Health Promotion


“A Health Promoting School can be characterised as a school constantly strengthening its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working”.

St. John’s National School is proud to be called a ‘Health Promoting School’.  An awareness of both physical and mental health can make a huge difference to our lives and we hope to become more positive and healthy members of society as a result. 

Our school aims to:

·         Become more actively involved in Sports as a school. 

·         Focus on healthy lunch boxes and make ourselves aware of what makes us healthy. 

·         Focus on positive mental health by taking part in SPHE classes and Mindfulness techniques.

·         Create an awareness both for school and home of our initiatives and encourage the journey to be continued at home. 

·         Develop an awareness of safety in different aspects of the school e.g. fire safety, water safety and internet safety. 

·         Encourage more activities at break times and develop more sport’s initiatives within the school. 

Here are some of our Healthy Activities!

School Year 2018/2019

Healthy Eating Week

We had a very successful Healthy Eating Week in October where all classes made an effort to be extra healthy and extra active!  Here are the winners of our Healthy Eating Competition.  Well done all!

Celebrating Achievements

Congratulations to Hayden Pierce O’Neill from 3rd Class who won the adult child golf competition with his Dad Pierce O’Neill.  The competition took place in Kenmare Golf Club on the 9th September.  Hayden hopes to play professional golf when he’s older.  Well done Hayden!

Well done to students from Kenmare Karate Club at the Best of the Best Invite Tournament in Dublin – Alexander Durmaj who won 1 silver and 1 bronze, Melissa Barry who won 2 gold and Gemma Meyer who won 2 silver.  Congratulations all!

Great excitement in St. John’s with the Kerry Minor Cup visit!  Thanks to Dan and James McCarthy for bringing in the Tommy Markham cup from their 5 in a row win this year!

Sports

Gymnastics is a fun and exciting way to do exercise.  All Classes get six weeks of Gymnastics training by professionals every year.  

Well done to St. John’s Boys who got to the Semi Final of the Cumann na mBunscoil 15 a side competition.  Although they didn’t win, they played their hearts out until the end and we are very proud of their performance.  Well done boys!

Mental Health

Encouraging positive Mental Health is one of our primary goals in Health Promoting Schools this year.  Here we have Joan from Relax for Kids doing some Mindfulness Sessions with our Infant Classes.  

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Safety

As part of our Health Promotion Schools Initiative this year, we targeted Safety for our children.  We looked at technology and the influence it has on our lives.  4th, 5th and 6th Classes took part in an initiative to cut down on gaming and mobile phone use in an effort to improve concentration and behaviour.  Here we have Jason O’Mahony from ‘Children of the Digital Age’ giving a workshop on Internet Safety to the children.  He also held an information evening for Parents which was very beneficial!

Notice Boards

The Daily Mile

Our school has signed up to The Daily Mile Challenge where all classes run or walk a mile each day to keep our bodies and minds fit!

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School Year 2017/2018

Spike Ball

Sport has enormous benefits on our Health and makes us feel good.  In St. John’s, we take pride in being involved in a variety of different sports!

Credit Union Quiz

Well done to all our fantastic teams who took part in this year’s Credit Union Quiz in the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney.  As part of our Health Promoting Schools, we like to celebrate the good times!

Awards and Achievements

As part of our Health Promotion Initiative, we celebrate success and achievements!  Here are two students who won tickets to a Musical after taking part in an Art Competition organised by Pobalscoil Inbhéar Scéine. 

Irish Dancing Awards

In St. John’s we celebrate achievements as part of our Health Promotion Initiative.  Here we have some highly talented winners from the CRDM Munster Championships Irish Dancing Feis in Killarney in January. 

Health Promotion Notice Boards


Neatness Awards

Today some students who have made a special effort to improve their neatness in handwriting and other areas in school were awarded for their performance.  Good handwriting promotes motor and cognitive skills as well as contributes to reading fluency and activates visual perception skills.  Today, at Assembly, Mr. Courtney presented gifts to these students for making a conscious effort to be extra neat, not only in handwriting but in general areas as well.  Well done all! 


