Amber Flag 2022 - 2023
Greaghrahan NS have been awarded their 2nd Amber Flag for Pieta House.
*AMBER FLAG AWARD! *
We are delighted to announce that Greaghrahan NS has been awarded their 2nd Amber Flag from Pieta House. Congratulations to the students involved who received their certificates for their contribution to promoting positive attitudes, a healthy inclusive environment and supporting mental wellbeing. Well done to everyone involved.
We are delighted to announce that Greaghrahan NS has been awarded their 2nd Amber Flag from Pieta House. Congratulations to the students involved who received their certificates for their contribution to promoting positive attitudes, a healthy inclusive environment and supporting mental wellbeing. Well done to everyone involved.
What is the Amber Flag
Last year Greaghrahan National School focused on achieving our first Amber Flag. This was in order to promote positive mental health and well being in our school. Successful completion of the Amber Flag initiative involved the whole school community coming together in order to create a safe, positive and healthy attitude towards our general physical and mental health and well-being. We feel well being is very important and are continuing to work towards renewing our Amber Flag initiative.
We wish to rally the wider school community to endorse positive mental health and wellbeing. If any parents are willing to share their skills and talents with us in terms of music, meditation, mindfulness, fitness, healthy eating, art, etc. please get in touch. We acknowledge and appreciate the knowledge and skills you all have which may help us create a positive mental health and wellbeing environment.
We will be documenting all of our hard work on this page, where you will see all of the wonderful wellbeing work that is being completed in our school.
We wish to rally the wider school community to endorse positive mental health and wellbeing. If any parents are willing to share their skills and talents with us in terms of music, meditation, mindfulness, fitness, healthy eating, art, etc. please get in touch. We acknowledge and appreciate the knowledge and skills you all have which may help us create a positive mental health and wellbeing environment.
We will be documenting all of our hard work on this page, where you will see all of the wonderful wellbeing work that is being completed in our school.
Pieta House
Pieta House is an organisation that works to promote hope among those suffering with their mental health in Ireland. The Amber Flag is an initiative run by Pieta House which recognises the individual efforts of primary and secondary schools, youth reach, third level institutions, community groups, clubs and companies to create healthy, inclusive environments that support mental wellbeing.
The Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice was published by the government in 2018. The promotion of wellbeing enables children and young people to achieve their full potential and be resilient in dealing with the normal stresses of their lives, to take care of their physical wellbeing and to have a sense of purpose, connection and belonging to their wider community.
It is recognised that positive mental health and well-being enables young people to lead fulfilling lives. Home and family are recognised as the primary source of nurturing and support for children. However, mental health and well-being are recognised as everyone’s concern and involves the whole school community, parents/guardians and others involved in day to day school life. Positive mental health for children is part of their overall health and is inextricably linked with wellbeing.
The Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice was published by the government in 2018. The promotion of wellbeing enables children and young people to achieve their full potential and be resilient in dealing with the normal stresses of their lives, to take care of their physical wellbeing and to have a sense of purpose, connection and belonging to their wider community.
It is recognised that positive mental health and well-being enables young people to lead fulfilling lives. Home and family are recognised as the primary source of nurturing and support for children. However, mental health and well-being are recognised as everyone’s concern and involves the whole school community, parents/guardians and others involved in day to day school life. Positive mental health for children is part of their overall health and is inextricably linked with wellbeing.
Amber Flag Committee 2022 – 2023
Our Amber Flag committee work together to help promote positive wellbeing in our school. The committee have been working very hard to outline lots of innovative ways to continue to promote positive mental health and wellbeing amongst our students.
Our aims and objectives are:
- Goal 1: To host a Wellbeing week focusing on emotional, social, spiritual and physical well being.
- Goal 2: To hold a fundraiser and raise funds for Pieta House.
Greaghrahan NS Wellbeing Week 20th - 24th February 2023
Wellbeing Week took place from Monday 20th - Friday 24th February as part of our Amber Flag initiative.
Goal 1: To host a Well being week focusing on emotional, social, spiritual and physical well being.
Goal 2: To hold a fundraiser for Pieta House.
