Our Active School Yard
One of the things we are most proud of in Holy Trinity S.N.S. is our active school yard. In 2016 Mr. Henry, the new principal, introduced the idea of active zones. This is a great way to promote physical activity during yard time. Children in Holy Trinity are lucky to spend two breaks per day on yard where they are free to run, skip, hop and play. We also have a registered Active Walkway which children are encouraged to use if they don’t want to partake in other playground activities. We encourage…DO YOUR TALKING WHILE YOU’RE WALKING.
The aims of our Active School Yard are
- to increase children’s physical activity levels
- to increase children’s energy expenditure
- to promote fair play
- to reduce bullying and playground confrontations
- to teach cooperation and respect for others
- to promote creativity and problem solving skills
- to decrease playground injuries
The Active School Committee
In order to continue ensuring our school is super active, we have elected an active school committee in the form of our students. The committee is made up of pupils from 5th and 6th Class and they shall be busy throughout the year organising lots of fun and physical activities and implementing our Active Zones on yard. The whole school is extremely grateful for their diligent work as without their help and commitment there’s no way we could be as active as we are. Active agents….take a bow!
The Zones on Yard
The yard has been zoned for a range of activities for different class groups. Playground specific equipment has been purchased and our Playground Leaders are in charge of organising the zones daily. These zones include; Skipping Ropes, Hula Hoops, Soft Balls, Playground Games, Snakes and Ladders and Trampoline. Our Playground Leaders from the senior classes have been taught by the hardworking Ms. Monaghan on how to lead various playground activities. There are benefits for all to be derived from such peer tutoring schemes. The younger children enjoy increased physical activity that is structured and well managed. The older children develop a range of other skills. It requires them to enable the younger peers to participate in the activity through clear demonstration and explanations. In addition to all of this, they will assume responsibility for the layout and collection of equipment. The Leaders are rotated so that the leaders will be given the opportunity to enjoy the activities on their own yard.
Music on Fridays ft. D.J. Mono
Each Friday our Active Agents help to set up the music on yard. Ms. Monaghan, better known by her alias as D.J. Mono, plays popular music that encourages the children to get up and dance and be active. Children are given the chance to make music requests on the Active School Board. We here in Holy Trinity S.N.S. feel that music on Friday’s is one of the highlights of the week and always puts us in great form for the weekend!
Active Archie and Active Angie
These are our active flag mascots for Holy Trinity. Archie and Angie will be going home with boys and girls in 3rd and 4th class throughout the year. When Archie and Angie visit homes, we are asking that the children complete some form of physical activity and write about it in the teddies journal. This will give other boys and girls in our school some ideas on how to stay active. It is very easy to stay active. It could be jumping on your trampoline with Archie and Angie, to walking to the shop rather than driving to playing football and our mascot watching on . We hope you enjoy having Archie and Angie in your homes.
60 Minute Challenge
Throughout the school year we completed a 60 Minute Termly Challenge where the children recorded their physical activity at school and at home. The children were shocked by the level that they completed. Activities included walking, cycling or scooting to school, Fit4Fun Challenges, physical activity during and outside of school. Check out some of our results from Term One and Two, looking forward to our Term Three Challenge!
Active Maths
During Maths Week all children took part in both indoor and outdoor Maths trails. Children worked in small groups solving a series of questions which were posed to them based on our school environment. It was fantastic to see the children engaging in cross curricular activities as both Physical Education and Maths were combined for the trails. As you can tell from the photos they really loved the challenge!
Active Breaks and Rewards
In Holy Trinity S.N.S. we try to squeeze as much activity as we possibly can into our daily routine. This involves the use of Active Breaks! Be it our Brain Breaks, 10 @ 10, Go Noodle, JustDance, Roll the Dice or even doing our laps we are constantly active during our school days.
