging, skipping and hopping a few lengths of our school pitch. Everyone was energetic and enthusiastic to blow off the weekend blues and make a big “run” into a busy Active Week ahead.

This was followed by a day of Yoga and relaxation for the whole school with Ann O’ Reilly. Yoga gives you strength, flexibility, and mind-body awareness. It can help us stay flexible and strong without putting added stress on our joints. Ann took the children out in their small class groups and showed them how to relax and stretch. There was a great calmness and a therapeutic smell coming from our General Purpose Room on Monday. Thank you Ann.


Tuesday

On Tuesday, in partnership with our local college, St. Mogue’s, six of their transition year students came up to the school. They set up a number of stations and the children got a chance to try out a variety of activities based around getting out, being active and having fun. Thanks to Róisín, Aoife, Darragh, Eoghan, Shane and Dallan for planning an action-packed morning. The pupils had great fun in the sun!


Wednesday

On Wednesday we had our usual WOW (Walk on Wednesday) day but with a difference. We invited the parents to join us on our walk. The whole school met at Templeport GAA pitch wearing their hi-vis vests ready to get walking. After 2 laps of the pitch (1km) we walked up to school doing our “talking as we were walking”. Thank you to all the parents who joined us today. As you’ll see from the pictures, you’re never too young to be active!

After big break the Junior classes up to third class completed our “Skipathon” challenge whilst the senior classes continued their cycle with their cycle instructor, Ciarán Hussey. Thanks to Barbara Connolly from Cycling Ireland partnership for coming to check out our Active School cycling.


Thursday

On Thursday, 16th May, we enjoyed a very active and enjoyable Sports Day. The pupils participated in a variety of races followed by lots of team building games. Thanks to last year’s 6th class who came back to help. A fun, busy day was had by all! Check out the photo gallery below to see some photos of the day.


Friday

Well, the sun shone on Friday for our last day of our busy Active School Week. The committee had planned a Taster Day and had invited all the parents to join in. Thank you to Finn & Saoirse’s daddy Bryan who took charge of camogie & hurling, Clare McDermott for our Lord of the Dance master class, Noelle Maguire who focused on dodging in her Boxercise taster, Evangeline adding calmness in her yoga , Chris McCaffrey added to the pupils’ GAA skills, Mr Quinn ensuring we may have other Cavan pros to equal the talents of the Maguire Twins and not to forget running with Vanessa Donohoe. All the pupils got a taste of all the classes and it turned out to be one of the best ideas of the Active School Committee. Well done to you all! The end treat could be heard by the pupils long before the teachers or parents noticed its arrival. Thank you to Michelle from Happy Cones- you are always so generous and punctual. Thank you to Isabel for ensuring we had hundreds of photos of our taster morning. Have a look below!!


 

St. Aidan’s Fittest Family 2019


St. Aidan’s Fittest Family 2019-
The Brady’s

Forget about Ireland’s Fittest Family…what about St. Aidan’s Fittest Family. The challenge was set to all the families in St. Aidan’s and rather than telling them what to do for active homework the school set the challenge…TELL US WHAT YOU DO!! The families were presented with a week’s diary and a poster and were invited to record every activity they did for one week—cycling, swimming, running, walking, climbing, bouncing and even farming. The prize was a cinema voucher for the winning family to sit back and relax after an active week.

The response was phenomenal and the teachers had a hard task trying to choose the winning family so they called in past pupil Clare McDermott to judge. Clare narrowed it down to seven families and then we just had to put the names in a hat. Have a look at the posters below. Thank you to all families who took part and put so much effort into our Active School Week. Who will be our fittest family in 2020- Keep training!!


 

Active School Week  Comes To An End With An Important Talk By Past Pupil, Clare McDermott 

Past pupil, Clare McDermott is at the final stage of her doctorate studying a PhD in Exercise Physiology. She was the perfect choice to end our Active School Week by giving a short, energetic talk on the importance of being active every day. The pupils, parents and teachers thought her words were very powerful as she explained that the exercise and activity that they do now will form the adult they will become. Clare told us all about plaque and when we are inactive how it can build up in our arteries. She re-iterated the words of the Active School campaign encouraging all children and schools to be “more active, more often.”
Clare said that by judging the St. Aidan’s Fittest Family she would have no worries about the pupils in our school. Thank you Clare for coming back to St. Aidan’s to talk to the pupils, helping with our Dance Taster and for reinforcing the importance of our Active School campaign.