In St.Finian’s N.S each class receives at least an hour per week of physical education. All classes are taught 5 different PE strands each year: Games, Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics and Outdoor and Adventure. By taking part in the Active School Flag programme it has helped us to focus on an improved provision of Physical Education in the school. Teachers use the Primary Schools’ Sport Initiate to help when teaching and delivering the different strands as well as the “Move Well, Move Often “programme. The strands are also supported by our visiting GAA coach Seán who takes classes in 6 week blocks throughout the year.

Games

The strand units of the Games curriculum include:
Sending, receiving and travelling
Creating and playing games
Understanding and appreciation of games
In September we focused on the Games strand with the aim of developing the fundamental movement skill of catching.
During Games lessons children were provided with opportunities to develop skills, create and play games, understand and appreciate new and familiar games.  The children have opportunities to develop skills and understanding through enjoyable individual, small group and team activities.
We will revisit this strand in February.

Athletics

The strand units of the athletics curriculum include:
Running
Jumping
Throwing
Understanding and appreciation of athletics
In October we focused on the Athletics strand with the aim of developing the FMS of running.
When delivering the athletics programme it was important to provide opportunities for the child to challenge him/herself to run using the correct technique while exploring the concepts of running over distance, relays, hurdling and sprinting.
We will revisit this strand in April.

Dance

The strand units of the dance curriculum include:
Exploration, creation and performance of dance
Understanding and appreciation of dance
Throughout November we are focusing on Creative Dance alongside developing the FMS of skipping.
The emphasis of Dance is always on enjoyment and full involvement by the children and opportunities are provided for the children to be creators, performers and an audience of Dance while exploring concepts such as body shapes, body actions, levels, directions, mirror movement and rhythm.
We will revisit this strand in March.

Gymnastics

The strand units of the gymnastics curriculum include.
Movement
Understanding and appreciation of gymnastics
This year, as part of the ASF initiative, it was decided by the PE team to select Gymnastics as the strand for development within the school.
We will focus on this strand in our Physical Education lessons in December and January where we will practise all the basic movement actions of balancing, rolling, turning, twisting, stretching, climbing, transferring weight with a variety of rolls. When doing gymnastics we will travel on apparatus. We will devise individual, pair and group sequence and practise take-off and landing skills. Gymnastics will help us with our posture and good body tension. It is also really beneficial to observe and describe movement of peers as this helps with the understanding and appreciation of Gymnastics.

Outdoor and Adventure

The strand units of the Outdoor and Adventure curriculum include:
Walking
Orienteering
Outdoor Challenges
Understanding and appreciation of outdoor and adventure activities
In term 3 we will set up orienteering courses around the school. The activities in this strand help to develop appreciation and enjoyment of the great outdoors.  The activities are team-orientated and develop social skills.  Some involve map-reading and problem-solving, coming to group decisions, developing leadership qualities and taking calculated risks.