Our BeActive: Run around Europe challenge
The school as a whole have taken on the run around Europe challenge from Sept23rd to October 5th. Each class teacher took their class to the yard to complete a number of laps each day for two weeks. The children really enjoyed getting out and running in the fresh air, in a non competitive environment.
The whole school took part in a skipping challenge this month. Each class took time out to skip in the hall or in the yard. Every minute of skipping completed by the students equated to 1m climbing the mountains of Europe. The school as a whole climbed to the highest mountain in Europe, Mt. Elbus in Russia which is 5,642m. Well done everyone!!
All classes took part in a very enjoyable session of christmas PE during the week coming up to the Christmas holidays. Ms Mc Donnell took each class to the hall to play some fun Christmas games. Children wore santa hats, played games such as 'Santa's Sleigh', 'The Snowman blitz', ' Don't wake santa' and also completed 'The 12 days of Fittness'. They danced to Christmas songs and the older classes completed Christmas circuits involving Mrs Claus, The Reindeers and of course Santa himself!!
All teachers, parents and students were invited to take part in the 4km operation Transformation walk at the Drogheda Community Hall. It was a cold and wet morning but there was a good turnout and we had a lovely walk through the town. Well done all who turned up on the day!!
4th class following the 10 exercises at 10.00am as part of Operation Transformation 2018.
The whole school participated in the 10 at 10 circuits. There were 10 stations with different exercises and each class moved from station to station, staying one minute at each. Well done to all pupils!!!
Yoga has been part of our PE classes for the last 10 weeks. Each class enjoyed 5 weeks of exercising their body and mind. The children were taught lots of breathing technique, stretches, yoga poses and how to relax their minds. It was a most enjoyable experience for the children!!
Our very first Active Week has come to an end and what a week we have had!! Well done to everyone for making the week such fun and of course 'active'!!
The week started with a fantastic 'Wake and shake' Assembly. 5th Class put on a very active performance with their move it song. We all danced and moved to music and got ready for the week ahead!!
The junior girls from junior infants, senior infants and 1st class enjoyed soccer with Albion coach Liam Callan.
In the afternoon the whole school enjoyed watching 4th,5th and 6th class boys and girls playing in a mini soccer tournament with Mr Mc Kinney as the Ref!! Great cheering and great skill shown by the boys and girls!!
All classes enjoyed a 35 min class dancing and moving with a very energetic Zumba teacher. Carolina made the classes such fun and extremely active..
The Special Olympics Torch visited our school on Tuesday also. The grúpa Cheoil preformed a selection polkas and jigs for the runners. The children made olympic torches and coloured pictures of the olympic flag to welcome the runners. The whole school ran a lap of the field behing the Olympic Torch. It was such an honour!!
On Wednesday Naomh Martin GAA coaches visited the school. Each class got an opportunity to play gaelic up the field. The weather was just great and the children had a fantastic time!!
On Thursday we decided to slow things down a little. All classes got to walk a mile around the school grounds. We encouraged a nice slow pace with 'walk and talk'. Most of the children carried balloons which made the walk a little bit special!!
We had our Sports Day on Friday. We had our class races, tug of war, penalties, obstacle course, novalty races, bouncing slides and obstacle bouncing castle. It was just great.
In the afternoon we had our annual Ice-Cream party for Down Syndrme Ireland. The children enjoyed ice-cream and a dance on the green!!
On Monday, to end off our fantastic week, we had a visit from Caradh O'Donavan. Caradh is an all-Ireland kick-boxing Champion. She suffers from Chromes Diease and came in to share her story. She was very inspiring and the children had many excellent questions for her. she even showed them a few of her moves!!
What a start to 2018/19. We have a wonderful Active Schools Committee, who are doing a wonderful job so far!!
In October the whole school from Juniors to 6th Class completed the 'Run Around Europe Challenge'. It was great getting out in the fresh air and getting some exercise. We marked off our new running track up the field and some of the senior classes run or walk around the track at lunch time - weather permitting of course!!
The annual 'Garda Sport's Day' took place October 22nd in the O'Raghallaigh's Gaelic grounds in Drogheda. Well done to all the boys and girls from Harestown who took part in all the different sports, from ruuning to hurdles to tug of war!! Harestown won the whole competition - we even made the Drogheda Independent!!
