Physical Activity

Camán to Croker- Week 1 of 4 week Running Challenge.

Following the success of Borrisoleigh Senior Hurlers and their participation in the All-Ireland Club Hurling Final against Ballyhale Shamrocks, Scoil Naomh Cualán decided to kick off our “4 Week Running Challenge” with a run to Croke Park! What better build up could we ask for than a run to Ireland’s largest stadium to see our hereos bring home the O’Moore Cup!

Ms.Ryan organised a fantastic event to build up our final laps that saw us run past the Hogan Stand and Cusack Stand to mark our arrival at Croke Park. The children cheered on their classmates, their school mates and enjoyed the applause they received when they finally reached their destination. A great start to our four week challenge. Now let’s just hope the lads bring home the cup!!

Borris Abú!

Christmas Scavenger Hunt.

Thank you so much to our Active School Committe for organising a successful Christmas Scavenger Hunt before the Christmas holidays.

Our committee members hid 20 A4 laminated festive fact cards about “Christmas” all around the premises of the school and playing areas. Groups of two were challenged to answer questions based on these facts and finish as quickly as possible. Indoors were out of bounds and the only rule was to leave the fact card where you found it. The speed at which some groups got going was nothing we had seen before. The ASC definitely made it as tricky as possible and didn’t utter us a single clue, whilst the pupils from 3rd to 6th raced to fill all the answers to the facts on their sheets.

We are delighted to report that our scavenger hunt was an astounding success. Children were active, having fun and working togther. There were impressive times in and every single couple completed the scavenger hunt within 20 minutes.

Nollaig Shona Daoibh!!

Making Healthy Choices – Mr. Ray McCormack Visits 5th and 6th Class.

Last Friday 12th December, Mr. Ray McCormack, visited 5^th and 6^th class to speak about the importance of nutrition and exercise for our bodies and minds. Ray McCormack has had a very successful year with both his school, club and county. Ray was a prominent member of the Tipperary panel winning an Under 20 All-Ireland Medal, The Harty Cup with his secondary school and most importantly a county medal with Borrisoleigh GAA. Ray is a fantastic role model to our children in Scoil Naomh Cualán and the children were full of questions about his food choices. We were thrilled he was available to share his wisdom and give us an insight into the eating habits of an athlete in his prime.

Mr.McCormack began his talk discussing the term “Balanced Diet” and introduced the different food groups to the children. He explained the roles each of these foods play in keeping our body and mind healthy. Ray spoke about the importance of fuelling our bodies with the right amounts of each group. He presented his food plate by using a pie chart and invited children to add to his food plate using different sources of foods. It was both informative and interesting to hear first hand what an athlete eats. The children were amazed at what the professionals recommend teams and players eat to keep themselves in prime health and fitness.

Mr.McCormack emphasised one clear message throughout his talk, drink water- to hydrate our body, fuel ourselves with good foods to give us energy ,keep our bodies active and getting plenty of sleep to recharge. His lesson concluded with a question and answer session. Even the teachers had questions for Mr.McCormack!

Thank you so much Mr.McCormack for your informative “Healthy Eating” lesson. We endeavour to make healthier choices on a daily basis to nurture and fuel our bodies.

Super Senior Infants

Take a look at our Senior Infants. This active bunch not only love to run and jump in Athletics with Ms. Scanlon, they enjoy playing parachute games and dancing to GoNoodle. Keep it up Senior Infants!!

FUNdamentals and Parachute Fun with Junior Infants.

Our Junior Infants are a fabulous little bunch. They just love being outside and active. One of their favourite PE games is playing with the school parachute. Ms. Ryan has taught them lots of games. They love to work together and get moving.

Junior Infants have also been working on their FUNdamental skills throwing and catching. This little group are up for any challenge and won’t be beaten!

School Hurling League and “Playworks” Friday.

Our school Hurling league started on Friday 15^th November with a bang. Mr.McCarthy divided our 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th class children into mixed teams, assigned each team a teacher and a colour to represent their team. Over the four weeks children will be competing on a league basis to gain points to advance to later stages of the competition. To date there have been some epic battles and skilful games which are great fun to be involved in.

Ms. Lanigan’s “Playworks” Friday is running along side the hurling league. Each week Ms.Lanigan introduces a new game to play and get us all moving . This week the group played “Blob -Tag” and “Cookie Jar”. The running and agility displayed were impressive and the teachers were surprised by all the dodging and co-ordination shown by the group.

What a fantastic way to end the week -being active and having fun-our favourite combination!

Good luck to all involved.

“Active Break , Every Day” Challenge Complete.

Well done to all in Scoil Naomh Cualán on completing the “Active Break, Every Day” Challenge. Each class made a great effort to get even more active on a daily basis. There were many activities chosen right across the school – running,outdoor games, 10@10 , GONOODLE, Cosmo kids and many more.

Not only did the Active Break initiative provide us with lots of fun , it helped us to be more focused on our work and keep our hearts healthy! Big thank you to all the Active School Committee members for ensuring all the classes were well-informed, ensuring the children were happy with their active breaks and keeping us teachers on our toes to tick our charts on a daily basis.

