PARTNERSHIPS
As an Active School, the support of all our school staff, pupils and the local community plays an important role in keeping St. Michaels active. We are so lucky to have so many great volunteers from clubs and other organisations visit our school regularly. We also work with National Agencies such as the Irish Heart Foundation, FAI, GAA and Cumann na mBunscol to promote physical activity.
ASF Leaders in our school
Playground leaders
Dance leaders
P.E. Equipment monitors
Playground Equipment Monitors
Event Organisers
The playground leaders plan the activities to be played during some break times and Active Yard every week. The active yard groups are made up of a mixture of children from all classes from Junior Infants to 6th class. The playground leaders are responsible for setting up activities and sports equipment needed.They explain,demonstrate in pairs the game or activity to be played and collect up the equipment at the end of breaktime.
The Dance Leaders change at different parts of the year. These children are responsible for leading and preparing their classroom for whole shcool dancces throughout the academic year.
The PE Equipment monitors take it in turns to complete the P.E. equipment monitors role. They complete weekly checks on equipment and ensures all P.E. equipment is returned to the P.E. storeroom.
Event Organisers plan whole school events in collaborations with the Student Council and staff. The inform all the children and staff of the timetable of events and ensure all equipment and resources needed were in place.
Due to the size of our school, we aim to give every child an opportunity to get involved and carry out a number of different roles throughout the Active School Flag process.
What Club are you in?
Children in the senior room conducted the survey 'What Club are you in?'. They surveyed all classes, chose the most popular sports and drew a bar chart of the interests of all the children in our school. The bar chart can be seen on our Active School Flag Noticeboard.
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Soccer Coaching
All class groups had a six week block of soccer training with Pat. The children work on their ball handling skills,dribbling and got lots of opportunities to do shooting practice too! A massive thank you to Pat for his enthusiasm and hard work.
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Golf Ireland's visit to our school
A big thank you to Monaghan Sports Partnership and Golf Ireland for giving us the opportunity to learn new golfing skills such as grip, stance and swing. A great start to Term 2!
We had great fun learning some new dance moves and dancing to our favourite tunes.
Have a look at the Physical activity section of our website to see our rince from Seachtain na Gaeilge!
We have been Busy BEES!
GAA Coaching
During November and December, all children received six weeks of Gaelic football training by Ross and Michaela from Monaghan GAA. The children got lots of chances to practice their Fundamental Movement skills through fun!
Maths Week
Maths Week took place from 14th to 22nd October. In St. Michael's , we had a Maths trail. All children were divided into groups. The maths trail took place around our school environment. If you would like to know more about Maths week you can visit www.mathsweek.
Tennis Workshop
Children from 1st to 6th class were treated to a once off Tennis Workshop with Declan Toner. The children got to practice their technique,strength, flexibility and overall co-ordination. A very fun day was had by all. Many thanks to Monaghan Sports Partnership for organising the event.
Coral Leisure Monaghan
During the months of January and February, children from 1st to 6th class complete a five week block of swimming lessons. A big thank you to Aisling and all her team at Coral Leisure for giving this opportunity to learn valuable swimming skills.
School Support by Oide
As gymnastics is our priority strand, we applied to the PDST/Oide for support in teaching this strand. We were successful in our application. Tomas Mannion a Oide Physical Education advisor visited our school on 27th February to provide staff training. During the day, he modelled gymnastics lesson in each classroom, gave advice to teachers and explained different resources that would be helpful when teaching the Gymnastics strand. It was an extremely worthwhile experience. Thanks to Tomas for visiting our school and helping to improve our confidence and knowledge in teaching gymnastics.
Pilates
The children did a six week block of Pilates with Emma from Grow & Flow. It was fantastic opportunity for all children to learn about the importance of developing their core muscles which will help them in keeping healthy and well.
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SKIPnROPE
Mark Mc Cabe from SkipnRope came to visit us to showcase how skipping can be fun! Each classroom got a 30 minutes workshop. The day was trully enjoyed by all. It was great to see so many children practicing skipping weeks and months after his visit!
Primary Schools Cross Country Event
During the months of February and March, children from fourth,fifth and sixth class have been training very hard under the guidance of Mrs. Doherty. and Ms. Hughes . We entered one small school boys' team and one small girls team. Congratulations to you all!
Seachtain na Gaeilge
Bhí Seachtain na Gaeilge iontach againn! Ghlac na páistí páirt i gcomórtas póstaer,tráth na gceist,ceolchoirm,rince seamróige,tóraíocht taisce ar scoil. Maith sibh go léir!
Have a look at our dance moves!
Monaghan GAA Primary Blitz
3rd and 4th class had a great day at the Primary School Blitz. Everyone got to practice their fundamental movement skills on the pitch! A big thank you to Monaghan GAA for organising a great event.
Athletics
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Badminton
A block of Badminton lessons will begin on 21st May in partnership with Monaghan Sports Partnership. This is a excellent opportunity for children to try out new sports and develop next skills!
