Physical Activity
Physical Activity is the promotion and engagement of exercise and movement in addition to the 60 minutes per week time-tabled curriculum subject of PE.
Scoil Eoin provides twice daily playground breaks for all classes where children can enjoy running, skipping, chatting and playing on the yard. Our yard is zoned to accommodate different age groups and we provide an area where children can use PE equipment on the yard in line with a timetable provided by the teachers. Children who prefer to chat with friends are encouraged to ‘Do Your Talking When You’re Walking’. We have Playground Leaders who are in charge of setting up stations on the yard using the school’s PE equipment and they also assist and monitor younger classes who are engaging in various games/ exercises.
Active School Walkway
We officially launched our Active School Walkway during ASW. On the first day of ASW we completed our first lap of our active school walkway situated at The Bleach. One lap is 800m which will be marked at every 200 metre mark. Enjoy!
Physical Activity Breaks
Physical activity breaks increase oxygen to the brain, burn calories and can improve positive thinking. The benefits of physical activity breaks go long beyond the effects on the body. They also are associated with improved attention, concentration, academic achievement, memory and reduced stress.
Run Around Europe
In October 2018, each class in Scoil Eoin began their journey around Europe. We measured the perimeter of the school yard and decided that one lap of the yard would be the equivalent to 1km on the map of Europe. So as the children ran laps of the yard they began clocking up kilometers on their journey to attempt to run to a particular destination in Europe.
Climb the Heights
Similarly our ‘Jump in January’ theme we decided that every jump through a skipping rope would be the equivalent of climbing 1km on a variety of mountain ranges in Europe. Pupils enjoyed climbing the heights!
Additional Info
Our school incorporates physical activity into annual calendar events throughout the year – Christmas concert, school sports day, and are accessible by all pupils.Pupils really enjoy our new reward system – extra yard time, early yard time etc replacing our reliance on ‘sweets as treats’.
We strongly believe that using PE as a reward is great as experts believe that when food is given as a reward, children start to connect it with something good or bad, rather than to see food as fuel for their body. In the long run, this could lead to emotional eating as adults and generate an unhealthy relationship with food. Food rewards also teach kids to expect food when they’ve done something well, which can lead to poor nutrient intakes, eating when not hungry and excess calories. This reward strategy sets the proper stage for a healthy relationship with food, so non-food rewards such as physical exercise are a wiser strategy.