Jumble Sale Pieta House Fundraiser
Wow!! What excitement there was all week for the eagerly awaited return of the Jumble Sale. After the Covid-enforced break, it was lovely to be able to hold our Jumble Sale again. Thanks to all who contributed, whether by donating jumble, helping with the stalls, giving children money or buying items! There were books, cars, dolls, bags, clothes, jewellery, cakes, buns, popcorn, jelly, nail painting and a very special; 'Guess the name of the teddy'. Thank you to all the children who were very happy customers, and raised a massive €380 for Pieta House. Thank you very much to everyone, especially the Amber flag committee. It was lovely to see such a great buzz and excitement from the children today.
Feel Good Friday
Terrific Thursday
Positivity Garden
Today the children began work on the positivity garden. We looked forward to having our garden ready by the summer with a range of beautiful flowers and vegetables which the children will be working on over the coming weeks. The children started by decorating pots which will be used for planting. They learnt about a different range of flowers including Calendula, Nasturilum, Sweet Peas, Snap Dragons/ Antirrhinum, Pansy and Violas and began planting. We also talked about what seeds will need in order to grow: water, soil and sunlight. The children helped with some weeding of the beds in preparation for planting. The children painted some beach stones which will be decorated with Positive affirmations and displayed in our garden.
Thank you to Incredible Edibles a healthy eating initiative for Primary School students which encourages schools across the country to get busy growing fruit, vegetables and herbs. Incredible Edibles is an interactive project that allows students to get their hands dirty and learn by doing. Thank you to Agri Aware for providing our school with compost, biodegradable pots and seeds to grow carrots, potatoes, strawberries, turnips, lettuce and chives.
Thank you to Incredible Edibles a healthy eating initiative for Primary School students which encourages schools across the country to get busy growing fruit, vegetables and herbs. Incredible Edibles is an interactive project that allows students to get their hands dirty and learn by doing. Thank you to Agri Aware for providing our school with compost, biodegradable pots and seeds to grow carrots, potatoes, strawberries, turnips, lettuce and chives.
Wellbeing Wednesday
Healthy Eating
The children were learned about healthy food and snacks as part of Wellbeing Wednesday. The Junior room made beautiful fruit platters with their pancakes and enjoyed making banana and strawberry milkshakes. The middle room made a range of fruit kebabs including bananas, apples, strawberries, grapes and oranges. The children loved sampling the different delicious fruits. The Senior Room made fruit smoothies and vegetable soup which was a big hit with all the children.
Fruit Platters
Fruit Kebabs
Vegetable Soup
Fruit smoothies
Physical Wellbeing - Active School Committee
The Active School committee set up a range of stations and the children participated in some physical activities which can help their physical wellbeing.
Ash Wednesday Prayer Service - Spiritual Wellbeing
Thank you to Mrs Prior who organised a beautiful Ash Wednesday Prayer Service and spoke to the children about Lent and what Ash Wednesday symbolises.
Pancake Day
Happy Pancake Tuesday. 🥞The pupils celebrated Pancake Tuesday by sampling some delicious pancakes served by the parents with a variety of different toppings. Thank you to all the parents who helped out. They were so delicious, yum yum!
Mindful Monday
For Mindful Monday we focused on being mindful through our breathing, we practised meditation and did morning meditations throughout the week. Meditation helps to improve our concentration, and to manage our emotions. It helps us to be more creative and to feel less stressed during the day and helps us sleep better at night. We really enjoyed taking time out from our work to be still and relax.
Mindful Colouring
Mindful colouring is about bringing our awareness into the present moment by consciously focusing on colour and design. Instead of the formal practice of focusing on the breath, you bring your focus to the weight of the pencil in your hand, the shade of colours on your paper, and the feelings you experience throughout. Mindful colouring has been shown to:
- Reduce anxiety and stress
- Improve sleep
- Improve focus
- Improve vision and motor skills
Yoga with Sharon
What a lovely relaxing start to our Monday after mid term. The children were delighted to welcome Sharon Brennan in to teach them some Yoga. Yoga is a series of movements connected to breathing. Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical activity that’s non-competitive. Yoga enhances flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. Practising yoga helps children to relax, slow down and improves concentration and focus. Yoga teaches children self-care and relaxation techniques to help them to deal with little challenges that may arise in their lives.
