Sport in St. Mary's
Physical Education
The Primary PE curriculum is made up of six strands as follows
- Aquatics
• Athletics
• Dance
• Games
• Gymnastics
• Outdoor & Adventure
At St. Mary’s S.N.S. we ensure that all classes get their allocated 60 minutes of PE each week and that each of the strands of the curriculum is covered in some way, throughout the year. We follow the Land P.A.W.S. water safety programme with each year group in the summer term.
Our PE plan is set out to ensure that everyone can practise and improve their Fundamental Movement Skills
PE Yearly Overview
Fundamental Movement Skills & Strands
| Strands | 3rd Class | 4th Class | 5th Class | 6th Class | |
| Sept/Oct | Games | Running &
Kicking |
Striking with the hand & Catching | Running & Kicking | Striking with an implement & Catching |
| Pg.19-32
Pg. 165-178 |
Pg.179-192
Pg. 137-149 |
Pg.19-32
Pg. 165-178 |
Pg. 193-206
Pg. 137-149 |
||
| Nov/
Dec |
Gymnastics | Landing | Balancing | Landing | Balancing |
| pg.122-135 | Pg. 109-121 | pg.122-135 | Pg. 109-121 | ||
| Jan/
Feb |
Dance | Skipping | Hopping | Skipping | Hopping |
| Pg. 46-59 | Pg. 33-45 | Pg. 46-59 | Pg. 33-45 | ||
| Mar/
Apr |
Athletics | Jumping for height
& Running |
Jumping for distance & Throwing | Jumping for height
& Running |
Jumping for distance & Throwing |
| pg.60-79 | Pg. 151-164 | pg.60-79 | Pg. 151-164 | ||
| Apr/
May |
Outdoor
Adventure |
Dodging | Side Stepping/ | Dodging | Side stepping/ |
| pg.80-93 | Pg.94-108 | pg.80-93 | Pg.94-108 | ||
| May/
Jun |
Aquatics/
Games |
Revisit Previous Movements | Revisit Previous Movements | Revisit Previous Movements | Revisit Previous Movements |
PE Equipment
- .Basketballs
- Orienteering packs
- Frisbee
- tennis rackets
- tennis balls
- large cones
- Skipping ropes
- Tag Rugby belts
- Rugby balls
- Gymnastics folder
- Yoga/gymnastics mats
- Circuits posters
- Hurdles ( Tall, low)
- Agility ladders,
- Agility drills pack
- GAA balls
- Soccer balls
- Tug of war ropes
- orange,light blue,yellow, black, dark blue, red & green bibs
- Athletics relay pack ( batons, rings )
- Hoops
- dome markers
- bean bags
- Small free standing cones
- Olympics pack – discs, hammers, weighted balls
Athletics
Each year pupils from St Mary’s take part in a cross country athletics event in St Joseph’s Ns Valleymount (Oct). The trials for this event took place in the school grounds at the end of September. These were open to all pupils and are always very popular, with well over half the school taking part. Once the trials had taken place 32 pupils, 4 boys and 4 girls from each year group, were then selected to represent the school at the events mentioned above. We had a very successful day in Valleymount with some fantastic individual performances. We also had great success in our team performances with 5th class girls placing third, 5th class boys came second and finally 6th class boys came third in their category.
Later in the year the school also takes part in the Greystones track and field event (May). This involves activities such as sprints, distance running, relay, long jump (3rd &4th), high jump (5th& 6th), javelin, turbo javelin and tug of war. The trials for these events take place during our Active school’s week. Again these are open to all and are very popular with our pupils. After the trials 176 pupils are chosen to represent the school at the event.
Tag rugby
We are very lucky in St Mary’s S.N.S. to have a visiting tag rugby coach who will work with our 5th class pupils this year . These sessions will start in April and run until the end of May. Each session will involve warm ups and skills such as ball handling, passing, running with the ball, receiving a pass, tagging and scoring a try. The children are really looking forward to this.
GAA 5 Star Initiative
Ms. Morris & Mr. Forde registered the school to take part in the GAA 5 Star initiative. This aims to support and recognise Primary schools that provide 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous Gaelic games to pupils every week. Schools that deliver a programme that is age appropriate and meets the developmental needs of the children will be recognised as “GAA 5 Star centres”. They must also undertake to deliver the following activities throughout the school year
• Have a ball
• Fun & Run
• Catch & Kick
• Strike it
• Go Games
• Go games skills challenge
The school was awarded its GAA 5 star centre status in 2020
Lunchtime Leagues
Once again we have been very lucky to have lunchtime leagues organised throughout the year by Mr Forde and Ms Morris. The leagues are divided into two parts. Third and fourth classes compete against each and fifth and sixth classes compete for their title . The leagues are open to all children who wish to take part. The activities were soccer, GAA and badminton. The winners and runners up in each of the leagues, are presented with their prizes at the assemblies each term. Mr. Forde is currently running a hurling league with all year groups. Thanks to both Ms. Morris and Mr. Forde for giving so generously of their time.
Some photos of our badminton tournament
