Physical Activity
Physical Activity is the promotion and engagement of exercise and movement in addition to the 60 minute per week timetabled curriculum subject of Physical Education. St. Margaret’s National School actively promotes the message that children require 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. We have been very busy engaging in a wide variety of different programmes, ideas, and initiatives which have inspired the children to become more active.
St. Margaret’s National School promotes the full range of fundamental movement skills during break times and pupils are encouraged to run, play and to do ‘talking as you’re walking’. We have two daily playground breaks and our schoolyard is zoned to allow children to engage in a variety of different activities. Our school has playground leaders who set up activities and sports equipment during break times for others to use.
All pupils engage in an extended classroom-based physical activity break on wet days and short physical activity breaks during the day.
Our school incorporates physical activity into school calendar events as we hold different seasonal activities.
St. Margaret’s N.S. Active School Slogan 2023-2024
The children came up with their own slogans and colourful posters to promote the importance ‘being active’. They came up with so many creative ideas and the overall winner was Robyn in Fifth Class who came up with the slogan ‘IF YOU MOVE FOR AN HOUR YOU CAN PROVE YOUR POWER’.
SKIP n ROPE
We were delighted to welcome back Mark McCabe from SkipnRope to run a skipping workshop with our school in March. The aim of the workshop was to introduce children and teachers to the world of skipping. Skipping is a terrific form of exercise that helps a child’s...
Ball Stop Nets – DAA Community Fund
We would sincerely like to thank the DAA for the funding we received from the Dublin Airport Community Fund towards our new Ball Stop Nets. These durable nets are a fantastic addition to our yard extension and are much needed for our weekly Gaelic and soccer training sessions.
Active Walkway 2022
#FeelGoodFriday WALKWAY Day took place on 25th March. We used this day to launch our new and revised Active School Walkway for the first time. We are using the new walkway route to promote ‘Learning on the Move’ which ties in nicely with the Outdoor and Adventure strand in PE which we are focusing on this year.
Seachtain na Gaeilge 2022
We were delighted to be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge with all classes in school this year. Ms. Keegan organised lots of fantastic activities for the children to participate in. Some of these activities included oral language games 'as gaeilge', quizzes, art,...
Feel Good Fridays!
Physical Activity makes you feel good! "International research proves that being physically active improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression and negative moods and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function." (Active School Flag) To raise awareness...
What Clubs are You In? Survey
The children in the Active Squad surveyed the pupils in our school to find out what sports clubs and activities they take part in outside of school. Check out our findings below.
Active Break Every Day Challenge 2021
For the month of November all classes took part in a four week challenge to increase movement breaks during the school day. Every day, classes took a 5-10 minute break from school work to move. Some days the classes went outdoors to run around the school, while other...
Active Halloween – Feel Good Fridays 2021
As part of our Active Halloween Fun Friday initiative the children participated in Halloween flash mob dances on the last day of school before the midterm. Infants and 1st & 2nd Class had been busy learning the Monster Shuffle dance throughout the week while 3rd – 6th Class learned the Monster Mash dance moves.
Active Yards 2021
The Active Squad have been trained in as playground leaders. They set up the cones and equipment on the yard for big lunch every day. They also collect the equipment at the end of yard time and clean it down to ensure that it's ready for the next day. The children are...
Jerusalema Dance Challenge
St. Margaret's NS accepted the Jerusalema Dance Challenge just before the mid-term break. This is a dance challenge popular around the world. It is intended to spread joy and positivity. Well done to all the children, families and staff that got involved. A big thank...









