Scoil Assaim is an Active School! We were recently awarded the Active Flag and it is flying proudly outside our school! The Active School Flag initiative is a Department of Education and Skills initiative supported by Healthy Ireland aiming to encourage schools to be more active, more often.
Our Mission is to educate each child within our care to the best of that child's ability and to lead our pupils too early adolescence in the happy development of all their gifts and talents.
As part of the Active School Flag process, the staff at Scoil Assaim reviewed the current status of Physical Education across the school. We ensured that all pupils are provided with a minimum of 60 minutes of timetabled PE per week and that all classes are taught at least 5 different PE strands each year, using the PSSI and PDST lesson plans and resources. PE has always been considered a vital element of the curriculum taught at Scoil Assaim, and is reflected as such as PE feedback is discussed in PT meetings, and included in all annual school reports alongside other taught subjects. The staff has undertaken CPD in PE within the past 12 months, and all new ideas, knowledge, and strategies have been shared among all staff. We have also chosen to prioritize one particular strand each year to be further developed. This year we are focusing on the Outdoor and Adventure strand. Teachers have also committed to set active homework at all class levels.
"All primary schools are managed by a group of four or eight people who have a particular interest in the provision of primary schooling in their local area. This team is made up of parents' representatives, teachers, representatives of the patron and community representatives who have a particular interest or expertise."
As we have chosen Outdoor and Adventure as our focus PE strand for this year, classes across the school have embarked on a range of interesting activities to develop this strand further, and the students have enjoyed putting their exploratory skills to the test through orienteering, trail activities, and treasure hunts! Take a look at some of the snaps below to get a taste of the adventure!
The boys in each class mixed their orienteering and Gaeilge skills to complete ‘Tóraíocht Taisce’ following maps of the school grounds to hunt for words to complete sentences as Gaeilge! They also participated in ‘cluichí clós’ where they had to match up hidden pictures and words - no cone was left unturned!
