As our Whole-School initiative this term, we have decided to create our own Walk and Talk Challenge by getting out in the community  each week. A different class follows our planned route and students chat with each other along the way to check in with each other and encourage wellbeing both physically and emotionally.

One of our parents, Sarah O'Connor-Ryan, who is an Operation Transformation leader this year, launched our initiative for us at the end of January.

Take a look at some of our classes getting involved below!

Rain, hail or shine, the boys and girls in Ballina Primary school choose to walk, cycle or scoot to school each day. 

On Thursday May 6th, we 'launched' our Active School Walkway. A huge thank you to our Active School Committee members for their help and enthusiasm (and posing for photos!) on the day. Each class were given a time slot to explore and use the walkway on the day. At each blue 'active' zone there were some sample exercises to complete, or the classes could come up with their own too. We were blessed with a fine sunny day and each class really enjoyed being active. We hope each class will continue to use the walkway throughout the school day, either to engage in their own physical activity choice or maybe try out some of the challenges in the Active Walkway booklet. 

Active School Committee's grand opening! 

​Rang 3 continuing to use the walkway (even in the rain!)

We try to incorporate physical activity and enjoyment into as many calendar events as possible throughout the year. 

Advent Activities
During the month of December , every class were active each day. For every day in December there was an activity - classroom circuits, jumping jacks, stretches, to name but a few! The crazy santa dance was a big hit in the junior rooms!! 

In the Infant classes, learning through fun, play and exercise is the best way for the children to remember topics and engage with their learning. 
Phonics - our sound of the week was 'y' so we did some yoga! Our sound was 'v' - Muinteoir Maire played her violin and we had a little dance!
Tricky words - pass the parcel (while dancing!), writing our tricky words outside on the court and then running/hopping to the word Muinteoir calls out. 

Maths - Maths trail around the school looking for numbers.

Gaeilge - ​Ceann, guaillí, glúine is cosa.

During the fine weather, the children love dancing to music in the yard during lunch time, such great moves! 

During Remote Learning in February, our school took part in the Climb the Heights Skipping Challenge. We had to skip or do jumping jacks every day, each skip was worth 1 metre in distance, all our skips were added together and we climbed lots of peaks in Europe. Well done everyone for taking part. Watch the video to see the wonderful participation from all classes! 

Some teacher contributions too!

​All classes completed the "Run to Lapland" challenge throughout the month of December 2020. Laps of the school yard were completed daily by all pupils. 1 lap = 100m. There was a map with weekly progress updates on the ASF notice board. We collectively ran 4050km which means we successfully ran to Lapland and completed the challenge. Pupils were very enthusiastic about this challenge and were highly motivated to complete it. It promoted a great sense of teamwork throughout the school. Some classes (in particular Muinteoir Paul's Rang 5) still do a daily run, no doubt they've made it back from Lapland by now! Watch our video to see how well we ran every day! 

 Each class received the Active Break Every Day challenge chart to record their run, dance or exercise active break. Classes were also given a set of large lollipop sticks with a variety of different exercises on each. There was excellent participation in this challenge, the pupils really enjoyed it and the benefits of active breaks were apparent with teachers reporting improved focus and a reduction in disruptive behaviour. Most teachers have continued to incorporate active breaks into their day everyday!

How lucky are we!! 
Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) paid a visit to our school as part of his tour around Ireland. We had such a fun day being active and listening to Joe giving health and fitness tips.