Active School Flag

Active School Flag is a Department of Education and Skills initiative supported by Healthy Ireland. The Active School Flag is awarded to schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community. The process aims to get more schools, more active, more often. Over the next few months, the staff and students of Tallanstown N.S, aim to work towards achieving our First Active School Flag.

Our mission is: To get all our children engaged in 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Meet our Active School Flag Committee!

Our ASF Committee is made up of pupils from 1st to 6th class. We are working very hard to obtain an Active Flag for Tallanstown N.S. With the help of the committee, the whole school staff and pupils are kept informed of our quest.

Our Active School Slogan

We can jump and we can run, Active Schools is really fun!

What does the ASF Committee do?

Attend ASF meetings.
Encourage everyone to be active during the day and at lunchtime assemblies.
Set up equipment for the Active Walkway and help with Active lines.
Come up with ideas throughout the year by speaking to their classes and bringing ideas to the ASF committee meetings.
Inform the pupils of what we will be focusing on in the next month during school assembly.

GAA

Coach Barry Tether worked each week with our Junior, Senior and 1st class pupils during terms 2 and 3. The children are really enjoying Barry’s drills and mini games in a relaxed, inclusive and fun way.

In September Coach Paddy Lynch started hurling with 3rd and 4th classes. This is a new sport for many of the children and they seem to be really enjoying it. Over the coming weeks it will be interesting to watch their skills develop.

Basketball

The Senior pupils are taking part in weekly basketball sessions with Coach Podge from Basketball Ireland. The pupils are developing their skills such as dribbling, passing, shooting and rebounding through engaging in basketball drills and mini games.

The 3rd and 4th class lunch time leagues are in full swing. There are 10 teams competing in the league with semi-finals and finals taking place during Active Week.

Physical Education

In Tallanstown N.S. we follow a full PE curriculum and cover all strands which are

Athletics
Games
Gymnastics
Aquatics
Orienteering
Dance

We have decided to focus on the Games Strand for this term. All classes in the school will focus on this strand from Christmas to the end of February. We have very close partnerships with the GAA, Basketball Ireland and Ardee Rugby Club who support our school in promoting games in all classes.

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Rugby

Ian from Ardee Rugby Club puts the pupils through their paces each week as part of his partnership with our school to promote the game of Rugby. The pupils really enjoy these sessions with Ian and learn the skills of the game in a non- physical environment. The pupils have taken part in local blitzes during the year hosted by Ardee Rugby Club

Credit Sportsfile

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Soccer

Mr. Stanley’s annual soccer tournaments took place between Christmas and Easter. These boys and girl’s tournaments are eagerly anticipated by the pupils in 4th to 6th classes each year. The teams are selected and play group games during lunch break. The finals are keenly contested and watched by a large audience.

Aquatics

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Pupils from 2nd to 6th class travel weekly to Aura Leisure Complex, Dundalk to complete an eight-week block of swimming lessons. Swimming and being confident in the water are essential for the health and safety of our pupils. It is safe to say that all pupils really enjoy these swimming lessons in Aura with experienced and patient swimming instructors. Here are some pictures of our excited pupils getting the bus to the pool.

Active Week

Active Week was held from May 29th to June 2nd and was a huge success. The beautiful weather and varied programme of events contributed to the enjoyment for all pupils. Mr. Brennan drew up a timetable for the week including our Sports Day on Thursday.

Day 1

The week commenced with our popular Walking Bus which got us all in the mood for the week ahead.

The action kicked off with Gaeilge stations for infants, followed by Team building for the senior pupils and Ms. Gernon’s dance workshop for the middle classes. The GAA tournament also got under way with mixed round games in the Glyde Field

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Day 2

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The activity continued on Tuesday with another action-packed day. GAA and Soccer coaching proved a huge hit with parental involvement from both Anthony and David. Badminton, a new sport to the school went down a treat as did Fitkids in the hall with Niall. The basketball semi-finals also took place on Tuesday.

Day 3

Mrs. Hyland organised Mini Athletics for the junior end of the school on Wednesday morning and this was followed by Ms.McAree’s boot camp where the older pupils were put through a rigorous workout and got to try many new challenges in a fun and inclusive environment. Sean from Ardee Community School took the 5th class pupils for a basketball session on Wednesday afternoon.

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Day 4

Thursday was Sports Day and all children got to participate in 3 fun activities/races and thoroughly enjoyed the events. The races were preceded by activity stations such as Cross the Divide, Water Race, Parachute games, Dress-up race to name but a few. The football league continued in the Glyde Field.

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Day 5

The final day of an action-packed week included hula hoop/skipping games, a table tennis tournament, the Football and Basketball finals and a Dance Workshop with Ms. O’Hara. A wonderful week, enjoyed by staff and pupils!

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Partnerships

In Tallanstown N.S. we are conscious of the importance of reaching out to parents, local clubs in our community, National Organisations and Initiatives and other Schools Initiatives. We have an excellent relationship with our local GAA clubs Westerns GFC, Sean McDermotts GFC and Glyde Rangers GFC, and we are often supported by coaches from the club when it comes to schools’ football. We also have a good relationship with Ardee Celtic and Ardee Rugby Club and we have had coaches from these clubs come into the school to promote these sports.