Irish Dancing Awards

At Assembly today, Mr. Courtney presented two students with Irish Dancing Awards on behalf of Bernie O’Sullivan School of Irish Dancing.  Bernie chose these two students because of their commitment and enthusiasm to the classes throughout the year and said that effort and attitude are the two most important talents.  Well done to Eva Lane from 3rd Class and Óisín Hanley from 4th Class!  Irish Dancing takes place for all classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays in St. Johns. 


School Year 2016/2017

This year, St. John’s N.S. took part in a Health Promoting School’s Initiative. We committed to becoming healthier as a school as well as creating an awareness of the importance of both physical and mental health. This is a two-year process and we are very pleased to say that we have been awarded with certificates for outstanding achievement for the current year and will strive to continue the hard work next year and hopefully be awarded with our Health Promoting School’s Flag! Well done to teachers, students and the Health Promoting Committee for all their hard work in maintaining a healthy school.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Neatness Presentations

This year, we made a special effort to promote neatness in handwriting and other areas.  Good handwriting promotes motor and cognitive skills as well as contributes to reading fluency and activates visual perception skills.  The children were all on board and tried their best to maintain their tidiness or improve upon it.  Today, at Assembly, Mr. Courtney presented a gift to one person from each class for their efforts at being neat this year.  Well done all! 

Attendance Awards

Well done to all the children who received awards today for Attendance this year!  We had 21 children who missed no day this year and got awards for Full Attendance.  10 children missed 1-2 days and received awards for excellent attendance.  This is a highly commendable achievement.  Keep up the good work!

Kindness Awards

In the Autism Unit, we practice integration into mainstream classes in order to promote social skills and inclusion.  This has beneficial effects for both the child with Autism as well as the Mainstream Class child as it teaches the child with Autism how to play, socialise and make friends as well as teaching the Mainstream child the value of kindness, friendship and consideration.  This year, we were particularly impressed with the level of kindness by the children on the yard and in the classroom to children with Special Needs.  Well done to Grace O’Sheá and Roan O’Sullivan for going the extra mile with kindness and consideration as well as all the other children who tried so hard to put a smile on other’s faces.  No act of kindness is ever wasted.

May 2017

Playground Leaders

Our 6th Class teamed up with Junior Infants as part of our Health Promotion to teach them traditional playground games.  The aim of Playground Leaders is to develop leadership skills and organisational skills in older children as well as increasing physical activity and positive social interaction for both older and younger children.  The children were taught ‘Stuck in the Mud’, ‘Duck, duck, goose’, ‘What time is it Mr. Wolf?’, ‘Penalties’ and ‘Tag’.  The Infants loved the games as well as the one to one interaction with the older children!  Well done 6th class!

Food Dudes

This year, we are taking part in the Food Dudes Programme as part of our Health Promotion School Initiative.  Food Dudes is a programme developed by the University of Wales, Bangor, to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home. It is based on positive role models (the Food Dudes characters), repeated tasting and rewards.

In large-scale studies in schools in England and Wales and pilot studies in schools in Ireland, the Programme has been shown to be effective and results long lasting across the primary age range, regardless of gender, school size, geographic and socio-economic factors. It is ultimately designed to enable children to enjoy eating healthy diets, and to create a healthy eating culture within schools.

The programme in Ireland received a “counteracting obesity” award from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2006.

The programme is managed by Bord Bia and to date over 3,100 primary schools have participated in the National Roll Out which will be completed in 2014. Funding has been made available by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the EU School Fruit Scheme for schools that previously ran Food Dudes to implement it for current students at junior level including specified tasting days for senior classes.

Basketball

Basketball is ongoing in St. Johns at the moment with Coach Caroline Taylor.  Playing basketball helps children learn basic coordination and team-building skills.  It helps encourage exercise as well as serving as a foundation for staying active later in life.  Children aged 6 to 17 require at least one hour of moderate-intensity physical activity every day.  Learning basketball allows children to incorporate frequent physical activity into their daily routines and contributes to overall physical well-being and fitness.  A big thanks to Caroline for all her hard work! 

