Operation Transformation – Week 5 – Teamwork (5th February -9th February 2018)
Operation Transformation at Letterkenny ETNS
We are the Sports Council at Letterkenny Educate Together National School and we represent our National School in all things sporty.
In this, our weekly blog, we will be sharing our experience of the Operation Transformation Challenge which our whole school is engaging in. Our motto Healthy, Happy, Learn is central to this dynamic project. The motto will be our focus throughout the 6-week programme and this week, our fifth week of the challenge was all about Teamwork
Week 5: Teamwork
We’re now on the second last week of our challenge! After a week of fun and sport we started week five – Teamwork, to learn more about working together.
Active Homework
Eddie, Marty and Kevin who are local firemen taught us about how they work together. The importance of teamwork for them could be a matter of life or death. They highlighted to us the benefits of being a good leader and a good listener. They gave us homework for the week which was to discuss with our families what to do if there was a fire in our homes. We do fire drills in school all the time but we realised we have to have a plan in place for our houses too and to have an assembly point outside our homes.
Visitors
Danny and Alannah Ryan (3rd place winners of Fittest Family in Ireland) came in and taught us the different exercises we could do to keep fit. We knew skipping was fun but it is great for our bodies too. They talked about teamwork and made us think about working together and helping each other through difficult times. Danny showed us his GIANT boxing belt – it was bigger than some of the 2nd class children!
Nicki and Pat, two of the coaches of the Special Olympics team – North West Special Olympics Club, came in with athletes Joe, Mark, Trevor and Rosaline. We enjoyed listening to their training techniques and asked lots of questions. Two of the athletes will represent Ulster in the All-Ireland Games in Dublin in June. The athletes who play basketball and football, gave us an interesting insight into teamwork, diet and training from their perspective.
Conor and John from the army came in and talked about how they work in teams and practice problem solving activities. They showed us lots of pictures and everyone enjoyed the video.
We teamed up with Ballyraine National School and spent a fun-filled few hours getting to know them and doing different activities inside and outside our school. We had great fun with relays, football, basketball and board games. We hope to do it again soon.
Thanks to Jessica (Zona Dance) for showing us the importance of teamwork in dance. We learned that trusting your dance partner can make dancing so much better!
We went to visit Declan in his gym (Donegal Physiotherapy & Performance Centre) and he demonstrated some machines and exercises. We even got to test them.
Our week ended with assembly and a presentation from our own school teams. The representatives of each team explained to the whole school the details of what they do. We had good questions and interest from the children who would like to join a team.
We’ve really enjoyed our Operation Transformation Challenge. It’s been busy but worth it and we have only one week left. Check back next week to hear about our wrap up event and what we have planned going forward.
Student Opinions:
“We liked when the army came in and showed us the video.”
“We enjoyed when the firefighters came in and we all shouted FIRE as loud as we could”
“Danny impressed us with his skipping and balancing.”
“Ballyraine NS came in and we played with them and did sports too.”