STUDENTS from all over Ireland are heading to Ballymun next month for Ireland’s biggest Physical Education exhibition, which is taking place at Trinity Comprehensive.
PEXpo, which was started by the Physical Education Association of Ireland in 2014, welcomes hundreds of students from more than 40 schools.
During the exhibition, secondary school students of all ages are recognised for their knowledge and understanding of sports, fitness and health related topics. Prizes will go to the best projects in junior and senior sections.
“There was a few of us on the Physical Education Association of Ireland executive committee and we examined the idea of going to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition a few years ago,” organiser Paddy O’Reilly told Northside People.
“We wanted to have a specific PE section but decided instead to have our own PE awards. There were similar awards 15 and 20 years ago sponsored by Kelloggs so we basically started it up again. Last year there were 40 schools but this year we’re expecting more.”
Last year’s overall winner, Conor Cantwell, claimed first prize with a ‘functional movement training in young GAA players’ project that grabbed the attention of several third level institutes around the country, including the University of Limerick (UL).
This year UL, Healthy Ireland and the Irish Heart Foundation have all backed the initiative and O’Reilly feels it’s a great opportunity for students to explore real life issues in the health, sport and fitness industries.
“Basically we want students to come up with a project, do their research and come up with a conclusion on any aspect of nutrition, ICT, sport psychology or different components of fitness,” added O’Reilly.
“But we also had one winner last year who lost three or four stone over a few months and he was a project winner so every sort of issue is covered.
“We have the Irish Heart Foundation involved as well this year and if it keeps improving at this rate, it’s going to be massive. It will be too big for the school.
“PE is a much more important subject than most people realise for all the healthy aspects of it. That’s the most important thing.”
Applications for this year’s PEXpo will be open until February 17 with further entry requirements regarding projects available at www.pexpoireland.com.