 

School Tours – Health Promotion through exercise and social interaction

Junior Infants had a real treat today when they went on their School Tour to Kennedy’s Pet Farm in Killarney!  We saw a range of pets from kittens and puppies to donkeys and pigs.  Our Tour Guide taught us a lot about the animals and we even got to pet them.  A very friendly bunch!  The playgrounds were also a lot of fun!  A great day was had by all! 

Sports Day

As part of Active Schools Week which ran from May 8th to 12th, we did our best to be as active as possible for the week and held a Sports Day on Wednesday May 10th.  We were very lucky to have such good weather for the day and it was a great success!  The highlights of the day were the four fabulous bouncing castles which went down a real treat.  Other activities included egg and spoon races, sack races, a water station, hurdles, 3-legged race, obstacle course, parachute and penalties.  The teacher’s egg and spoon race as well as the backwards race was a lot of fun and there was even a 5-a-side soccer match – students against teachers!  To top the day off, Supervalu sponsored drinks and crisps for the whole school!  A lovely gesture!  A big thanks to the Transition Year Students from Pobalscoil as well as their teacher Máiréad Clifford for helping out for the day.  Also thanks to Gavin Crowley for taking the time out to take part, John O’Connor for the bouncing castles and to Supervalu for sponsoring the treats!  A great day was had by all! 

April 2017

Celebrating Achievements

St. John’s are privileged to have three World Champion dancers among us.  A big congratulations to Leon O’Sullivan who won the Under 16’s CRDM World Championships in Drogheda, County Louth and to Leona Delaney and Laura Wiley who came 1st and 2nd respectively in the Under 9’s World Championships.  Well done to all other contestants and a big well done to their teacher Bernie O’Sullivan from Bernie O’Sullivan School of Irish Dancing in Kenmare who guided them to these amazing results!  A very talented bunch!

Spring Clean Up

A great effort from all classes who took part in the town’s Spring Clean Up as part of our Green Schools Flag Initiative.  Well done everybody! 

Have a look at our gallery of pictures showing local Fireman Dan Keane giving a fire safety talk to third class this April.  Dan spoke about various fire hazards and how to reduce them.  Many thanks to Dan for speaking to us about a very important topic!  The children got a great insight into the topic and are much more safety conscious!  Thanks Dan!

Our Local Postwoman Rosie Healy Rae came to visit us this April and gave us an insight into her job and the journey of a letter!  We like to support and learn about the members of the community as part of our Health Promotion Initiative.  We have great community spirit in our school!  Thanks Rosie!

 

This April, the 6th Class were busy planting potatoes and vegetables.  A tough job but good to learn about the environment!  Well done all! 

March 2017

A big thanks to our local Paramedic Vince for calling to see us on Wednesday 29th March.  Vince gave us some very good tips on how to stay safe and keep ourselves healthy.  We learned all about how to check our temperature and blood pressure and even got to see the ambulance!  Thanks so much Vince! 

Cycle training for 3rd Class began in March with thanks to Mickey Ned O’Sullivan and the Ring of Beara Committee’s generosity with funding.  The children learned vital skills for cycling and had a lot of fun in the process!

We are very fortunate to have Darina O’Shea for Yoga and Mindfulness for the older classes as part of our Health Promoting Schools Initiative!  Darina is a certified MBSR teacher with the Institute of Mindfulness-Based Approaches. 

Yoga increases flexibility and strength, curing, relieving and preventing injuries, aches, pains and stiffness.  It is also a mental science – fitness for the mind.  Mindfulness is learning to direct our attention to our experience as it unfolds, with kindness and acceptance.  It trains us to explore and respond to whatever is happening at present.  It relieves stress and anxiety.  Yoga and Mindfulness lead to a greater understanding of the body and mind empowering us to connect to peace of mind and inner freedom. 

 

As part of our Health Promoting Schools Initiative, we like to celebrate success and talent in our school!  We have some very skilful students!  Here are some of our winners at the recent Bernie O’Sullivan School of Irish Dancing Feis in Kenmare.  Well done all! 


February 2017

As part of our Active School Flag initiative, we have teamed up with Operation Transformation to promote physical activity in St. Johns! 

On Friday 10th February, we took part in the 10@10 challenge where all classes did a range of exercises for 10 minutes.  We have been practicing over the past few weeks which have made our mornings very fun and exciting! 