Thankfully we don’t have to stay inside at break time too often do to rainy weather but in the case it does happen we have some great active classroom ideas listed below. Check them out here: A Rainy Day Active Classroom 🙂
This year we have also decided to move away from rewarding children with goodies and worked towards replacing ‘Sweets as Treats’. Check out our awesome, active rewards here: Active Rewards 🙂
Gardening
Thanks to our former principal Mr. Jerry Grogan we have a vibrant and colourful school garden which is maintained throughout the year. Children in Holy Trinity are very interested in planting and growing of plants and crops. Gardening is a great way to stay active and fit through weeding, planting, watering and harvesting as well as learning how to grow some healthy foods which we should all include in our diets such as potatoes and carrots. Groups of children regularly help the green fingered Mr. Keely with the upkeep of the garden and polytunnel. Check out some photographs of the work happening in Holy Trinity!
European Week of Sport
Holy Trinity partook in European Week of Sport from the 24th – 28th of September. Each year group was given a different location to run to with each lap of the yard symbolising 1 km of their journey. Over the week, each of the 3rd classes ran the 464km to Big Ben in London with the 4th classes undertaking the journey to the Eiffel Tower. 5th and 6th class went a little further afield, with each of the 5th classes running the 1045 km to the Vienna State Opera House while 6th classes ran to the Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen which was a distance of 1240km.
Each class also completed ‘Climb the Heights’ Skipping Challenge throughout the week where the class picked a country in Europe and skipped to the height of the highest mountain. Each skip rotation stood as 1 metre! Many different places were selected. For instance Ms. Monaghan’s 6th Class took on the challenge and succeed in skipping the height Monte Bianco in Italy while Mr. Fitzgibbon’s 3rd class skipped the highest peak in Ireland – Carrantuohill.
All PE lessons for the week- had a European twist to it with the 3rd and 4th classes partaking in a mixed-up word relay challenge while the 5th and 6th classes had the opportunity to enhance their team work skills by partaking in a name the country challenge game .
Our fun week concluded with our annual 6th class vs teacher’s soccer match. There were 4 representatives from each of the 6th classes. Both the teachers and pupil came onto the field to the sounds of the Champions league music where they were greeted by cheers and some boos from the fans. It was an exciting match with our Principal Mr.Henry acting as referee. Things got heated which resulted in Mr. C. Henry being sent off and Ms. O’Neill scored an own goal. Both happened to the delight of the crowd!
For the second year in a row the game ended in a draw which means the trophy will stay in the school and be shared between the two teams for another year. We need a winner …. A rematch is definitely on the cards for Active Week. Check out the write up on our school blog by the : https://www.holytrinitysns.ie/2018/10/10/teachers-v-s-students-football-2018/
Soccer Tournament 5th and 6th
5th and 6th Class put their best foot forward in a senior soccer tournament held in February 2019. Classes held their own soccer tournament with mixed ability teams in order to select a fair team to put forward to the inter-class competition. Congratulations to all who took part, some serious skills were enjoyed by spectators on the day.
Dodgeball Tournament 3rd and 4th
3rd and 4th Class put friendships aside to battle it out in Dodgeball. Kindly assisted by Ms. Keating’s class the tournament was held out on yard. Some excellent skill and sportsmanship was witnessed by all. Well done to all who took part!
Halloween Zombie Walk
Fear and terror took over Donaghmede as the zombies and ghouls of Holy Trinity took over the streets for our Zombie Walk. Check out our Youtube video!
While you’re here have a look at our famous Thriller dance video from 2017. This still remains our most viewed video on our Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT_ujESDtAQ
Christmas in Holy Trinity
Christmas is always a hectic time in Holy Trinity with all the classes preparing for Christmas Shows as well as the weather not always allowing us go outside,. The active committee felt that this year we needed to make sure, that we included Physical activity into our daily schedules as a way of helping us all stay active but also focused on our work at school.
We Introduced our Active Advent Calendar where a new active challenge was revealed each day which all classes tried out between subjects when we needed a movement break. What a simple way to incorporate a Christmas tradition of an advent Calendar into our Active Flag initiative in Holy Trinity!