Tennis Time
The children will receive a three week block of tennis from the Curran brothers starting on Wednesday 5th June.
Parent and Pupil Surveys
Parents and pupils were asked to complete a short survey outlining their experiences of the ASF process. Results are shown below.
ASF PUPIL SURVEY RESULTS
Question 1: Do you enjoy PE class?
Question2: What is your favourite P.E.activity?
Question3: What is your favourite sport?
Question 4: Do you think the Run Around Europe has made you better at running?
As a school, how do you think we could make PE better?
46 responses
Think of more games
Do it a little more longer
Make it longer
More space
Make it longer
More running
Do more Athletes and soccer
Go up to the pitch
Do more athletics
More running
By playing more fun games
Do more games
Make a bit longer
New balls for playing
Maybe try different sports, like rugby, or American football
We could do more games and not play just the same ones
More games for more people
I don't know
More running and fun
Play basketball
Play different games in active yard
The staff and Active School committee discussed the findings
Develop Dance and Gymnastics links during Active School Week 2024 and in the next academic year
Extend yard time as part of Feel Good Friday initiative
Give children more opportunities to use ours new all weather astro pitch
Purchase new equipment (children’s vote needed)
Introduce new sports such as Rugby or Basketball.
ASF Parent Questionnaire
We conducted our Parent and Pupil Questionnaires. A big thank you to all the parents who completed it.
Question 1: Does your child enjoy P.E.?
Question 2: How important would you rate P.E. as a subject? 
Question 3: Do you believe that your child receives a varied physical education at St. Michael's N.S.?
Question 4: Do you think your child gets enough opportunities to take part in physical activity throughout the school day?
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Question 5 : How many minutes per day do you think your child should be active?
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Any suggestions, as to how we could further develop our P.E. programme and physical activity in St. Michaels?
Keep it varied as it is and I have seen the benefit for my 2 doing the sports and knowing what they would like to stay at out school hours.
No, St.Michaels has a great range of physical activities for all the children.
I think the PE programme is excellent.
More school teams that enter local competitions with other schools. Otherwise the kids already get to try a brilliant mix of activities!
I'm very happy with the physical education at St Michael's, they have great active classes planned each week for the children and the children enjoy it.
I think you are doing a great job. The children are given lots of opportunities to try new sports and develop their core skills through varied activities - thank you for the continuous planning and efforts!
No. Great variety throughout the year
Keep it up!
No, I think the kids in St Michael’s get to experience many different sports and are encouraged to keep active with different activities like walk around the world.
Relay races amongst classes and a little competition amongst them for a treat of some sort like a movie afternoon/baking afternoon or something like this.
I think St. Michaels already has a very varied PE programme and offers lots of different sporting activities which is enjoyed by all the children. If I were to suggest any further activities maybe volleyball and basketball.
Keep doing what you are already doing in the school. Older pupils helping/coaching others etc is all wonderful. Thank you
Very happy with the variety of activities provided in St. Michael's. Children are given every opportunity to participate in all forms of physical activity and all efforts are always praised and encouraged. A huge thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Active Schools Initiative and the guidance given to the committee has been fantastic!
The staff and Active School committee discussed the findings
Introduce more in school competitions in the areas of Athletics and Games
Review of the number of teams entering local competitions
Hoping to introduce a block of volleyball or basketball in the next academic year
Inclusion in our School
As a school, we ensure that all activiites can be adapted to meet the needs of all our pupils. We have emailed our local Sports Inclusion Disability Officer Aisling Mc Dermott to find out new ways of how we can make our PE lessons and physical activity sessions more inclusive for all our pupils.
AB Coaching in partnership with
Sean McDermotts GFC
Over the last eight week, the children have received training from AB Coaching organisation. This has been kindly financially supported by our local GAA club Sean Mc Dermotts GFC. The children get to play lots of games while developing their throwing,catching,running,side-stepping,balancing,turning, kicking all essential skills needed in sport!
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FAI Primary League
Boys Team
On Tuesday 16th April, the boys in 4th,5th and 6th class competed against some neighbouring school in the FAI Primary League. A great day was had by all!
Girls Team
Wednesday 24th April was the girls day of the compettion. Girls in 4th, 5th and 6th competed against a number of schools. They were victorious and reached the County Finals day on Wednesday 1st but were unfortunately beaten by a neighbouring school.
Cumann na mBunscol
Well done to our senior girls Gaelic team who won three matches out of three to make it to the county final day (Roinn 4) in June. Well done girls, we are all super proud of you all!
An Active School Flag Prize!
We got a lovely surprise to hear we won some polyspots in an Active School Webinar draw. We are really looking forward to trying it out really soon!
Cumann na mBunscol
Maith sibh a pháistí!
Active School Week
We celebrate Active School Week in partnership with a number of local organisations and sports people. A big thank you for helping us out! Have a look at our Active School Week section to see more!
Have a look on our social media pages for more photographs and videos of our Partnerships throughout the year!