Active Schools Motto: "Sitting down is not much fun, so get off the couch and run. Be Active!"
Sports Day 2019
This is just a taste of Sports Day 2019. We set up a station system and each class teacher rotated at the sound of the hooter!!
1st and 2nd Class School Tour 2019 - Kilkenny Activity Centre
Today did not disappoint. We set off early morning for our 2019 school tour. The children were so excited this morning and were going to experience a very different school day today. Part one of the day we visited Rathdowney Park. Words like 'Cool', 'Wow' and 'Deadly' echoed. Success! Part 2 of our day was at the Kilkenny Activity Centre. We can not praise Eddie and his team Jane and Ben enough. They were just brilliant with the children and made it an even more enjoyable day out. Stage one was 'Splatball' and Stage two was the 'Assault Course'. What a day! We all returned to school dry and happy!
Roinn 3 Camogie Champions
Our girls are the champions! Well done on what was the game of the season. The girls showed tremendous resilience and fought out a victory after extra time. They were simply superb. Mountrath were also an unbelievable side. Both teams displayed excellent skill from blocking, hooking, soloing and striking on the run slotting over great scores. A brilliant occasion for Tobar an Léinn and a day our girls will treasure for years to come.
Cumann na mBunscol - Semi Final Day
Semi Final day did not disappoint. Our girls and boys did the school and their families proud. The boys were up against a steep challenge meeting the Pike of Rushall. It was a cracker of a game that gripped the spectators and could of went either way. Unfortunately for us the boys were pipped in the dying minutes. Hard luck boys. As for the girls, all roads lead to O'Moore Park this week. They showed super determination against Shanahoe. They had the upper hand for most of the game and continued their good fortune with a convincing win. Best of luck girls in the final on Wednesday 29th at 1pm against Mountrath. Tobar an Léínn Abú!
Cumann na mBunscol Hurling and Camogie
Despite a tough start to the season for our boys, their luck has turned and have had some great performances and wins under their belts. Well done boys. The girls continue their winning streak and look like they've secured a semi final spot. Super work.
Playground Leaders
This week the playground leaders assisted the infant classes to play some relay races collecting cones. They were great with the younger children encouraging them along.
Easter Maths Trail
The children really enjoyed the outdoor classroom this week. In pairs, using their maps, they located all the eggs which had a letter. Then, they cracked the code. Great teamwork and exercise at the same time.
Athletics
The 2nd week of athletics and 1st and 2nd class were even more competitive. A new drill was introduced called 'speed jumps'. New technique and new muscles used. Well done to all the children for super effort.
Cumann na mBunscol Fixtures
Our boys and girls began their hurling and camogie campaigns this week. Congratulations to the girls who were victorious against TImahoe. They proved to be a very strong challenge for our opponents on the day. Our boys fought hard and showed great potential but unfortunately for us Paddock were too clinical from the start. Next game! Be active! Below are a mix of both teams in action.
Health Promoting Message
Again our Active Schools Committee are always trying to promote a healthy message about being physically active. Some students form 5th and 6th created this poster and went around to all the classrooms explaining their work.
Playground
The Active Schools Committee are always trying to promote active breaks. Well done to these students for leading by example. 'Fun while you run' and 'Walk while you talk'.
Active Lines
'The saying goes 'if you can't beat them, join them'....We are loving the 'Triangle Dance' that has gripped the nation. Coordination and concentration giggles...
Hurling and Camogie Training
Although O.T. walks ended, it is replaced by hurling and camogie training for the whole school. This will continue for a couple of months. Thanks to Colt G.A.A., John SInnott and Con Dunne our new coach for making this possible.
Operation Transformation
On Friday, February 15th saw the end of our O.T. walks. It was a great success and children really enjoyed their exercise. Active Archie was delighted with himself also. Ms Moore helped him a little on the way home..
Yoga
On January 23rd Yoga classes began in Tobar an Léinn for infant classes and on January 24th for senior classes. This is a six week course of Yoga instruction. We invited in an external teacher, Aislinn Buckley to teach the children. Thanks again to our parents who have supported this. As we know there are many benefits to yoga. Even ‘Active Archie’ enjoyed it!
Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness.
