Physical Education
- All pupils in our school are timetabled for 60 minutes Physical Education (PE) a week by teachers through their weekly timetables.
- All classes are taught at least 5 different PE strands each year. In 3rd Class, our pupils attend swimming once a week to explore the Aquatics strand in greater detail (this has changed to 4th Class in 2021/22 due to Covid restrictions the previous year). Water Safety is explored by other classes in greater detail through the ‘Land Paws’ programme. This year, first class and fifth class will be working through the programme.
- Our school plans were revised in 2019 to ensure that there is a balance in the amount of time spent teaching each strand.
- This year, our teachers have decided to focus on the ‘Outdoor and Adventure’ strand as an area to strengthen our delivery of during PE lessons.
- All teachers have been provided with folders of the PSSI PE lessons to enhance their teaching of PE.
- Our school ensures that PE lessons are accessible and inclusive for all pupils.
- PE progress is reported at our Parent-Teacher Meetings and is commented on in our end-of-year written reports.
- A large amount of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in the area of PE has been carried out amongst staff in the past 12 months.
- An audit of PE equipment is carried out each year, disposing of old and broken equipment. Ms Pyne is also responsible for keeping our PE Storeroom organised and in excellent shape. This area is well labelled and it is very easy to find resources.
- We decided that each class will cover the same strand each month for sharing equipment, lessons, activities and ideas. Our plan for this year is at the bottom of this page.
A look at our PE equipment…..
Fundamental Movement Skills
In our school we teach fundamental movement skills along with the PE strands in the curriculum. These basic skills form the foundations for all movement associated with exercise and physical activity and mastering them are seen as a necessary requirement in order to be considered physically literate. There are a number of teachers in the school who have attended the physical literacy seminars over the past number of years.
Fundamental Movement Skills training
In April 2022, Ms McBride and Ms O’Reilly attended a ‘Move Well Move Often’ training day where they learned how to teach fundamental movement skills. They found the course really informative and helpful and brought back lots of great ideas and resources to the rest of the staff.
Active Homework
All of the classes in the school receive ‘Active Homework’. There is a Junior and a Senior ‘Active menu’. The children choose an activity to do at home and colour it in when it is completed. Please see the Active homework templates below and a document with many other activities that can be done at home.
Outdoor and Adventure
We have decided on Outdoor and Adventure as our strand to focus on this year. We have gotten our school mapped for orienteering. A member of staff attended training for orienteering and we are hoping that more teachers will attend similar training this year when it becomes available. We have contacted The Irish Orienteering Association to get advice, ideas and resources and have found this very helpful. Our orienteering resources can be seen below and the class teachers have started planning for when we will cover this strand in June. The teachers will plan and set up lessons together and share ideas. This is one of the many benefits we have noticed since following our new PE plan where each class covers the same strand at the same time. Here are some of our resources for teaching the Outdoor and Adventure.
Orienteering in Junior Infants
Equipment for ‘Games’ strand
Thanks Mr Vaughan for allowing the ‘Active Committee’ to buy a new volleyball net and basketball hoops for covering the games strand in PE and for playing with on our active yard! The basketball hoops will also be used for our afterschool basketball training!
Our school has also invested in new footballs and basketballs this year to enable the best possible delivery of the curriculum.
PE Plan for the Year
| J. Infants | S. Infants | 1st Class | 2nd Class | 3rd Class | 4th Class | 5th Class | 6th Class | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September FMS: Walking, Running | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics | Games+Athletics |
| October FMS: Throwing, Catching | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games |
| November FMS: Hopping, Sidestepping | Dance | Dance | Dance | Dance | Dance | Dance | Dance | Dance |
| December FMS: Balancing, Landing | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics | Gymnastics |
| January FMS: Kicking | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games | Dance+Games |
| FEBRUARY FMS: BALANCING, LANDING | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS | GYMNASTICS |
| MARCH FMS: JUMPING FOR HEIGHT / DISTANCE | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS | ATHLETICS |
| APRIL FMS: JUMPING FOR HEIGHT / DISTANCE | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES | ATHLETICS AND GAMES |
| MAY FMS: HOPPING, SIDESTEPPING | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | AQUATICS AND OUTDOOR ADVENTURE |
| JUNE FMS: WALKING, RUNNING | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | OUTDOOR ADVENTURE |
St. Dominic’s National School 