St Dominic’s school raise Active Flag

ST DOMINIC’S National School in Tallaght raised their newly awarded Active Flag last Wednesday, June 22, with Minor Dublin Ladies GAA captain and past pupil Rachel Callery on hand for the launch.

The Active Flag is a Department of Education and Skills initiative that recognises schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community.

The flag recognises St Dominic’s National School’s commitment to promoting physical activity among its pupils and staff, and it is now one of just 93 primary schools in Dublin who have received the award.

Seamus Vaughan, principal of St Dominic’s NS, told The Echo: “It was a very proud day for our school as past pupil and Minor Dublin Ladies Football captain Rachel Callery joined us to do the honours of raising our first ever Active Flag.

“[This] was the result of years of hard work by staff and students to make our school a more active place and utilise the outdoor space that we are lucky enough to have.

“A special ‘thank you’ to our playground leaders and equipment monitors, from 5th and 6th class, who led one of the biggest tasks – an active playground with a choice of activities and equipment each day at yard time.

“Every child in the school got a well-deserved treat of doughnuts to celebrate and reward them for their efforts.

“A big ‘thank you’ to Ms Pyne for all her work also. She made sure everything was well planned and brought our whole school together to achieve our Active Flag.”

The school implemented a number of initiatives to secure Active School status, such as partnering with Thomas Davis GAA Club and having a Futsal Lunchtime League, while they also ran ‘active breaks’ every day for a month which saw pupils take active breaks in class or in the yard.

A staff group was set up to coordinate the programme, while the school also developed a pupil-led Active School Committee of ten pupils from 1st class to 6th class.