Wear your slippers in school
It was a nice treat to wear your slippers in school today and the children really enjoyed being comfy for the day.
Drop Everything and Dance
When we heard the bells ringing through the corridor it meant time for 'Drop Everything and Dance.' We all gathered as a class and followed the routine to 'Can't stop the feeling'. The children enjoyed some physical activity and having a dance with their friends.
Wellbeing Displays
The children created positive affirmations about themselves and described what makes them feel happy.
Run Around Ireland - Active Schools Daily Mile
As part of working towards renewing our Active School Flag, the children are taking part in the Run Around Ireland Challenge. Each lap = 1km and each class worked out the distance from our school here in Cavan to different landmarks on the maps and and wrote the distance on the sheet provided. This was an excellent way for children to learn about some of Ireland’s most famous landmarks. Over the next 4 weeks, our aim is to run to all of these places without leaving our school yard. A great way to develop our Physical Wellbeing.
Active Schools - Daily Mile/ Run around Ireland/
Getting out in the fresh air is great for our mental health. The schools Active Walkway/ Our Daily Mile and Our Run around Ireland challenge have been a great hit with the students!
The active school committee are busy completing active lines! When the bell rings the active school committee members do some exercises with each class. They came up with lots of these active ideas themselves! Some of these include:
• Jumping jacks
• Squats
• Frog jumps
• Jump-hop-jump
• Running on the spot
• Lunges
• Arm circles
• High knees
• Different stretches
• Climbing on the spot
• Leg swings / Leg circles
Zones of Regulation Programme - Senior Room
Learning to identify and regulate emotions is a big job, especially for kids. One tool that many teachers have found helpful is a curriculum developed by Leah Kuypers, called the Zones of Regulation .
The Zones of Regulation is a framework that uses four colors to help students identify their feelings and level of alertness and provides strategies to support emotional regulation. By understanding how to notice their body’s signals, detect triggers, read social context, and consider how their behaviors impact those around them, students learn improved emotional control, sensory regulation, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills.
The Zones of Regulation is a framework that uses four colors to help students identify their feelings and level of alertness and provides strategies to support emotional regulation. By understanding how to notice their body’s signals, detect triggers, read social context, and consider how their behaviors impact those around them, students learn improved emotional control, sensory regulation, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills.
What are the Zones of Regulation?
In Greaghrahan National School, the Zones of Regulation is a program that some of our teachers use to help children learn about feelings and emotions, and figuring out how we can regulate our feelings. Different colours represent the different zones, and we can we can put feelings and emotions in each zone to describe how we are.
It is really important for adults and children to understand that there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ zones. Emotions and feelings are a normal part of life. It’s not about preventing feelings but learning how to manage our behaviour when we feel a certain way, so our feelings don’t affect how we learn or how we treat other people.
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Worry Boxes
The Amber Flag committee introduced ‘Worry Boxes’ to each classroom to help children who have worries and who may not be able to verbalise these to have a way to talk to an adult who can help.
Buddy Reading
In Greaghrahan N.S. we pride ourselves on the caring and nurturing relationship that exists between the older and younger pupils in the school. This is something that is frequently commented on by new families and visitors to the school. We love to provide opportunities for these two groups to meet, to support and build on these special relationships. The Junior and Senior Infants enjoyed buddying up recently with the pupils from the Senior classes to build jigsaws and to listen to their favourite fairy tales. The activity was really enjoyed by all the children and the older pupils showed care and patience as they worked alongside their younger peers. The older pupils had the opportunity to see the value of reading and to practise the skill in front of captive listeners. This gives them a sense of responsibility and increases self-esteem. The younger pupils hear fluent reading being modelled and listening to stories helps to foster a love of reading in them. The pupils can't wait for their next meet up!
Green School Spring Clean
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The Green School committee organised a litter pick to coincide with An Taisce's Spring Clean event. This is Ireland's biggest anti-litter campaign where volunteers get together to clean up the areas where they live. Thanks to all the pupils for their hard work. You are having a positive impact on the environment and improving the appearance of our local area. As you can see from the picture below, one pupil was inspired to do her own litter pick at home. Thanks for being such a great example and inspiring others to make a difference!
