Active Schools Motto: "Sitting down is not much fun, so get off the couch and run. Be Active!"
VHI Mini Marathon, Dublin 2019
As part of a fundraiser for our school, our Parents Association came up with the idea of competing in the VHI Mini Marathon this year. 'Do as we Say', so to lead by example some members of staff took on the challenge and some parents too. It was an amazing experience and we were blessed with the weather. Over 30,000 ran, walked or even crawled to the finish line. We were delighted to be part of the whole occasion. 'Tobar an Léinn, Tús Maith!' We are looking forward to the schools' 5km on June 21st.
Playground Leaders
Junior and Senior Infants loved the playground game of 4 corners. Our PG leaders even joined in.
5th and 6th Class Basketball Blitz
It was 5th and 6th Class turn to compete in the LSP Basket ball Blitz this week held in St. Mary's Hall Portlaoise.. They like 3rd and 4th loved playing against other schools in Laois and enjoyed the whole experience.
Active Achievements
Tobar an Léinn have very talented students and are involved in many different clubs. Below we have * who won an u14 Leinster A Shield Final with Laois Camogie. They competed in a Leinster Blitz recently. * is a member of the Marlins Swimming Club and he is showing off his medal won in the 50m butterfly stroke. * is a very strong gymnasts with Portlaoise Gymnastics Club. She is delighted to show some medals she won recently for her routine.
3rd and 4th class Basketball Blitz
Laois Sports Partnership in association with Basketball Ireland ran a 3rd and 4th class blitz in St Mary's Hall, Portlaoise. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day out meeting other children from different schools. Another great initiative coming towards the end of a busy school year. Below are some action photos.
Camogie - Clonad, Raheen Gaels Camogie Club
We are very thankful to all the G.A.A. clubs that surround the school. Fint Duff from Clonad/Raheen Gaels Camogie Club has put great work into his sessions with our girls from 3rd to 6th class. No wonder they are flying it in this years Cumann na mBunscol. Thanks Fint for all the great words of wisdom and encouragement.
Badminton Course
Tobar an Léinn was one of nine schools to attend this very active Badminton course today, May 13th. Again this course was organised through the wonderful Laois Sports Partnership. The school received badminton equipment as part of a training course that Ms. Griffin and Ms. Campion attended. We now have two nets, thirty badminton rackets and two boxes of shuttlecocks. We hope to begin badminton training straightaway.
Active Achievements
Congratulations to our two 6th class girls who were selected for the Cumann na mBunscol Girls Football Development Panel. The trials were very well attended and you did great to get selected. Tobar an Léinn are very proud.
Active Schools Week - 'Pop in Parents'
We know parents are very busy and it's not easy for all to attend school activities due to work commitments. May 13th to 17th is Active Schools Week. This year it was decided that parents can pop into the school whatever day suits them to join in on the fun. A leaflet was sent home and we look forward to parents and kids having fun together.
PDST Support - Folk Dance
Last Wednesday the staff of Tobar an Léinn welcomed Úna Teehan to our school. PDST provide fantastic support networks for teachers and it was great to avail of this one. Tis year we are focusing on Dance as an area of development. Therefore, on Wednesday Úna engaged us in a nice but lively presentation of Folk Dance. She refreshed us about some fabulous and easy dances from Ireland and Europe that the children would really enjoy. Thank you Úna.
Athletics
Our four week stint of Athletics came to an end last Thursday, May 9th. It was competition day and the hall was all ready to go with an obstacle course. This was a super initiative supported by Laois Partnership and the children loved every minute. 'Active Archie' came along to see and share in all of the fun too! He even tried an obstacle or two. At the very end there was a teacher challenge..Not sure who won!!!
Cumann na mBunscol Camogie Trials
We had 3 girls from sixth class taking part in the Loais Cumann na mBunscol Camogie Trials in the Centre of Excellence over two days. Congratulations to those selected from Tobar an Léinn. You are all upcoming stars. We also had one of our boys picked to represent our school in the Cumann na mBunscol Boys Hurling Trials earlier this year. Picture to follow.
Tobar an Léinn Achievement Wall
Our Active wall is certainly filling up with super achievements. On the 30th and 31st of March, girls from sixth class competed in the National Gymnastics competition in Dublin. In the Level 1c category we had a 3rd place for her team. Our other two competitors came 8th and 22nd out of 100 participants. That's an incredible result.
Athletics- Laois Sports Partnership Initiative
First and second class in Tobar an Léinn are participating in a 4 week athletics programme organised by Laois Sports Partnership. We will travel to the Hawthorn Community Centre in Ballacolla for this instruction. Our first day began on Thursday, April 4th and the children were so engaged and enjoyed the whole experience immensely. We found out we are really competitive too. We can not wait for the next session. Be Active!
St. Patrick's Day, Streets of Portlaoise 5km and Junior Run.
It was great to see Tobar an Léinn represented in this year's Streets of Portlaoise run. Well done to the above students who took part in their respective runs. Athletes of the future!
Fyffes Fit Squad
We were delighted to welcome the 'Fyffes Fit Squad' to Tobar an Léinn on Tuesday. As we know physical activity is so important in our daily lives, this was just another fun and different approach to getting fit with the fun. The sessions were at least 40 minutes long and very engaging. Not only that but every child got a smoothie recipe, exercise sheet and most important 'a banana' leaving the hall. We also enjoyed the selfies!! Thank you Fyffe Fit Squad.