On the build up to Christmas all the 5th and 6th classes partook in 5 weeks of Hip Hop with Amy Allen of Mindkrash. Each class planned and practised a dance routine which each class performed as part of their Christmas Show.
On the day before our Christmas Holidays, all the school took part in our ‘Santa Dash’ in Father Collins Park . There was great fun had by all and it ended with all the children having time playing in the playground. The fun did not end here, as on the day of holidays, Dec 22nd we had our Christmas Disco on yard with our regular DJ Mono where she entertained the yard with festive tunes. It was a great end to a fun packed and active Term 1!!
Run Around Ireland
As a whole school event, we organised the Run around Ireland initiative’ visiting’ different tourist attractions along our journeys . Each classroom was provided with a chart and they recorded their progress daily. Each time the whole class ran 5 laps of the yard, the teachers filled in a section of their chart. Each child participated at their own level making it a very inclusive activity for all as the children could run, jog or walk the laps allowing all fitness abilities to partook fully in the task. On the active board, we had a large map of Ireland and the teachers head moved from location to location as they reached the different destinations. This was great motivation for children and teachers alike.
Seachtain na Gaeilge
Mar is ghnáth, bhí seachtain iontach againn don Seachtain na Gaeilge i mí na Márta. Bhí an seachtain seo fite fuaite le ghníomhaíochtaí chun aclaíocht a chur chun cinn. Bhí na páistí ag ullmhú don siúlóid urraithe ag dul ó dhoras go doras timpeall na háite ag bailiú airgid don scoil. De hAoine chuaigh gach duine go páirc Fr. Collins chun an siúlóid 2km a dhéanamh. Thug cúpla paiste agus múinteoir an cinneadh chun é a rith. Fair play daoibh!
Comhghairdeas go Hayden Dockerty as rang Ms. Free cé a bhuaigh an duais mór….rothar nua! Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat leis Hayden 🙂
Níos déanaí an lá sin bhí an scoil ar fad amuigh sa chlós ag déanamh damhsaí mar Ballaí Luimnigh, An Dreoilín, The Siege of Ennis agus Shoe the Donkey.
Tá sé soiléir ón bhfíseán gur bhain gach duine an sult agus spraoi as an seachtain ar fad. Faigh amach duit féín!
Míle buíochas go Mr. C. Henry, Ms. Woods agus Ms. Heffernan, rinne sibh obair na gcapall!
Art’s Day
On Wednesday the 8th May we held our annual Art’s Day thanks to the mastermind organiser that is Mr. Conroy. Children got to enjoy a range of activities aimed at celebrating the arts such as Comedy Gold, Art, Busta Chyme, Music, Poetry and Sketches. As always with the primary curriculum, physical activity also found its way into the day in the form of dance. Ms. Baker performed Zumba all day with the 3rd and 4th classes while Mr. C. Henry took the 5th and 6th class children on a journey through Modern Dance. These proved to be a favourite activity for many children on the day….hats off to the very, very tired but very, very fulfilled teachers at the end of the day!
Yoga
Ms. Heffernan and Ms. Walsh run yoga classes every Tuesday and Thursday after school. The children who attend yoga are very lucky to be benefiting from building their core and body strength, improving their flexibility, calming their mind and overall having a positive influence on their mental health.
Basketball
Basketball takes place every Wednesday after school from 2:30-3:30pm with coaches Mr. Fitzgibbon and Mr. Downes. So far this year there have been two basketball matches between local schools. The children train very hard and the lucky few who are tall enough have even gotten a slam dunk or two 🙂
Girls and Boys 3v3 Tournament in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght
Athletics, Santry
It’s that time of year again. Just when the sun starts breaking through the clouds and the smell of sweet cut grass is fresh in the air; Santry. Each class held trials for their respective events with the top three of each going through to trials. Training is held twice a week in the run of to the competition where children from all of Co. Dublin gather in Morton Stadium, Santry. Thanks to Ms. N.O’Neill and Ms. Woods for all their hard work and best of luck to our competitors for this year on the 20th and 28th May 🙂
