Ms. Dowd's
First Class
Welcome to our class blog!
The class really enjoyed our celebrations for Seachtain na Gaeilge and St. Patrick’s Day. They were brilliant performing their amhrán ‘An Maith Libh Rock and Roll?’ And their damhsa ‘An Staicín Eorna’ for the junior classes.
As part of engineering week we built some towers using different materials. We tried to build the biggest tower we could in 5 minutes as a group. We then gave them a wobble test to see which would be left standing!
We made predictions about what would happen to raisins if they were put in water and put in Sprite. We loved seeing the results!
We tried our hands at building using lots of different materials. Some were easier to work with than others!
We have been studying different artists lately. Last week the children created pop art in the style of Andy Warhol. This time we're looking at an artist called Hundertwasser! Have a chat about his painting below and the colours and shapes you can see. Do you like his art? which do you prefer; Andy Warhol or Hundertwasser?
Parental (Guardian) Information Leaflet
Study Title: The ‘Fun Move Play’ Project Louth The Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Literacy in Louth Project Researcher Group: Stage 4 Health & Physical Activity Students from the Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), in partnership with the Louth Local Sports Partnership (LLSP) Research Supervisor Names: Brid Delahunt and Jemma McGourty (DkIT) Richard English (LLSP) Telephone number of Research Supervisors: DkIT: 042 9370200 extn 2710 (Brid); extn 2013 (Jemma) LLSP: 042 9324299 (Richard) Both you and your child are being invited to take part in a research study to be carried out at your child’s school, within your child’s school day. Before you decide whether or not you wish you and/ or your child to take part, you should read the information provided below carefully. Feel free to discuss it with your family and friends. Take time to ask questions – don’t feel rushed and don’t feel under pressure to make a quick decision. You should clearly understand the risks and benefits to both you and your child in taking part in this study so that you can make a decision that is right for you and your child. This process is known as ‘Informed Consent’. You or your child do not have to take part in this study and a decision not to take part will not affect your child’s future participation in physical activity or PE within the school setting. You can change your mind about you and/ or your child taking part in the study any time you like. Even if the study has started, you can still opt out and/ or your child. You don't have to give us a reason. If you do opt out and/ or your child, rest assured it won't affect the quality of their physical activity experience that they get in their school in the future. Why is this study being done? Participation in regular physical activity benefits a child physically, psychologically and socially. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) for e.g. running, skipping, throwing and catching have been identified as key skills that provide the foundation for an individual’s future participation in physical activity and sport. However, research has shown that FMS proficiency in children can be quite low, which could potentially affect their future participation in physical activity. This study is taking place to measure FMS proficiency in 6-8 year old Irish primary school children and to determine if a six week tailored FMS intervention programme will improve FMS proficiency from their baseline levels. In addition, because a child’s participation in physical activity is heavily influenced by both parents and teachers, this study is also going to investigate parents’ and teachers’ attitudes and perceptions of physical activity participation and its’ promotion in children. Who is organising and funding this study? This study is being conducted by fourth year students of the BSc (Hons) in Health and Physical Activity degree programme, Dundalk Institute of Technology, as part of their honours degree. It is being carried out in partnership with the Louth Local Sports Partnership, supported by Coaching Ireland. DkIT students are not receiving any payment for conducting this research study, nor will the teachers, parents or primary school children receive payment for their participation in this study. Why are my child and I being asked to take part? Your child: Your child is being asked to participate in this study as this research is investigating if a six week FMS intervention improves motor proficiency. Your child falls into the age category of 6-8 years, so is being invited to participate. In effect, we are looking to see if the fundamental movement skills programme improves skills such as running, jumping, catching, hopping, etc. You: You are being asked to participate in this study as we are also interested in investigating parents’ attitudes, views, experiences and perceptions of physical activity participation and promotion in children and also the factors that might enhance or impede this. In addition, we would like to investigate a potential link between you and your child’s levels of physical activity. How will the study be carried out? For your child: The study will be carried out over an eight week period between February and April 2019. The first week will involve each child having their FMS proficiency assessed, as part of their class group, by Health and Physical Activity students. Week’s two to seven will entail each child participating in an FMS tailored physical activity session, with their class group, for a duration of one hour in their school. The programme will be delivered by the same Health and Physical Activity students each week. Week eight will involve each child having their FMS proficiency reassessed, in the same format as week one. For you: Firstly, you will be invited to complete a survey, from the comfort of your own home, investigating your attitudes towards physical activity, your own physical activity levels, and your child's physical activity levels. Factors that facilitate or hinder physical activity participation in children will also be examined. Secondly, you will be invited to your child’s school to participate in an individual interview. The focus of this interview will be to explore your views and opinions of your child’s physical activity and also to see what you think about physical activity within the school setting. What will happen to my child and/ or me if I agree for us to take part? Your child: If you agree that your child can participate in this research study, DkIT students will carry out the protocol described above. Firstly, your child will have their FMS proficiency recorded by Health and Physical Activity students, as part of their class group. This will be in the form of your child being video recorded while performing the various skills which will take approximately 30 minutes. Your child will then take part in a group physical activity session for one hour a week over a six week period, tailored specifically to develop your child’s FMS