We are up and running in supporting a Healthy School in St. Philomena's N.S. for the 2018//2019 year.
We are looking forward to Kindness week starting on Monday 24th September where we will remind ourselves of the importance of being kind to each other. We will bring focus to being mindful throughout the week as we believe that this will help us to be calmer, kinder individuals to ourselves and each other.
Happy Kindness Week Everyone!
The committee for 2018/2019 is as follows:
HPS Committee
Keeley Ryan Roisin Murphy Emma Vernaite Abbie Thornton Alannah Lillian Alex Phoebe Alexandria Abbie Niamh
We gathered as much information as we could in order to put an action plan in place. Our first step was to gather some information from the St. Philomena’s Parents.
We asked the following three questions: 1 Do you know what we do in St. Philomena’s to promote your child’s health and well-being? 2 What makes your child happy about going into school everyday? 3 What activity/ies would you like to see promoted in St. Philomena’s to improve your child’s health and well- being?
The results of the parents questionnaire are available below!
Why fit in when you were born to stand out!
Results of Parental Surveys
Question 1
94% of parents were aware of activities being undertaken in St. Philomena’s to promote the health and well-being of their children. Activities such as ‘Trot on Thursday, Team Sports, Healthy Lunches, PE, Mindfulness, Operation Transformation, Friendly Environment, School projects, Green school, Woolly Hat Walk, Stay Safe, Art therapy’
Question 2 When asked the question ‘What makes your child happy about going to school’, ‘friends and learning new things’ made up most of the answers;
88% of parents stated that ‘friends’ made their child (ren) happy
28% of parents stated that ‘school work/learning new things’ made their child(ren) happy
Other things mentioned were;
Friendly environment
Playtime
Quiz
Art
PE
Sport
Question 3 In answer to the question, ‘What activity/ies would you like to see promoted in St. Philomena’s to improve your child’s health and well-being?’ the following list presents all of the answers given on surveys;
Mindfulness
Dancing
Equipment in yard
School Garden
Field Trips
Multicultural days
Book club
Cookery classes
Running for all classes
Emotional well-being
Sweet free days / weeks
Yoga
More physical activity
Link activities with St. Josephs
Nutrition awareness classes
Gymnastics
Any Other Comments Raise awareness among the students about going to the shop before school in the form of healthy eating was raised
The next job for the Health Promoting School Committee was to survey the pupils of the school by asking them to answer the same questions ......... the results of this survey are published below!
Happiness springs from doing good and helping others
Results of Students' Surveys
Question 1
82% of students were aware of activities being undertaken in school to promote their health and well-being. Question 2 When asked the question ‘What makes you happy about coming into school every day?’, ‘friends and learning new things’ made up most of the answers;
86% of students stated that their ‘friends’ made them happy about coming into school
38% of students stated that ‘school work/learning new things’ made them happy about coming into school
Other things mentioned were;
Art
PE
Question 3 In answer to the question, ‘What activity/ies would you like to see promoted in school to improve your health and well-being?’ the following list presents all of the answers given on surveys;
Mindfulness
Dancing
Equipment in yard
More PE
Trips
Book club
Cookery classes
Running for all classes
Yoga
Different lunch brand
Longer breaks
The last job for the Healthy Schools Committee was to survey the staff of the school. This was completed and the committee came together to draw up the HPS Action Plan (as follows)!
Take Care of Your Body - It's The Only Place You Have To Live!
HPS Action Plan St. Philomena’s N.S.
2017/2018
Section 1 Rationale and Vision School Name: St. Philomena’s N.S., Tullamore, Co. Offaly Priority Area of Action / Aims and what we hope to achieve
To promote physical health by maximising physical activity within the school community
To support the emotional well-being of the pupils, staff and parents of St. Philomena’s
The importance of these priority areas to the St. Philomena’s community
In St. Philomena’s, we realise the importance of both physical and emotional health in the overall well-being of the child and the person. We understand the role that physical health plays in supporting good posture, improving coordination and flexibility, supporting a healthy heart and protecting against diseases. We also recognise that emotional health and well-being will lead to increased confidence and self- esteem, better mood, a reduction in depression and anxiety and will enable a child to develop positive coping strategies.
Prioritisation of Aims
Encourage 10 @10 once a week throughout the school
Offer physical exercise classes to parents – zumba, yoga, aqua aerobics, walking club
Recognise and support existing activities being undertaken in the school (GAA, rugby, Zumba, soccer, swimming, athletics, basketball)
To Organise the ‘Wellness & Our Families Evening’ as a link activity with other schools in Home School Scheme
To undertake and complete the Buddy Bench project
To Organise Park runs for 6th class in January / February
Encourage walking and cycling to school
Plan a ‘friendship week’
Organise the park fun run with parents’ association (whole school / Easter)
Friends for Life (with 6th class)
Tullamore Mindful School Initiative – yoga for parents/mindfulness for parents/
Pawsb for pupils/Wellness evening
Valentines Cake Sale in conjunction with parents association
Organise a school sports day
Section 2 Aim 1 To promote physical health within the school community
We will promote physical health by undertaking the following:
display posters and literature encouraging physical activity
ensure that the girls artwork and classwork is displayed on walls
Engage with the following physical activities / sports - Swimming - GAA - Rugby - Athletics - Zumba - Soccer - Basketball - Park runs - 10@10 - Go Noodle
Encourage walking and cycling to school as a link activity with Green Schools Committee
Hold a Sports Day
Through the curriculum, the children will learn about 'The Heart' in Science, undertake maths trails/walks, learn how to take care of themselves through SPHE
Section 2 Aim 1 To support the emotional well-being of the pupils, staff and parents of St. Philomena’s N.S.
We will promote emotional well being by undertaking the following:
display tips for positive mental health in staffroom
promote a welcoming environment for all within the school
Encourage mindfulness within the school and teach the Pawsb mindfulness programme to all 3rd and 4th class pupils
Hold a‘Wellness and our Families’ evening with guest speakers
Hold yoga classes and mindfulness classes for parents