We have started indoor soccer with the girls for the months of November, December and January. The girls love it and are showing great soccer skills.
We invited the girls of Scoil Aonghusa, Drogheda to visit us and to play a challenge match against our girls gaelic football team. We had a wonderful match, it was very exciting and fantastic to watch. We even had a penalty shoot out at the end which was great fun!! It was lovely to have visitors to our school to share in our activities!!
Our Active School Committee have started up our 'Active Lines' again this year. Each member of the committee demonstrates an exercise (jumping jacks, running on the spot, windmills etc..) and the whole school follows their lead while in their lines after lunch. This helps us concentrate for longer in the afternoons. Well done Committee!!
Well done to Lauren Killeen 5th, Alice Brannigan 4th and Cian Hermitage 5th who won the best slogan / poster competition. The Active School Committee found it very tough to select a winner as everyone did such a great job!!
Well done to all the classes in Harestown participating in this years first 10 @ 10. It was a cold and drizzly morning here at Harestown NS but we battled on and completed all 10 stations!! Well done to everyone, teacher and pupils!!!
Well done to the 6th class boys who took part in an Inter School's Blitz in Naomh Martin on the 11th of December. Great Skill shown by all the boys on such a cold December day!!
Well done to all classes from juniors to 6th class who took part in our fantastic Christmas PE. The Active School Committee led each class in a Jingle Bells dance, completed the 12 days of fitness, played 'Christmas statues' to Christmas music and played the 'Snowman Relay'. Everyone had such a great time and our fitness was put to the test!!
Well done to the boys and girls from 6th Class who took part in the 1500m School's Cross Counrty competition held at Newtownstalaban training grounds on January 17th 2019. There were over 300 children running from schools in the surrounding area. There was fantastic running seen and great support given to all competitors!! Well done to all!!
Our Active Flag Week took place from the 10th to the 14th of June. The Active School Committee were busy planning all the events and what a week we had!!
We started the week with an assembly and an amazing wake and shake led by our wonderful committee.
Well Done Everyone!!
The Junior and Senior classes enjoyed a motivational talk in the hall from Jack Dennis, a World Judo Champion. He is the granddad of Philip and Brigid Dennis, who attend our school. Jack's daughter Ellie (a black belt in Judo) was also there!! They gave a wonderful and inspiring talk of how judo has such a special part in their lives - from 8 year old Brigid to 72 year old Jack. They demonstrated some amazing moves and we even enjoyed a judo match between Philip and Brigid.
A fantastic start to the week!!
On Tuesday, we began with an outdoor wake and shake. Great moves by everyone..
The field had been set up like a golf course, 10 hula hoops as holes. Each class were split into groups of 3 to 4 players and had to make their way around the course trying to get the frisbee into the hoop - the person with the least amount of shots won!! Each group had their own score card and this made the game even more exciting.. The children loved this game as they could work independently and it was calm yet competitive at the same time! Something different....
Shane Lennon and his wonderful club players from Naomh Martin arrived at 9am sharp to start our day of GAA. The day was extremely wet so he had to take each class in the hall but spirits were high and each class enjoyed practicing their skills and playing games with the Naomh Martin Crew - thanks so much Shane!!
Even after all the activities so far, the children were so excited to get dancing with the 'Fit Kids, Fit Teens' dance club. Seán and Micheala danced the morning away with each class, showing the some super moves and playing some fun games with them. We even had a dance off which was great fun!!
We are so lucky here in Harestown NS that we have the most amazing fields and woods on our doorstep. Ms Joyce was so kind as to bring each class and teacher for a 4 km hike up through the fields and woods. We all had to wear our wellies as there was plenty of muck!!! 4th, 5th and 6th made it all the way to Drumshallon Forge and even did some weeding in the garden. What an fantastic day, lovely walk and chats along the way...
To end our week we had a closing assembly. Children shared what they enjoyed most about the week. We had our final wake and shake but decided we might make it a monthly event in September.
Our wonderful walkway was also lauched during active week and each class completed their daily Km. Each class also took part in active homework and the active playground box was a huge success.
Well done on our 2nd successful active week!!!