This weekend 2nd Class should have been having a very special family celebration for their First Holy Communion.
As we’re all aware this won’t be happening as planned and I’m sure all the boys and girls as well as their families are disappointed that the big day has had to be postponed.
Hopefully we’ll be able to make up for this disappointment later on this year when regulations will allow the ceremony to go ahead.
This morning Msgr. Coonan celebrated a special Mass from his home for all the boys and girls in 2nd Class. I know he has missed visiting the school over the past couple of months and meeting up with all the wonderful 2nd Class.
Bishop Denis Nulty recorded a message for all the boys and girls of our diocese who had been preparing for First Communion this year. You can see it here.
As the weather looks good for the next few days, hopefully all the children will still get to enjoy the weekend.
As I’m sure you are aware the Taoiseach announced on Friday that schools are to remain closed for the remainder of this academic year. I know this is a difficult situation for you all. Obviously it’s disappointing that the children won’t get a chance to meet up with their classmates before the end of the school year and it’s especially hard for 6th Class to end their primary school life this way. We’ll make every effort to mark this milestone in a creative way.
From a teacher point of view there is nothing that we would like more than to get back to normal school and meet up with our classes as usual. As this will not be possible we will continue with our online activities as best as we can for the coming weeks. Only do what is possible and please don’t let the work be a cause of stress or anxiety in your family.
All teachers will continue to communicate with pupils. If you or your child would like any extra help or advice just email any of us or send a message through Class Dojo and we will call or email you or your children personally.
I want to say a special well done to you and your children for the wonderful response to Active Home Week. It was great to see such enthusiasm and activity. Thanks to Ms. Leonard for all the organising which made the week so enjoyable and successful.
If you have been tracking your steps this week, take a picture of the highest step count you achieved in one single day and send this to your teacher by Sunday at 6pm. The student with the highest step count from each class will receive a prize.
Winners will be announced here on Monday. Good luck!
Here are today’s activities:
1. Plank challenge part 2
See if you can complete one round of this tricky challenge-
2. Indoor activities
These two activities can be completed indoors or outdoors.
3. Couch to 2k:
Yesterday was a rest day from running.
Day 5 on the plan:
Warm up
5 mins walking
Alternate 1 minute easy running and 1 minute walking for a total of 15 minutes. (Within 2k of your home.)
Don’t forget to follow the fundamental movement skills we have been working on for running this year.
4. Rugby
Tag rugby is a sport we have really enjoyed doing in school this year with our rugby coach. Here are the Whelans in action:
Mrs Gorman’s family are avid rugby players. They sent us a video challenge all the way from New Zealand!
Mr Galvin also has a rugby related challenge for you. An Haka Gaelach. Bain triail as!
Weekend activites
There are two days left of our Active Home Week. It is up to you now to come up with some activities of your choice.
Here are some ideas you may be interested in:
30 second challenges submitted by Conall in 5th Class:
2. A selection of activities submitted by Ailish in 1st Class:
Draw your own hopscotch grid and play hopscotch.
Have a dance off with your siblings or your parents.
Go to an open space with your siblings or your parents and take part in family relays and races.
Skip a Mile: If you skip 1609 times, you have skipped 1 mile.
Play a game of football with your family.
Air Boxing: Stand with one foot in front of the other, elbows bent ready to box. Now throw imaginary punches, using both arms one after the other. How fast and how many can you do?
Floor Sits: Can you go from sitting on the ground to standing upright, without holding onto anything? If so, how many can you do?
Circle Arm Walk: Starting in a press up position, arms shoulder width apart. Can you walk your hands around in a circle until you reach your starting point again?
Catch it If You Can: You can play this game on your own or with a partner. If you want to try this on your own, just throw and catch against a wall. Grab a ball and practice throwing to a partner/wall. Try an underarm throw, an overarm throw, one-handed/two-handed throw and one-handed/two-handed catch. How many catches can you get without dropping the ball? How many times can you catch in a row? Can you catch high and low? Try changing direction as you throw.
Our final positive message of the week comes from Lieutenant Brian Clarke who is based in Custume Barracks in Athlone.
A word of thanks
Many thanks to all those who helped us over the past week, from Tullamore to New Zealand. It is with your passion and commitment to your work that you will continue to thrive in your chosen field as we navigate through these challenging times. Thank you kindly to the wonderful frontline staff for their words of encouragement. We cannot praise them enough for all they are doing for our community and beyond. Finally a huge well done to you, the children of Geashill N.S. You are doing a great job by staying home and keeping safe. Your parents, along with the staff in this school are incredibly proud of you.
It’s day four of Active Home Week; we are over half way there. Continue to track your steps, make note of your daily activities and keep up the great work!
1. Fitness challenge
John McDonald, a Tullamore based Personal Trainer, has kindly submitted today’s challenge. Give this a try and send us your photos and videos!
2. Plank activities
Today Eimear (EB Health and Wellness) is sharing some variations of core strengthening exercises based on the plank.
One of our 5th class students has been practicing her own variation of the plank:
Thank you for sending in your brilliant videos and photos of yesterday’s activities. Keep sharing them with us as we love to see all of your hard work. If you would like to share an idea for your own challenge for Thursday or Friday, send your teacher a video via ClassDojo or email.
One of our Junior Infants has been busy practicing her football skills at home. As you can see, all you need is a ball and a wall!
Eimear from EB Health Wellness Tullamore has very kindly sent us today’s football challenge. Using both feet, how many catches can you make in one minute?