Providing an extra active break every day has become an important part of our day .Whilst the “Active Break Every Day” Challenge finished on 6th December, we are confident it will continue right across the school to keep our classes happy and focused.

Take a look at our pictures below! Can you spot yourself and if so, what activity were you doing? Just Dance, Yoga, running games, Gonoodle, 10@10?? Or did your teacher make up their own activity?What was your favourite activity? We love seeing all of your smiles and how happy being active makes us all. Super work everyone!

“Active Break ,Every Day” Challenge

From 11^th November to 6^th December , Scoil Naomh Cualán have committed to participate in the “Active Break, Every Day” Challenge.

On Monday 11^th, our Active School Committee visited and explained to each class what the challenge involved. Classes are encouraged to participate in short classroom-based or outdoor physical activity breaks to restore focus and concentration, as well as injecting a little FUN into every school day. These activities can be running , dancing or exercise breaks.

At the end of each day , our committee members will visit each classroom and record what exercises were completed by each class displayed on their posters. Our Active School Committee suggested many activities such as Just Dance, Gonoodle, 10@10 and Cosmo kids to classes. Wish us luck!

Third and Fourth Class Football Blitz

Our 3^rd and 4^th class boys and girls headed off to two separate blitzes this week. The weather was not as nice as we hoped but we tried our best all the same. Maith sibh!

October Under 11 Football Blitz

Well done to our under 11 boys representing Scoil Naomh Cualan in a blitz hosted by Borrisoleigh today. You were all superstars!

Scoil Mhuire Indoor Hurling Tournament

On 3^rd October, 5^th and 6^th class excitedly headed off to Scoil Mhuire Secondary School for an indoor hurling tournament. We arrived just in time for lunch and were treated to a hot dinner to fuel our bodies for some physical exercise. After lunch ,we were divided into teams. We thoroughly enjoyed playing ground hurling in the Dome,it was fast paced and our reactions had to be quick. We joined forces with other children from neighbouring schools and even competed against our own school mates!! Thank you to all the transition year students and their teachers for inviting us to participate. A great day indeed.

Under 13 Girls Football Blitz

Hard luck under 13 girls team who lined out for a football blitz in Borrisoleigh today. They played very well but faced stiff competition from neighbouring schools. Unfortunately they did not qualify for the next round but enjoyed all the games they played in. Well done girls, you tried your very best and had great fun.

Under 13 Boys North Football Champions

Congratulations to our boys U13 team today as they were crowned north champions. Today’s opposition were Ardcroney NS and we are delighted to win with a score of 4-05 to 1-03.Captain Patrick Ryan accepted the trophy on behalf of Scoil Naomh Cualán. Well done boys. We are so proud of you. Best of luck in the semi-final!

Cross Country 2019 , 26^th September 2019.

Well done to all who represented Scoil Naomh Cualán in the Tipperary Primary Schools Cross-Country competitions in Thurles Crokes Complex Centre, Thurles. A fantastic day was had by all ,even if we did get a little wet! We highly commend each and every one of our participants for their perseverance and efforts despite the weather. An extra well done to those who came away with some silverware .

Our Active School Committee

Introducing our new Active School Committee.

Congratulations to all on their election to our new Active School committee.

Children from 5^th and 6^th class interested in joining the ASC were asked to enter a competition to win a place on the team. In order to be selected , children were invited to write a short paragraph stating why they would be suitable candidate for the team and to create a suitable slogan that will encourage other pupils to be active. We were extremely impressed by all the entries we received and it was a tough decision. We look forward to the year ahead and are delighted to have such a dedicated team to help with ideas to promote physical activity in Scoil Naomh Cualán.

A special congratulations to ___________ on creating this year’s Active School Slogan.

Scoil Naomh Cualán set their sights on first Active Flag.

This year in Scoil Naomh Cualán, we are so excited to be working towards achieving our first Active School Flag. We pride ourselves on being an active, sporting school and look forward to receiving our flag in recognition of this.

Our Facilities

Scoil Naomh Cualán is fortunate to have wonderful outdoor facilities for our children to be active, play games and have fun.

Our senior school consists of a large lined court with basketball hoops and with an adjacent smaller lined court with goals. The perimeter of these court are surrounded by grass areas and a large pitch.
These areas are divided into four sections and rotated on a daily basis. This allows classes to access different areas to promote and encourage participation in a variety of games such as soccer, basketball, Four Ball..etc. Children are also encouraged to walk and talk , play hide and seek, skip and, most importantly , enjoy their breaks outside in the fresh air.
Our junior side of the school has a large playground area also surrounded by grass. This area has also been recently lined and marked for our new games to be taught throughout the year.
Our PE shed is stocked with an array of sports equipment for us to enjoy.

In addition to all this, Scoil Naomh Cualán is very lucky to have the use of and quick access to Borrisoleigh Park. Our senior side of school use the park not only for PE but for matches, blitzes and sports days. It is a spacious area with several hurling pitches, a hurling wall, dressing rooms, a sports complex and a walking/running track.

With all this space and equipment to avail of, we love our active breaks and the fun we have playing with our friends.