Physical Activity

In Dunboyne JPS we are aware that children should be getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. We aim to encourage as much physical activity as possible throughout the school day. The Active school committee made posters to remind everybody to do their 60 minutes of physical activity every day. The Active School noticeboard reminds us what strand and fundamental movement skill we are working on for the month.

decreasing sedentary time

At the beginning of 2020 we made a whole school decision to decrease sedentary time in our classrooms. Below are the the 3 ways every class committed to doing this.

1. We commit to doing the Daily Mile everyday.
2. We commit to having regular brain breaks throughout the day in the form of GoNoodle or Just Dance kids.
3. We commit to integrating movement into our learning in other subjects as much as we can e.g. balance on one leg as you say a poem, move like an animal that starts with the 's' sound. how many sounds/syllables in a word-point to head for the 1st sound/syllable, shoulders for the 2nd, knees for the 3rd and toes for the 4th etc. etc.

yard-times

The children are encouraged to run and play in the yard during both break times- 20 minutes at the morning break and 20 minutes at the afternoon break.
Both yards have playground markings on them to encourage active play e.g. 'dens' for Tag, hundred squares and hopscotch.
Both yards also have a lane painted around the perimeter where children are encouraged to 'do their talking while walking'. (Please note that with Covid restrictions the children cannot do this at them moment as they must stay in their own bubble) This is also where they do their Daily Mile.
Both yards have a box of playground resources which include hoola-hoops, beanbags, balls and skipping ropes. Each class has one day per week when they are allowed play with these resources during both breaks.

The 1st and 2nd class children have been trying out French skipping elastics on the yard this year. They are really enjoying them.

All classes take part in 'The Daily Mile'. Each class is timetabled for 10 minutes per day when they can go out to the yard and jog or walk laps using the red perimeter. The children really enjoy this and it is a great way to energise them in between lessons.

Daily mile flag

We are very proud in Dunboyne Junior School to have received a new flag for our school. On Friday December 18th we raised our new Daily Mile flag. The Daily Mile is a running initiative that is simple and free. It gets the children out of the class for 10 minutes every day to run or jog at their own pace with their classmates, making them fitter, healthier and more able to concentrate in the classroom. We have been participating in The Daily Mile for 2 years now and it has become an integral part of the school day.
To celebrate today we had a very special Santa Daily Mile where all the staff and children wore Santa hats and ran one big lap of the yards. The children really enjoyed it and the Active Committee children from 1st and 2nd class did a fantastic job of leading the classes around the yard. Our Daily Mile flag is now flying high beside our Active flag. Well done to all the boys and girls for taking part.

Classroom movement breaks

Movement breaks are encouraged throughout the day and many teachers use GoNoodle and Just Dance Kids on the Interactive whiteboards.
We introduced Feel Good Fridays this year. Every Friday a member of the Active Committee updates the whole school about Active School and then plays music over the intercom. All of the children are encouraged to Drop Everything and Dance. The children really love this and it is a great way to start the weekend.

'active break every day' challlenge

We take part in the Active Break Every Day Challenge every year for 4 weeks. During these 4 weeks all teachers and students commit to doing at least one active break every day. Here are some of the classroom record sheets that the children fill in every day.

room 18 getting active on their bikes

The children in our ASD class in Room 18 love getting out on their bikes and scooters for some fresh air and exercise every morning.

our courtyard

We are so lucky in DJPS to have a fabulous courtyard complete with playground equipment. Every class is timetabled for 2 half hour slots per week in the courtyard, where the children have access to climbing frames, swings, slides, monkey bars, ladders etc. The ASD class use the courtyard during their breaktimes. All the children LOVE going to the courtyard!

seasonal active events

We include active events in our seasonal calendar.
Every Halloween the Junior and Senior Infant children take part in The Walk of Terror where they go on a walk in their costumes around the village. This year due to Covid 19 the whole school took part in a walk around the school grounds and around the senior school.
At Christmas 2020 we had a Santa dash to celebrate getting our Daily Mile Flag.
We also had a St. Patrick's day parade around the school grounds.
See our 'News and Events' page for lots more photos.

athletics ireland

Some classes took part in the Athletics Ireland running initiative last year and really enjoyed it.

being active on the way to school

Walking, cycling or scooting to school is actively encouraged by our OFF days (On Foot Fridays) and we have recently gained our Green Flag for travel as a result of this. During Active Week we encourage all children to walk, cycle or scoot to school.

operation transformation

We have taken part in the Operation Transformation 10@10 programme for the past 2 years. The children have followed along with the videos and completed their exercises in the classroom with their teachers.

'outdoor and adventure' fun

We are in the process of erecting our brand new Active Walkway in the school garden which will also include an Active Fairy Trail and a nature trail. The children have been enjoying lots of 'Outdoor and Adventure' activities in the garden this year including letter sound hunts, Maths trails, Easter egg numbers hunt and nature trails.

Active walkway

Our Active Walkway route is almost ready. Along the route you will meet some new fairy friends. We are looking forward to welcoming the fairies to our school garden. They each have a favourite colour, shape and exercise.
These posters will be hung up along the route. You will notice they also contain a nature trail which has some lovely nature facts and activities for us to try along the way. Thanks to Ms. O'Carroll and Ms. Casey for all their work with Green Schools and in making this great nature trail.

Fairy door competition

.The Active School Committee held a competition to design fairy doors for our Active Walkway and Fairy Trail. The standard was so high, it was very hard to chose winners. Well done to everyone for taking part. Below are the winning designs. Some of them will feature on our new fairy trail. The winners all received active prizes like skipping ropes, hoola-hoops, bubbles, waterguns and spacehoppers

MAP

active walkway launch

We officially launched our Active Walkway on Monday May 10th. Ms. Ruane's class provided the countdown and Emily, Niamh and Isabella from the Active School Committee were on hand to cut the ribbon!

Here is our Active School Committee showing us the route...

and our lovely fairy doors ready for the fairies to move in.....

some of the ways we will be using the active walkway

And of course we will also be enjoying our beautiful nature trail from the Green School Committee.

Jerusalema DAnce Challenge 2021

We are currently learning the 'Jerusalema' dance. This will be our whole school dance for this year. Below is a link to a Youtube tutorial that Jen from TheatreWorx kindly made for us. The children will be practicing in school and are welcome to practice at home also if they wish.

We hope to put together and share with a video of the children taking part when they know it well.
Watch this space!

Our Jerusalema Dance Challenge was a huge success. Thanks to Mr. Lyons for editing the video. Here’s the link to the video if you haven’t already seen it.