In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves.
Playground Games
One of the members of our A.S. committee, Liam Conroy, started a new trend on the yard in January. As part of his training outside of school he is skipping to fit his fitness up. This trend has certainly caught on.
Operation Transformation
On January 11th, Tobar an Léinn started a six week Operation Transformation walk every Friday at 10a.m. This involved the whole school. The infants classes had a shorter distance but challenged themselves to go further and further every week. The senior classes were very competitive and most used their fit bits to record their steps and time. This was really enjoyable and became routine every Friday.
Active Lines
Once we had established our playground leaders, we started to put in place our active lines. We began doing this every Tuesday and Thursday. Our exercises vary from jumping jacks, frog jumps, high knees to skipping. It really gets the heart pumping. The leaders stand at the top of the lines and everyone listens to their commands.
Santa Dash
Just before our Christmas break, our committee decided it would be a great idea to do a fun run using a Christmas themed dress code. Everyone dressed up and off the school headed down Dan Tynan’s Farm once again on our 'Santa Dash'. The weather wasn’t great but that didn’t deter the enthusiasm. We all warmed up and stretched before leaving. Ms. Griffin took that mini session. We also felt that even though it was coming into the festive season we should refrain from treats so we tied in with our healthy schools and provided everyone with bananas, oranges and water. Thanks to our B.O.M. for supplying the fruit. Parents were invited to come along if they had free time.
The next day was busy in Tobar an Léinn. The eagerly awaited Santa arrived. He even came on his bicycle. The disco began and everyone danced until home time.
Rainy Days - Go Noodle and Just Dance Kids
Some days the weather was too poor to do our running outside so an extended physical activity break was given to classes indoor as discussed at our staff meeting. We took full advantage of Go Noodle and Just Dance kids in Term 1. From the 'Skeleton dance' at Halloween to 'Crazy Santa' dance in December, we were moving all body parts.
Active Break Every Day Challenge
Our whole school committed to the 4 week active break challenge which started in November. We decided to complete the ‘RUN Around Europe Challenge’. We used our school yard and as every child did a lap we recorded this as 1 km. The infant classes kept count of their laps by using lollipop sticks. We visited many cities around Europe and marked them on the large poster on the A.S. noticeboard. If the weather wasn’t favourable we opted for dance or exercises in the jar activity. The children really enjoyed this challenge and were determined to beat their number of laps every day. 5th and 6th class had also started ‘The Daily Mile’ previous to this so they were a step ahead of the rest.
Halloween
Tobar an Léinn used this seasonal occasion to go on a whole school 'witches walk' through our neighbouring Tynan's Farm. All the children and staff dressed up and headed off together on a nice brisk walk/run through the farm. Before we took to the roads we danced away to the 'Skeleton Dance', just to get us in the mood!!
National Fitness Day
On September the 27th , Ireland Active encouraged the children to take on their teachers to see who was the fittest, the fastest, the strongest, most accurate – not to mention the most competitive…. So that’s what we did in Tobar an Léinn. It was a glorious day with plenty of sunshine. Perfect conditions for the challenge. After first break the teachers, SNA and school secretary took on the children in a game of Dodge Ball. There was plenty of support for the students. Poor teachers!!! The game was refereed very fairly and the teachers won the first challenge convincingly..Yippee….
BUT our luck was about to change. The 2nd challenge of the day was basketball hoops. After 1pm lunch break the children really upped their game and the result went their way. Well done to all for such and enjoyable and sporting Day.
Cumann na mBunscol
Tobar an Léinn fielded both a boys and girls team in Cumann na mBunscol football league this September. They both trained very hard and showed great resilience and determination in games. Children from 3rd up to 6th class trained and were so enthusiastic to better their skills and fitness. Unfortunately nether team reached the finals but represented themselves very well. Comhghairdeas to both teams on super effort. Below are some snippets of the boys in action.
Cross Country Run
We had a 'tús maith' of informing and launching our important message about physical activity in September. All children require 60 minutes of physical activity everyday. The senior classes participated in our schools very first cross country competition in Ballyroan, Co. Laois. The children really enjoyed this experience and although they were delighted to participate, we were fortunate to win some medals. Well done everyone!