As part of our Active Flag we have been in touch with Louth Sports Partnership with a view to possible funding and our Local Community Garda with regard to Bike to School Safety.

Our Green School Committee have being successful in getting a bike rack installed and we hope that this will encourage more of our students to cycle to school.

We have used the Irish Heart Foundation’s Website which has a wealth of activities suitable for Movement Breaks and challenges.

We also have used the Irish Water Safety’s PAWS programme which teaches children the importance of safety around water.

Some of the staff engaged with the FAI Futsal programme following a webinar given by Cormac Moussally programme director. We hope to engage further with this programme during the school year.

Physical Activity

We also organise a vast range of additional physical activities throughout the year including Yoga, Fitkids, Walking bus, Active breaks, and Dance workshops.

Yoga

Yoga teachers Ashling and Shauna come to our school to work with all the pupils in a relaxing and mindful way. These yoga classes are a big part of our Wellbeing initiative in Tallanstown school, and we always strive to make school a happy and carefree place for our pupils. Ashling and Shauna have a wonderful rapport with the children and engage them in breathing, body awareness and stretching. The focus is always on wellness and mindfulness.

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Fit Kids

The boys and girls from Junior Infants to Second class love participating in Niall Teather’s Fitkids classes. These fun-filled and active classes promote strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, agility and co-ordination. Check out our action-packed sessions here.

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Walking Bus

The Wellbeing and Green School committees organise a number of walking buses during the school year. The pupils and teachers really enjoy these early morning walks that pick-up boys and girls from each estate in Tallanstown. Parents are encouraged to join in with the children and their neighbours to walk to school together. Many parents drop their children off at designated points along the route to join in the fun. We try to incorporate a theme such as Halloween dress up, Christmas jumper walk, Lá glas etc. to add to the excitement during the walk. We eagerly await our next morning adventure!

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Dance Workshops

We are really fortunate in Tallanstown N.S. to have our very own highly experienced dance teacher, Ms.O’Hara. The pupils really enjoy her modern dance workshops where she teaches various dance moves that the pupils perform in groups. Ms.O Hara has led the pupils in dance during our recent Well-being and non-uniform days.

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Playground games/Active Breaks

Our 5th and 6th Class pupils have been teaching our junior pupils some traditional playground games over the past few months. Members of the Active School Committee trained the senior pupils and there is a rota in place so that different pupils are timetabled each week. The leaders set up the activities and take charge of the equipment before and after lunch. This is a wonderful opportunity for the leaders to develop their self-esteem and confidence and the junior pupils really look forward to these days every week. All pupils are engaging in Active Movement Breaks throughout the week as they strive to achieve the target of 60 minutes physical activity every day. Both teachers and children get involved in various activities such as Brain Breaks, Busy Breaks, Wake Up Shake Up, Jam Jar activities to name but a few. These activities are a welcome break from sitting especially during wet weather.

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Active Lines

Active lines take place on Wednesdays after lunch break. Ms. Brosnan’s 4th class lead the lines in the junior yard and keep all pupils moving until collected by their teachers. The Active School Committee members lead the lines in the back yard. These leaders decide on the activities and come up with their own novel moves.

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Table Tennis takeover

We were fortunate in Tallanstown N.S. to acquire a number of table Tennis sets from Active Schools Ireland. This equipment is timetabled, and each class sets up table tennis tables in their classrooms. This is a wonderful opportunity for the pupils to try a new sport in a fun way. There have been several tournaments taking place in the classrooms with pupils and teachers getting involved and playing for a night off homework.

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Cumann na mBunscol

Our senior pupils take part in Cumann na mBunscol competitions and the school have a very strong tradition in these competitions having won both the 9 a side and 13 a side competition on a number of occasions. During the past school year our Boys won both of the above competitions, and this was a huge honour for them, their parents and the school. Mr. Brennan and Brian coach the boys teams and organise games for them throughout the year. There is also a very strong tradition of girls football in the school and the girls have been very competitive in all games last season. Ms. McArdle, Ms. Finlay and Orla coach the girls teams.

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SCOIL BHAILE AN TALLÁNAIGH
DÚN DEALGAN, CONTAE LÚ

Tel: 042-9374419

Active School Flag

Meet our Active School Flag Committee!

Our Active School Slogan

What does the ASF Committee do?

GAA

Basketball

Physical Education

Rugby

Soccer

Aquatics

Active Week

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Partnerships

Physical Activity

Yoga

Fit Kids

Walking Bus

Dance Workshops

Playground games/Active Breaks

Active Lines

Table Tennis takeover

Cumann na mBunscol

Heading 6

SCOIL BHAILE AN TALLÁNAIGH DÚN DEALGAN, CONTAE LÚ

Tel: 042-9374419

Active School Flag

Meet our Active School Flag Committee!

Our Active School Slogan

What does the ASF Committee do?

GAA

Basketball

Physical Education

​

Rugby

Soccer

Aquatics

SCOIL BHAILE AN TALLÁNAIGH
DÚN DEALGAN, CONTAE LÚ