Active Schools Week gets students moving

Sancta Maria College are looking to get students moving.

The Rathfarnham school has just marked a successful Active Schools Week, with the school, with a long history of putting emphasis on wellbeing and physical activity, offering a wide range of activities for students.

During Active Schools Week, classes started with exercises before morning classes, warming up in a manner not too dissimilar to how top professional athletes warm up before a match.

Students reported that the morning exercises helped them wake up and boosted their mood for the morning classes.

Likewise, staff from the physical education department said that the impact on the students was immediately noticeable, noting that the students were more attentive and sharp during morning classes.

Active Schools Week is part of the school’s historic focus on having students be healthy and active.

“The school has always had a strong sense of being a healthy, active school,” a staff member explained, saying that health and well-being were built into the ethos of the school, and that the school strives to create a community atmosphere.

The staff members stated that the school creates a culture where the students see teachers not just as educators, but as people; to that end, staff are also heavily involved in the school’s numerous sporting activities and clubs.

They said that creating a positive school environment was a priority for the students, with students able to take part in a wide range of activities such as horse riding, hockey, badminton, athletics, basketball, soccer, Gaelic football, camogie, as well as clubs such as debate, drama, photography, sewing, reading club, science week, wellbeing week, sports day, Seachtain na Gaeilge and many more.

In more recent times, sailor Cora McNaughton (who sails for Ireland in the under-19s category), Dublin minor football star Keeva O’Donovan and Katie Campbell (who competes at the World Irish Dancing Championships) are just some of the students who have benefited from the school’s sporting ethos.

The student athletes gave a talk to their peers as part of the Active Schools Week, discussed their sporting careers to date, and the positive impact sport has had on their lives.

Katie Campbell, who addressed the students, said, “I really enjoyed Active Schools Week, especially getting the opportunity to speak to my peers about my sporting journey.”

“I am very grateful to Sancta Maria College for all the support I’ve received over the years; my teachers have always been a positive influence, encouraging me to believe in myself and keep pushing forward.”

Campbell said, “being part of a school that truly values sport, with so many students actively involved, inspired me to stay committed and continue developing in my own sporting journey.”