Active School

In accordance with our Physical Education plan , all classes receive 1 hour of PE every week. All classes are taught at least five different strands each year. Class teachers have PE folders compiling of PSSI, PDST and Fundamental Movement lessons to ensure the delivery of a broad and balanced PE Curriculum for all classes. Within each folder each teacher has a copy of the PE yearly plan outlining when each strand is taught. Second class are taught the Land Paws Safety Water programme each year. Teachers assign PE homework at least once per week and relates to the PE strand they are working on in school.

This year the Priority PE strand is Athletics. Using Athletics equipment provided by Limerick Sports Partnership, each class covered lessons on sprints, standing jump, triple long jump, speed bounce, ball throw, javelin throw and an obstacle course. This year JFK will compete in an Indoors Athletics Blitz in UL for the third consecutive year.

Playground leaders from 6th class complete activities with 2nd and 3rd class every Wednesday at break time.Leaders use PE equipment to create a variety of games which allows everyone to join in and have some fun. The yard is zoned to allow children engage in a variety of games. Leaders also run a lunchtime Badminton Tournament for 4th, 5th and 6th class in term 2. In term 3 our playground leaders set up a Rounders League for the senior classes. Our Active Committee members from 2nd and 3rd class help playground leaders to set up a lunchtime league for 2nd and 3rd class in term 3.

Active Breaks

Every class completed the “Active Break Every Day challenge ” over a period of 4 weeks in November.On wet days, extra time is given to movement breaks. This includes GO Noodle, Just Dance and classroom movement activities.

Annual Calendar Events

JFK incorporates physical activity into calendar events. We had fun completing activities for the European Day of Sport , Halloween, Christmas and Easter and our annual sports day.

Activity Reward Chart

Active Committee members developed a Physical Activity Reward Chart. The boys in each class work very hard to achieve their physical activity reward.

Activity Homework Challenge

Senior classes were given a 60 minute Physical activity homework challenge every term. boys were given a challenge chart to record their chosen activity and total minutes of daily activity.

Run Around Europe Challenge

each class chooses a European City(or two!!)and aims to reach their destination in 4 weeks. One lap of our Active Walkway is 2km and 1 lap of the hall is 1 km. We track our weekly progress on our Run Around Europe noticeboard.

Active Walkway

We have a designated Walkway around our school yard . Each teacher has a map of the walkway and an ideas booklet on using our Walkway.

Na Piarsaigh GAA Club: We have very strong links with our local GAA club.School hurling and football training takes place in Na Piarsaigh and we are very fortunate to have dedicated parents who assist our teachers with training.

IRFU: Munster Branch organise coaching in our school and we take part in rugby blitzes, throughout the year.

InterSchool Basketball Tournaments: This event is organised by local schools and JFK participates every year.

Limerick Sports Partnership: Throughout the year JFK paticiptes in events organised by Limerick Sports Partnership – The Indoor Athletics programme, Badminton for schools programme, Fit Kidz Walking Challenge and Great Limerick Run Training Programme and The Be Active After School Activity programme.

Dare to Believe Irish Olympic School programme: Thomas Barr visited JFK to share his achievements with the boys and show them how to set goals and adopt healthy lifestyles through participation in sports.

St Michael’s Rowing Club:  JFK visit St Michael’s Rowing Club every year where boys are introduced to the sport.

What Clubs are you in Survey:  The Active Committee conducted a survey titled “What Club are you in?” It turns out we are in many  different Clubs ranging from GAA to soccer to rowing to martial arts .This shows just how active we are in JFK and how fortunate we are to have some many wonderful clubs in our city, there really is something for everyone.

Active week is a week of fun activities held in term 3 each year. We have a wide variety of activities throughout the week such as zumba dance, yoga, soccer with an FAI coach, rounders, basketball, tug of war and yard circuits organised by 6th class. We like to try out a new activity each year. In the past we have tried tag rugby and handball. We try to promote cross curricular activities during active week through our Healthy Lunchbox Challenge and by completing maths trails.Pupils and staff wear tracksuits during Active Week and Active Homework is given throughout the week. Our Active Week culminates with our whole School Fun Run in nearby Shelbourne Park and is organised by our Parents Association.

Active School Week is one of the highlights of our school calendar. Unfortunately this year , because of Covid -19 it was not possible for Active Week to go ahead. Instead we engaged in the NAtional Active HOme Week Challenge. We cannot praise our JFK boys enough for the efforts they made. They really did a great job staying home, keeping safe and staying active.

Click here to view our timetable for Active Week 2019.