Final Operation Transformation Walk
Well done to the students, parents and the wider community for braving the elements on Monday night in Raheen for the for the final scheduled O.T. Walk. There was such a tremendous response to the weekly get together. We hope now that everyone will continue their route on Monday nights. A big thanks to our principal Ms. Campion and our secretary, Orla Dunne for setting up our O.T. Walks. Looking forward to next year already!!
SVT Junior Park Run
Well done to all below who took part in the Primary School Junior Park Run Challenge in Vicarstown. We are also very proud to say we had two competitors who came in the top 12 out 200+ runners.
Colt G.A.A.
For years Tobar an Léinn were fortunate to have a very supportive school/club link with the local hurling club, Colt G.A.A. . Once again this year with the help of John Sinnott, we have come together and put a plan in place to maintain that healthy link. We are so privileged to have access to their dressing rooms, ball wall, juvenile pitch and main pitch for training and games. We have also used these facilities for A.S.W. in the past. Colt are currently constructing a running/walking track around the perimeter of the main pitch. We aim to make full use of this and train for our ‘couch to 5km run’ later this year. ‘Be Active!’ The whole school will be coached with our new coach Con Dunne. The children were so excited and the infants were absolutely thrilled to be involved in this project also. The first session was a major success and we look forward to many more. In the pictures below, Jason Coffey from Laois G.A.A. came out and shared his expertise for the first day. His sessions were fun and enjoyable. There was full participation by children and 100% engagement. Thanks Jason.
Tobar an Léinn Active Achievement Wall
Name: A Club: Portlaoise Gymnastics Club Level: 1 C under 12’s (girls) Congratulations on competing against her peers and came 1st in her floor and vault routine. She will represent her club later on this year in Dublin. Best of luck.
Name: M Club: Portlaoise Gymnastics Club Level: 1 B under 7’s (girls) Congratulations on coming 2nd after displaying great movement in her floor and vault routine. She will represent her club later this year in Dublin. Best of Luck.
Active Schools Mascot - Active Archie
This is 'Active Archie'. He has a very important role of promoting physical activity with the infant classes. All children require 60 minutes of physical activity per day. During the week he will go to numerous of homes and the host families will include him in their fitness regime. We are really looking forward to see what he gets up. Archie has his little diary in his backpack for the children to record their adventures and exercises in. He really loves Super Troopers activities, so let's hope he doesn't get too tired!
Active Homework
In January all classrooms started 'Super Troopers' as part of their homework. It's a lovely resource that can include all family members to take part in. Parents were informed about it in the January Newsletter. The kids are great to demonstrate some of the exercises for the night ahead.
Playground leaders - 'Duck, Duck, Goose' and hula hoop activities!
Tobar an Léinn Active Achievement Wall
Something new our committee introduced is the Tobar an Léinn Active Achievement Wall. We are delighted to hear news of any student who performs with their club outside of school. We celebrate their achievements and display it on our A.S. noticeboard.
Name: H Club: Abbeyleix AFC Position: Full forward Achievement: Our star won player of the match recently for his club. Although he plays as a forward and didn't score that day, he played a vital role and was rewarded for his relentless tackling. All recipients of the player of the match get a hat. H wears it with pride. Well done!
Name: K Club:Ballyroan/Abbeyleix & District Athletics Club Competition :Laois Indoor Championships 1st place – u13 600m race 2nd place – u14 60m sprint 2nd place – u14 Shot putt
Operation Transformation
Operation Transformation starts for another year. New leaders, new goals. Not only are the children of Tobar an Léinn going to participate in a walk every Friday for 6 weeks but the whole community are invited to take part on Monday evenings. An invitation was sent out to all via school newsletter, facebook and local parish newsletter also. Over 100 people came out the first night. Keep it up! Thanks to principal Ms. Campion and Secretary Orla Dunne for putting such effort into this operation.
Playground Leaders
As discussed at our committee meeting we decided to introduce playground leaders to the yard every Thursday at lunch time. Their role is to create fun games for the infant classes. The committee did up a rota which is displayed on the A.S. noticeboard. They wear their new hi-vis jackets for all to see them.
Active Schools Motto
Well done to N who came up with a very catchy motto,
"Sitting down is not much fun, so get off the couch and run. Be Active!!"
We hope the whole school will chant this for the coming year.
Active Schools Committee
This year we have a new Active Schools Committee. The children were asked to write down their ideas about two things.
How would you make break times more fun?
What suggestions do you have for rainy days?
We were thrilled with the amount of interest the pupils showed. Congratulations to the new committee as they lead the way in Tobar an Léinn in showing and encouraging everyone to be more active! They are very positive and upbeat about their duties. They have collected data for surveys, made playground leaders rotas, demonstrated active lines workouts and collectively did warm up exercises for Operation Transformation walks to name but a few.
Our Committee 2018 - 2019
Shanahoe Ladies Football Club
In the super picture above, these young ladies played for their club Shanahoe at half time in O'Moore Park for the Ladies Intermediate Football Final In September. Shanahoe were victorious beating Graiguecullen on the day. Looks like you all enjoyed your day!
Cycling Training Course
In September and October, 5th and 6th class took part in a 6 week cycling course under the guidance of Southeast Cycling Safety. The course explored the theory of safe cycling, off/on road practical riding and on road practical riding skills. Thanks to our parents and Laois County Council who helped fund this course.