We are currently in the process of getting our Active School Flag which we will fly proudly outside our school!

Skipping Workshops with Mark McCabe

We were very fortunate to have Mark McCabe from Skip ‘N’ Rope visit us in February for some skipping workshops!  Mark has visited over 550 schools in Ireland and showed us some very unique skills.  The pupils learned a host of footwork skills, beginner to intermediate skipping tricks, long rope games and partner skipping. 

Skipping is a terrific form of exercise that can help a child’s agility, balance, hand-eye co-ordination and increases speed through footwork.  It teaches children about rhythm as well as team skills and encourages them to have confidence in their sporting ability.  It is a great way to keep fit and maintain good health as well as being lots of fun. 

We all enjoyed the skipping workshops and especially the demonstration afterwards where pupils showed off their skipping skills to the classes.  The entire experience was energetic, informative and most of all fun!  Thanks Mark!

January 2017

2017 got off to a great start for Health Promotion.  Irish Dancing began for all classes with Bernie O’Sullivan from Bernie O’Sullivan’s School of Irish Dancing!  We are looking forward to the term with Bernie!

Spikeball got underway again this year and the team are busy practicing for the upcoming competitions in the Spring! 

We were also busy getting our notice boards finished!

There was a visit to the Fire Station where we learned a lot about fire safety.  Thanks to Fire Officer John Sweeney for taking the time out to show us around and teach us a few things!  

We learned how to take care of animals. 

December 2016

Just some of our healthy notice boards on display around the school!  This board displays a project done in SPHE on Friendship.  We explored the various aspects of friendship and what makes a good friend!  The children really enjoyed working in their groups and exploring how friends help us have good mental health. 

November 2016

As part of our aim on safety for health promotion, we decided to focus on Internet safety for our young people.  In order to make parents aware of the potential dangers and appropriate security measures to take regarding children and the internet, our Parent’s Association kindly organised and part-funded a talk for parents on November 28th by Jason O’Mahony from ‘Children of the Digital Age’.  The presentation was a great success with nearly 50 parents in attendance and explored the world of the online predator and the harm that it can cause.  An internet safety input was also given to pupils from 1st to 4th class which highlighted the importance of their Digital Footprint and putting personal information on the internet as well as an awareness of online games, social media and cyberbullying.  Children were encouraged to sign an internet pledge and they took home the code to discuss with their parents. 

November 2016

This year, we decided to focus on Gymnastics as an important strand in our PE curriculum.  With the help of outside instructors, all classes take part in Gymnastics every Friday and they love it!  Their specialised training and equipment ensure that the children get the most enjoyment out of the sessions.  And it’s great for good health! 

October 2016

Healthy Eating Week was held in St. John’s from Monday 3rd to Friday 7th October. We learned a great deal about healthy foods and made a big effort to pack healthy lunches every day.

Margaret McCarthy came to visit us and gave us loads of tips on healthy breakfasts and lunches.

We held a healthy eating art competition also and were amazed by the beautiful artwork by our talented students!  Here are our competition winners!


September 2016

“A Health Promoting School can be characterised as a school constantly strengthening its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working”.

This year, St. John’s are taking part in an initiative called ‘Health Promoting School’.  We have signed up to the HPS Initiative in order to commit ourselves to becoming more healthy as a school.  An awareness of both physical and mental health can make a huge difference to our lives and we hope to become more positive and healthy members of society as a result. 

We have also signed up for the Active School Flag which will work hand in hand with Health Promotion and we are looking forward to our journey to becoming a healthier and happier school. 

This year we aim to:

·         Become more actively involved in Sports as a school. 

·         Focus on healthy lunch boxes and make ourselves aware of what makes us healthy. 

·         Focus on positive mental health by taking part in SPHE classes and Mindfulness techniques.

·         Create an awareness both for school and home of our initiatives and encourage the journey to be continued at home. 

·         Update the PE school plan. 

·         Develop an awareness of safety in different aspects of the school e.g. fire safety, water safety and internet safety. 

·         Encourage more activities at break times and develop more sport’s initiatives within the school.