Paralympic Gold Medallist, Michael McKillop visits Fermanagh pupils
Excited pupils at two Fermanagh Primary Schools, Aghadrumsee Primary and
Lisbellaw Primary had the chance to meet Paralympic Gold Medallist,
Michael McKillop on Friday. Michael was visiting the schools to congratulate
them on their winning Activ8 classroom displays they had submitted as part
of Sport Northern Ireland’s Activ8 programme.
Activ8 is a new initiative from Sport Northern Ireland promoting 8 steps for
children to get active and stay healthy and has been awarded the London 2012
Inspire Mark.
Michael’s first stop was at Aghadrumsee Primary where he got a rendition of the
Activ8 rap the children had created on healthy eating. The P5-7 pupils explained
to their special guest how they created their own playground games and taught the younger children how to play them at break time as part of their
involvement in Activ8.
After an intense series of questions from the pupils it was out to the playground for Michael to demonstrate his sporting skills and see the pupils in action on the schools
new Trim Trail obstacle course.
Florence Pryce, Aghadrumsee Principal, said of the visit, “It was a pleasure to
have Michael visit our school in celebration of those pupils who worked so
hard on Activ8. The children really enjoyed asking him questions and demonstrating their sporting skills. This special visit is a fantastic reward and something the
children and teachers will remember for a long time.” On Friday afternoon, Michael visited another winning school, Lisbellaw Primary
who had put together the “Lisbellaw Olympics” as part of their participation in Activ8.
To create the Lisbellaw Olympics the P4 pupils looked at Olympic sports and invented new games for the Lisbellaw Olympics and those they would like to see in London 2012. After taking part in the Activ8 challenge for a week the school took a day
to hold the Lisbellaw Olympics. The children took part in
typical Olympic events and
new self-designed Olympic Games including a new
event they called The Balloon
Race.
After finding out all about the Lisbellaw Olympics from the pupils it was out to the playground once again for Michael to demonstrate his sporting skills and to see the pupils in action.
The Principal of Lisbellaw spoke about Activ8 and what Michael’s visit meant
to the school, “The children really enjoyed taking part in Activ8 which I think they portrayed clearly in their classroom display. Being active is an important part of our school day so it was an honour to be selected as a winner of Activ8. We felt really privileged to have Michael visit our school; he has inspired the children to continue being active
and I know everyone will remember his visit for a long time.”
Speaking on his visits Michael said: “The amount of effort and creativity both these schools put into Activ8 is overwhelming. I helped to launch Activ8 back in April and it has been great to see the campaign in action during my visits to both schools today. Sport Northern Ireland’s Activ8 campaign is a superb initiative which is encouraging children to learn about the importance of being active and living a healthy lifestyle.
It is also great to see the pupils learning about Olympic and Paralympic sports”.
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