Green Schools - Walk for Water
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Our Green School Committee organised a Walk for Water to celebrate World Water Day. We did this to raise awareness about women and children in countries around the world, who walk on average 6km a day to access water, and have to carry heavy loads of up to 20 Litres on their way back. Often the water they find is dirty and not fit for human consumption. Our Walk for Water made us realise how lucky we are to have safe drinking water and sanitation. We also got to observe the signs of Spring in the beautiful countryside surrounding our school.
Anti Bullying Week
21st - 26th November 2023
Online Safety and Cyber Bullying.
'Don't be mean behind the screen'
***Anti Bullying Week***
Thank you to Paula O'Connor from 'DON'T BE MEAN BEHIND YOUR SCREEN' for her fantastic talk to the Senior Room on the importance of Internet Safety. Paula spoke to the children about gaming, cyber safety and creating a digital footprint. The children really enjoyed the talk and found it very valuable.
Thank you to Paula O'Connor from 'DON'T BE MEAN BEHIND YOUR SCREEN' for her fantastic talk to the Senior Room on the importance of Internet Safety. Paula spoke to the children about gaming, cyber safety and creating a digital footprint. The children really enjoyed the talk and found it very valuable.
Anti Bullying Assembly
Mrs Maguire the Principal has been holding Anti Bullying Assemblies with each class independently throughout the year to discuss bullying and keep the children informed of what bullying is and what to do if you are being being.
Safer Internet Day
On February 7th each of our classes devoted time to celebrate Safer Internet Day. Safer Internet Day is an EU-wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. This is an annual celebration that we take very seriously as we wish to educate our children on both the positives and potential dangers of the internet. The children took part in a range of Internet Safety activities and listened to a range of videos and stories from web wise.
The Student Council organised a Safer Internet Poster Competition and asked students to create posters to promote why it is important to stay safe online. There were some fantastic entries and the student council had a very hard decision deciding the winners.
The Safer Internet Day Poster Competition winners 2023.
Junior and Senior Infants: 1st Place: Noah; 2nd Place: Rynn, 3rd Place: Chloe
1st Class: 1st Place Sarah
2nd Class and 3rd Class: 1st Place Conor, 2nd Place Daniel,3rd Class Hannah
4th, 5th, 6th Class: 1st Teagan, 2nd: Emma, 3rd: Sarah
The theme this year was: Together for a better internet. 📱
The Student Council organised a Safer Internet Poster Competition and asked students to create posters to promote why it is important to stay safe online. There were some fantastic entries and the student council had a very hard decision deciding the winners.
The Safer Internet Day Poster Competition winners 2023.
Junior and Senior Infants: 1st Place: Noah; 2nd Place: Rynn, 3rd Place: Chloe
1st Class: 1st Place Sarah
2nd Class and 3rd Class: 1st Place Conor, 2nd Place Daniel,3rd Class Hannah
4th, 5th, 6th Class: 1st Teagan, 2nd: Emma, 3rd: Sarah
The theme this year was: Together for a better internet. 📱
Grandparents Day
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We had some very important visitors to the school on Wednesday when we celebrated Grandparent's / Special Person's Day. This is a very special day during Catholic School's week when we show our appreciation for the people who play a special role in the lives of the children. The children led a prayer service, recited poems and sang songs for their grandparents. Afterwards there was a chance to have a chat over a cup of tea provided by the Parents' Association. Thank you all for coming in to our school, we really enjoyed having you visit us.
World Kindness Day 2022
World Kindness Day is a holiday that promotes the importance of being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world. The purpose of this day is to help everyone understand that kindness is what binds us all together. As part of our Amber Flag the students in Greaghrahan National School celebrated this day by taking part in a range of activities that promote kindness. The students in the Junior and Middle room complemented their Art work with the motto 'Be the I in KIND' The Senior Room students looked at what kindness means and the way that you can show kindness to others.
Wellbeing Journals
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The students from 1st to 6th class keep a Wellbeing Journal. This journal allows them to write down a positive affirmation for the day. To write down what they are grateful for which helps promote positive thinking and to draw an emoji to show how they are feeling at that time. The students write down targets for the day and reflect and see whether they have achieved these targets at the end of the school day. It is really important to show gratitude as it is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps children feel more positive emotions.
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