Yard Time!
We are so happy to be back to School so we can play in the yard with our friends! Yard time is a little bit different this year, but we will make it as fun as possible! We can play on yard with our whole class bubble at our designated yard time. Each class has a yard equipment bag, which allows us to enjoy many different activities during yard time!
Update March 2021- Following our student and parent’s survey, we have changed this years yard time routine to provide more room and extra activities for our class bubbles during yard time! Archery has been a very popular addition to our yardtime activities!
Our Playground
We are delighted to have such an amazing playground in our school yard! Each class gets to use our adventure trail playground at least once a week. Activities on our playground include balance beams, rotating beams, tyres and wobbly logs to make our way across!
GAA (October)
Nigel is back to help us develop our gaming and athletics skills for a block of GAA for every class!
November- Dance Aerobics!
All classes really enjoyed trying dance aerobics with Glen as a new activity!
Break a Day Challenge (November)
Well done to all students in our class! Every class participated in the ‘Break a Day’ Challenge, where they did an active break every day for the month of November. Active breaks allow us to get our bodys moving and give our brains a break, which helps us stay motivated and concentrate during our lessons.
Running the Track! (December)
Here at MQI, all classes have committed to decreasing sedentary time (time spent sitting down) at school. In our efforts to do this, all classes will walk or run around our local track (located just behind the school grounds) at least once a fortnight. Running is also one of the FMS we are working on this year, so this action will help us to practice our running effectively. After walking or running the track, we return to class with a fresh and active mind to continue our learning,
December- Santa Dance Disco!
To celebrate the end of a fantastic first term, every class held a Christmas disco with upbeat Christmas songs, where they showed off their amazing dance moves!
Jump Into January Challenge
Jumping is one of the FMS we are working on improving this year, so let’s start January off with a PE Challenge- Jump Into January! Even though we are not in school, we can do this challenge from home!
We want everyone to get busy jumping this month! See how many consecutive jumps (jumps in a row without stopping!) that you are able to do. Try this at least twice a week for the month of January, and post on your Google Classroom to let us know how many jumps you did each time you try.
We would also love to see photos or videos of you trying the challenge. Try to beat your last score every time! At the end of the month, check how many jumps you did on your first try, and how many on your last try- I’m sure you will see a big improvement!
You could use a skipping rope for this challenge if you have one, and try to practice how many times you can skip without stopping. If anyone would like to spend a couple of weeks practicing their skipping before trying the Jump into January Challenge, below there is a video that teaches you how to skip! You can practice the steps in this video, and then try the Jump into January Challenge whenever you feel ready. Alternatively, if you do not have a skipping rope, you can still do the challenge using a different type of jump- hopping on one leg, jumping with 2 feet together around a path or track, frog jumps, hop scotch jumping (2 feet to 1 foot, 1 foot to 2 feet.) Good luck and have fun jumping! Don’t forget to tell us your scores!
School Workouts!
A huge well done to everyone who took part in our whole school aerobics and yoga workouts on Google Meet with Carol! It is fantastic to see that our students and families have stayed so active while learning from home!
Our School Walkway Trail
We are delighted to have MQIs very own walkway trail on our school grounds that we hope all classes make lots of use out of, especially during the fine weather! Our Walkway trail begins at the gateway of our yard and follows along the green fence, leading us across to the Junior yard and back around the school building. The greenway trail is 200 metres from start to finish.
Getting Active for Seachtain na Gaeilge!
We did an active word hunt as gaeilge for Seachtain na Gaeilge this year! We hunted for Irish words that we can find in our school garden.
Run a Day Challenge- April
We have a very fun challenge lined up for four weeks- the Run a Day challenge! Every class will take the time to go for a run every day for 4 weeks. Our classes can choose to run a lap of the school yard (100m), the walkway trail (250m) or the local track (300m). At the end of the week, 6th class gather all the information from each class and add up how many kilometers we have ran altogether. We then figure out where in Ireland we have reached! Running is one of our FMS we are working on improving this year, so this challenge gives us the opportunity to practice this skill.
Run a Day Challenge Week 2- Update!
- So far, Junior and Senior Infants have run 85.8km altogether- a very long distance for our youngest class!
- 1st and 2nd class have reached a huge 124.15km!
- 3rd and 4th class have worked hard to reach 98.05km!
- 5th class have powered their way through 65.75km!
- 6th class have already sped along 79.05km!
An excellent effort from all our classes. We have reached the Spire (17km away), Powerscourt Waterfalls (50km away), Newgrange (60km away) and some of our classes have even reached Clara Bog in Offaly! (89km away).
Run A Day Challenge- Week 3!
An update on our Run a Day challenge!
- Junior infants ran 83.6km this week, bringing their total to 169.40km
- 1st and 2nd ran 80.5km this week, which means they ran a total of 204.65 km
- 3rd and 4th sprinted into the lead this week by running a huge 110.15km this week, bringing the total to 208.20km!
- 5th class ran 82.50km this week, bringing them to 148.25 km altogether.
- 6th class ran 82.45km this week, which brings them up to 161.50km altogether.
A huge well done to all! For the final week of the challenge next week, teachers will get involved to help give their classes some extra kilometres!
This means that all our classes have reached Hilsborough Castle in Co. Down (140km away), Kilkenny Castle (140km away), and Slieve Donard in Co. Down (140km away). Some of our classes have reached the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary (170k, away) Benbulbin in County Sligo (175km away), and even Hook Head Lighthouse (200km away).
Run A Day Challenge- Final Week!
All classes have made a huge effort with our Run A Day challenge over the past 4 weeks. A huge well done to all. We look forward to running this challenge again next year!
- The total distances for each class are as follows:
- Junior & Senior Infants- a very impressive 353km!
- 1st and 2nd class- they took the lead with an amazing 353.15km!
- 3rd and 4th class- a fantastic 320.15km.
- 5th class- a super 262.75 km
- 6th class- a fabulous 282.25km.
All classes have reached Aran Islands in Co. Galway (227km away) and Giant’s Causeway in Co. Antrim (260km away). Some of our classes reached the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare (266km away) the Blarney Stone in Co. Cork (269km away), Malin Head in Co. Donegal ( 280km away), Kylemore Abbey in Co. Galway (290km away) Carrauntoohil in Co. Kerry (330km away).
In total, our whole school ran a whopping 1571.3kms!