2. Activity stations
Fiadh from 4th class sent in this great idea. Make some activity stations outside using chalk.
Similarly, Eimear has suggested making an obstacle course outside- you don’t need much equipment for this. Be creative and use whatever you have at home!
3. Running: Couch to 2k
On Monday we received a brilliant post-run picture. Running is such a great way for families to keep active together. It is also one of the fundamental movement skills we have been working on this year.
Day 3 of the plan: (Yesterday was a rest day from running.)
Warm up
5 mins walking
Alternate 1 minute easy running and 1 minute walking for a total of 10 minutes. (Within 2k of your home)
4. Gymnastics
Gymnastics Ireland have posted a series of fun fitness workouts to their page.
While you have all been exercising at home, so have we! Have a go at this:
You will have seen some familiar faces here- but have you noticed that two of our key staff members are missing? Mr and Mrs Hyland! I wonder what they have planned for tomorrow’s video…
Today’s message was kindly sent to us from two of the many wonderful staff members in Tullamore Hospital.
We have received some fantastic videos and photos of yesterday’s activities. Keep sharing these with your class teacher as they will be included in a video compilation of all your hard work at the end of the week.
It is important to warm up before physical activity. Podge from Strength and Conditioning in Tullamore has kindly sent us a video with animal themed warm up activities for you to try at home. Which one is your favourite? Let your teacher know!
2. Skipping challenge
Today we have a skipping challenge from another member of our Active School Committee.
Hello everyone! This time of year we are usually busy preparing for our annual Active Schools Week. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, it is not possible for this to go ahead this year. Alternatively, you are invited to take part in the “Active HOME Week” challenge.
Children need 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Participating in the “Active Home Week” challenge is a great way to reach this target and to find new ways of being active.
This week we will be giving you lots of ideas to keep active whilst staying within 2km of your home. Staff, students, members of the community and https://activeschoolflag.ie/ have come together to share daily challenges and activities. If you would like to suggest ideas for this week, contact your teacher via email or ClassDojo and they will be happy to share it online.
Competitions:
There is a form below to be filled in daily. Use this form to track the activities you have tried this week. All students who complete and submit this form in full for their teacher by this Sunday at 6pm will have their names submitted for our prize draw. You can send this form via email or send a picture of it to your class teacher. Click here to download the form: 5. CHALLENGE Chart (Schools Working Towards ASF) ‘Fillable’ PDF
Step challenge: you are invited to take part in a daily step challenge. Using a Smart watch, Fitbit or a free phone app such as “step counter” or “pedometer”, track your steps this week. Take a picture of your steps and submit your highest daily step count for this week to your teacher. The student with the highest number of steps in each class will receive a prize.
Monday 27th April 2020
Good morning!
Feel free to share pictures or videos of your active work to your class teacher. They will be added to a slideshow video showcasing this week’s activities.
Here are today’s activities:
1. Handball
Peter Funchion is one of Ireland’s leading handball players. Click on the video below to see the challenge he has set out for you today.
On Friday 10th of April the Minister for Education, Joe McHugh , announced that all schools are to remain closed until further notice.
We will continue to provide learning activities for the children each week. They can be found in the Classes section of our website. A reminder that this work is there to help you and your children keep an element of routine and structure every day. It doesn’t have to be done, you can dip in and out of it if you wish, but above all it is not there to cause any stress or anxiety in your family.
All our teachers can be contacted by email or by Class Dojo where it is being used. Details are on the respective class pages.
Our support teachers are also very happy to be in contact. Their details are below.
A brief message again expressing our thanks to you for working so well with your children and us over the last three weeks. At a very difficult time for you all, your support and positivity has been a source of great encouragement for us.
Over Easter we will not be putting daily work up on our website and we would encourage you and your children to take a well-earned rest from school activities.
However we will have many ideas, suggestions and resources on our website if children still want to spend some of their day in that way. These can be found here.
Hopefully we will be back to normal school on April 20th, but if not, we will continue after Easter as we have been doing up to now.
Keep reminding your children to wash their hands and to practice physical distancing from those outside your household.
Have as Happy an Easter as you can in these circumstances.
The Taoiseach has announced that schools will remain closed until April 19th. See a statement from the Department of Education here.
Learning activities continue to be available from the Classes section of our website. This work is there to help you and your children keep an element of routine and structure everyday. It doesn’t have to be done, you can dip in and out of it if you wish but above all it is not to cause any extra stress or anxiety in your family .
All our teachers can be contacted either by email or through Class Dojo. Details are on their respective class pages.
Our support teachers are also happy to be contacted. Their details are below.
Ms. Mc Grath’s pupils can contact her on trishmcgrath2016@gmail.com.
Pupils of Mrs. Bell can get in touch on mrsdbell20@gmail.com.
Ms. Walsh’s pupils can get in contact on fwalshsen@hotmail.com.
Well done to all of you for doing such great work with your children last week. Thanks also for keeping in touch with us by email or Class Dojo.
It has been really good to see all that you have been doing. You can take a look at some examples of the work in the gallery below.
We will continue having work available for next week in the Classes section of the website.
Again, please understand that this work is there to help you keep some sense of structure in your child’s daily life. It does not have to be completed in full or at all and you, as parents, should decide how much to do each day.
Please feel free to contact the teachers, as you have been doing, for feedback and I wish you all the best for the coming week.
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