The Active School Flag (ASF) initiative is a Department of Education and Skills (DES) initiative supported by Healthy Ireland (HI) which aims to get more schools, more active, more often. It is awarded to schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physical active school.
In Spring 2021, our school was awarded the Active School Flag. We received the award after a two-year process. The active school is made up of four core areas.
- Physical Education
- Physical Activity
- Partnerships
- Active School Week
Over the two-year period much work was completed in all four areas by the whole school community, in working towards achieving the Active Flag.
Under the core area Physical Education, we completed an in-depth study of the strand ‘Outdoor and Adventure’ of the PE curriculum. All classes carried out outdoor investigations in the local environment. The pupils carried out outdoor investigations in our school grounds, for example exploring plant and animal life, mapping activities and the built environment of the school. All classes in the school investigated the local environment, they completed river and rockpool studies, graveyard and streetscape investigations to name but a few.
In the core area Physical Activity we have playground leaders doing structured games with the Infants to second classes, p.e. equipment monitors, a daily mile, active breaks and active homework.
In the core area Partnership, our school works with others to promote a physically active school community. We have an ASF committee involving the whole school community, an ASF section on the school website, an ASF noticeboard in our school hall way, playground leaders and p.e. equipment monitors and active homework. We also work closely with our local sports and Local Sports Partnership.
Our school had an Active School Week, which is another core area of the ASF. Each class had a set of lessons covering all strands of the P.E. curriculum. A P.E. lesson was conducted everyday in each class during ASW. The pupils enjoyed the experience of ASW. It is fully inclusive of schools, family and community, it allows children experience a great variety of activities, it promotes responsibilities amongst children as leaders. It promotes positive mental and physical health in both pupils and teachers.
We have lots of photos of our Active School Adventures!