proficiency. At the end of the six weeks, your child will again have their FMS proficiency video recorded, to determine if the programme was effective in improving their skills. You: If you agree to participate in this research study, firstly, you will be invited to complete a survey, as outlined above, and then, return it to the school within the time frame given. Secondly, you will be invited to your child’s school to participate in an individual interview, as outlined above. If you agree to take part in this study, it would be great if you completed both the survey and the individual interview. However, participation in either would be greatly appreciated. What are the benefits? There are potentially a number of benefits for you and your child should you participate in this study. Firstly, you as a parent can get, if you wish, information on your child’s FMS proficiency and whether this improved as a result of engaging with the research study. Secondly, your child will get an opportunity to participate in physical activity sessions tailored specifically to improve their motor (movement) ability in a fun and inclusive environment. Research has shown that children who master the basic FMS skills are more confident in their physical activity/ sporting ability and are more willing to participate in physical activity/ sport in the future, resulting in a physically active lifestyle. Thirdly, your participation in the survey and/ or individual interview will provide the researchers with very useful information regarding how parents perceive and can influence their child’s physical activity levels. What are the risks? To your child: Inherent in physical activity participation is the risk of falling and minor injuries. Children will be under supervision at all times by the class teacher and DkIT students and, if, any minor injuries do occur, they will be dealt with immediately. The Health and Physical Activity students running the sessions are qualified first aiders, fitness instructors and personal trainers and are well equipped to deal with any issues that might arise. Both the FMS assessment and the weekly FMS sessions don’t carry any additional risk with them when compared to your child’s weekly PE session/ s. All DkIT students undertaking the research study have been successfully Garda vetted and have completed a child welfare and protection basic awareness course to ensure best practice in protecting the welfare of children. The Louth Local Sports Partnership will provide a full week of training to all Health and Physical Activity students before the study starts, so that they are up to date on both the assessment of FMS and the management of the weekly sessions with the children. Upon successful completion of this training, all Health and Physical Activity students will have the iCoach kids qualification. To you: There are no identifiable risks with your participation in this study i.e. the completion of a survey and an individual or focus group interview. However, during the interview, while not anticipated, should you get upset for any reason, you can terminate it at any stage. This will not have any impact on your child’s enrolment on the FMS programme or future PE experiences within the School. What if something goes wrong with my child or me when we are taking part in this study? Your child: As mentioned in the previous section, your child will be supervised at all times during this research study. If your child becomes injured, ill or upset during a given session, they will be assisted immediately. If it is deemed that your child is not fit or happy to continue on with the given session, relevant assistance will be provided for your child and he/ she will be given the option to sit it out. When /if appropriate, you will be contacted if unanticipated situations arise. As all of the students have specific training in delivering such programmes, this is unlikely to occur. Common to you both: If you change your mind about yours or your child’s participation in this study at any time, you have the right to withdraw you or your child from the study without giving an explanation to the research team as to why. If you feel at any stage of the process that you want to complain about any aspect of the study, please feel free to contact a member of the research team whose contact details are outlined (both) on the front and last pages of this information sheet. Will it cost me anything for my child and I to take part? Your child: It will not cost you anything additional for your child to participate in this study. The study will take place in your child’s school, as part of your child’s school day, probably during their PE class. You: For your participation in the individual interview at the school, you may incur travel costs to and from the school. Is the study confidential? To protect you and your child and in line with ethical procedures, the research team will take appropriate measures to ensure that any information generated as part of this study, will not reveal the identity of a given child or parent. To ensure this, at the onset of the study, the research team will generate a unique code for each child and parent which will then be used going forward as the identifier of that individual. For example, for a 6 year old child named Jane Walsh from Blackrock, her unique code could be HWEB6 i.e. last letter of surname, first letter of surname, last letter of forename, first letter of address and finally age. This is only an example of how the research team could generate a unique code for each child and parent participant. All data generated by this research study will be stored securely on a password protected computer that only the research team will have access to. Following the completion of the research study and the submission of relevant papers, all data, including the video recordings, will be destroyed. The precise timescale of this is unknown as it is envisaged that a number of primary research publications might result from the data generated by this study. Again, rest assured that at no time will you or your child be identifiable in any written or oral media produced. Where can I get further information? If you have any further questions about the study, or, if you want to opt you or your child out of the study, you can rest assured it won't affect the quality of the physical activity experience that your child will get in their school in the future. If you need any further information now or at any time in the future, please contact: Name Brid Delahunt Jemma McGourty Richard English Address School of Health and Science, DkIT School of Health and Science, DkIT Louth Local Sports Partnership Email address [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Phone No. 042 9370200 extn 2710 042 9370200 extn 2013 042 9324343 Our Christmas takes place tomorrow the 18th of December in the school hall at 11am. All of the children have been practising really hard and can't wait to perform. Children may wear their costume in to school if they wish. We hope to see you there!
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