At Cloverfield N.S., we strive to ensure all pupils are afforded ample opportunities to engage in physical activity at school. We have worked together to increase the levels of physical activity of all pupils during the school day. We have discussed, planned and put in place many initiatives which have successfully increased pupils’ activity levels. 

Playground Leaders

Pupils from the Senior Room (4th, 5th, 6th) are fantastic playground leaders on the yard, organising and facilitating active games for the pupils from Junior Infants to 2nd Class (and older pupils who choose not to play the team game of the month). Playground leader games take place at lunch times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A wide variety of active games are organised in rotation. Such activities include tagging games, obstacle courses, fun relays, throwing games and much more! Our playground leaders wear the blue bibs provided by Active Schools, therefore, are easily identifiable by all!

Playground Equipment

We strive to ensure that all children are encouraged to be active on the yard at break times. On Mondays and Wednesdays playground equipment such as skipping ropes and hula hoops are available to be used by all pupils along with soccer games being played in the middle and senior yards. At different times throughout the year, alternative playground equipment is also available to be used by pupils during yard breaks e.g. inside outside ropes, tennis and skittles. We purchased a new yard equipment storage unit for easy access by our equipment managers.

Yard Discos

Friday yard discos are a big hit with all pupils. At lunch time on a Friday the speaker is brought out to the yard and the children get the chance to their favourite songs. The Junior pupils have learned several dances such as ‘Jump Jim Joe’, ‘Sasha’ and the ‘Do Si Do’ during their music lessons which they love to share with their older peers on the yard. Older pupils enjoy teaching dances to songs such as ‘Waka Waka’ and ‘The Macarena’. All pupils have had the chance to add their favourite song to the yard playlist! We have thematic yard discos on special occasions such as Christmas and on Jersey Day.

Our Active Walkway has been a great success since it was installed earlier this year. A route consisting of two laps of the school site was set out and the walkway signage was mounted. Hooks were installed next to each sign to allow for posters/charts to be hung on clipboards. The walkway is regularly used by all class groups and during whole school celebrations/events.

Teachers have made great use of the walkway learning charts and challenge charts. Additionally, the children have completed many different walkway activities in different subject areas (Gaeilge, Literacy, Maths, SESE etc.) using worksheets and posters made by the class teachers. The walkway is also used for active breaks and was used on several occasions by all during both our Wellbeing Week and our Active Schools Week.

Daily active breaks have always been central to our schedules in Cloverfield N.S. to support the needs of all pupils and to enhance pupils’ readiness to learn.

For a period of 4 weeks, all class groups were encouraged to record a daily active break. Classrooms were provided with sticker charts and stickers. On these charts, there were 20 spots on a pair of runners. Once a daily movement break of 5 minutes or more was completed a sticker was placed on the chart (e.g. 10 at 10, Bizzy Breaks, Danny Go, Go Noodle, Just Dance). 

Since the completion of this challenge, we have continued with active breaks every day in all classrooms, moving outdoors as much as possible as the weather got finer!

Our completed Skip Around Europe charts. We recorded our daily skips with our class and then calculated the total weekly skips on a Friday. At the end of the 4 weeks we completed the total number of skips! We were delighted to reach over 200,000 skips in total and to have successfully skipped to the cities all around Europe!

Photos from our Skip Around Europe challenge. Pupils and teachers enjoyed skipping daily for 4 weeks! Our skipping skills really improved and we challenged ourselves to try out new moves like backwards skipping and skipping in pairs! The set of rainbow ropes we received from Active Schools have been invaluable to us and continue to be used daily.

As our ‘Learning on the Move’ challenge, all pupils in Cloverfield N.S. participated in the Skip Around Europe initiative. All children took part in 15 minutes of skipping on a daily basis for a period of 4 weeks. Skipping has become a much loved activity amongst our pupils and is greatly encouraged by all staff. The benefits of these skipping breaks were evident to all as the children’s skills developed, their fitness levels increased and their alertness/readiness to learn improved on return to the classroom. 

We love incorporating physical activity into lots of different seasonal celebrations and occasions. Have a look at some of the different occasions/celebrations we have incorporated physical activity into this year. Hover over the photo and click on the magnifying glass to increase the size of the images.