Physical Education

In Dromindoora N.S. we aim to provide an enriched P.E. curriculum which encompasses at least five strands, The P.E. lessons which we teach caters for all needs of the pupils. Our dedicated teachers plan, organise and aim to make Physical Education fun, enjoyable and as diverse and as educational as possible.

Much of this planning centre on the engagement of the following:

-P.E. school plan which is updated annually.

-Primary School Curriculum which included the seven key messages

-P.E. Curriculum Teacher Guidelines

-P.S.S.I Lesson plans to support our teachings.

-Clare Sports Partnership

-Local G.A.A. club and G.A.A. County Board

-Move, Well, Move Often Resources

-Land PAWS Water Safety Programme.

All classes are taught at least five different strands of the curriculum each year. 

The key aims of Dromindoora N.S. in the delivering of the P.E. curriculum is to ensure that:

All children are provided with 1 hour of scheduled P.E. a week.

-All classes are taught 5 different PE strands each year: Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games and Outdoor and Adventure. Pool-based Aquatics is taught to all classes in the summer term in the Lady Gregory Hotel in Gort, Co. Galway. However, this has been curtailed for this year due to Covid. 

-A different PE strand is chosen each year for further development. In 2020/2021. Athletics is our key focus. 

-A standardised PE timetable is organised at the beginning of each year to ensure a balanced programme of physical activity. 

-All sporting and exercise-related efforts and achievements are always acknowledged in class and on our ASF notice boards. With little events currently taking place due to Covid-19 this has been significantly curtailed.

P.E. Equipment Audit

We carried out an audit of our P.E equipment. A big thank you to our amazing secretary Claire for her organisation and labelling of the P.E. cupboard.

Athletics

This year we focused in particular on the strand Athletics and are continuing to master our skills of jumping for height and running. We used the Move Well Move Often Resource to supplement our lessons.

We were extremely fortunate and grateful to have obtained some Athletics equipment from Clare Sports Partnership for the month of October. The children really enjoying using the equipment to develop their skills. 

Playground Games

This year, we dedicated a lot of time to teaching the children playground games. Playground games are a wonderful opportunity to develop movement skills. We used the PDST Playground games resources as inspiration for our lesson planning.

PAWS

We are also delivering the Aquatics strand this year by completing Water Safety Ireland’s Paws programme ( Primary Aquatics Water Safety)

School Clousure

We used the learning platform Seesaw to upload a wealth of Active School home activities for the children to engage with during school closure.

Clare Sport’s Partnership

During school closure, we availed of the fantastic physical activity resources provided by Clare Sport’s Partnership. This consisted of short videos which were posted to Seesaw by the teacher daily for the children to engage with. 

-Week 1 (Jan 18th – 22nd) – General movement/ exercise – lead by Clare LSP staff

-Week 2 (Jan 25th – 29th) – Dance with Breakthrough Dance Co. (each day, pupils will be given a few steps from the routine to learn, and by day 5, the full dance routine can be performed)

-Week 3 (Feb 1st – 5th) – Gymnastics with Magda (I am sure a lot of kids are missing her as many schools couldn’t run gymnastics this year, so even if schools are open, this can be done within the classroom or as part of homework)

School Fitness Ireland

The School Fitness Ireland After School Club aims to encourage kids in their 

fitness journeys and to teach kids to stay active.

We had free access to School Fitness Ireland After School Club classes which 

Included:

– G.A.A

– Yoga

– Irish Dancing

– Gymnastics

– Zumba

Clare G.A.A. Hurling

Clare G.A.A. provided excellent videos tailored to Primary P.E. with Peter Casey. The children really enjoyed learning and honing their hurling skills. A welcome distraction from zoom and Seesaw whilst encouraging the children to keep active.

P.E. Plan 2020 – 2021