Hi everybody, so the GAA Solo 2 has launched again with each week the GAA sending out both a hurling and Gaelic football challenge for pupils to try. Attached above is Tom Morrissey All Ireland winner with Limerick talking you through the volley competition and below is Podge Collins of Clare showing you two Gaelic football skills to practice. Any photos or videos to bmurphy@piercestownns.com

Hi everybody, its time to get the hurls, sliotars, helmets, gumshields and Gaelic footballs back out again as we step into Spring and start practicing our skills again and have some fun doing some art too.

Each week we are going to have a challenge for you to try and complete in both hurling and football brought to you by a GAA county player. You will then try and do one or maybe both of these drills and send in a photo or short video of you doing your challenge to enter in to a draw for a special competition upon returning to school. This week we have Limerick’s All Ireland winner Dan Morrisey to show us the wall ball volley challenge and Clare’s All Ireland winning hurler and current footballer Podge Collins to show us how many handpasses and kickpasses can we get in one minute. As well as the weekly challenge, each day their will be a training activity for you to go out and practice just to get your touch back shown in the file below with links to the videos on YouTube.

There will also be an Art challenge each week where we will ask for your help to create or design something related to GAA for our school. This week we would love you to design a school crest for Piercestown NS to be our own, It can be as creative as you like it to be but remember to try and think about what makes our school and area special which may include local landmarks or even the various sports to be found in the area.

Also there is A Rainy Day booklet attached with fun activities for all the GAA fans below and some colouring pages.

Roll up, roll up!! As today is our final fit family day, the staff of Piercestown NS wanted to show off their own exercise moves over the past few weeks. Enjoy seeing some familiar faces from around the school and try to see can you keep up? So grab your top hat, warm up those vocals and get ready to see ‘The Other Side’ of Piercestown NS’s staff. Follow along on the blog or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr6alXEnW-o&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JulieSinnott

Thank you to all who have taken part this week and over the past few weeks and if you have any photos or 15 second or less videos you would like to send to be shown on the blog. Email bmurphy@piercestownns.com

Hi everybody to our final daily challenge of fittest family. Thank you to all who are taking part both in the challenges, the exercises, the videos and generally getting your children up and moving. Today we are going to take on some more famous faces, this time seeing how long we can last in a hollow hold. Taking part today we have Limerick All Ireland winner Dan Morrissey, Dancing with the Stars Emily Barker, Kilkenny hurler Adrian Mullen, Ireland and Leinster’s Ross Byrne, Ireland hockey player Roisin Upton, Cork Camogie star Amy O’Connor, Kilkenny All Ireland camogie winner Meighan Farrell, Mayo and AFL star Niamh Kelly, RTE Today and DJ Meghann Scully, Nutritional Coach and Personal Trainer Nathalie Lennon, Wexford and St Martin’s star Chloe Foxe and Fair City’s and Dancing with the Stars Ryan Andrews. You can download the checklist from below to take part in this week’s optional challenges. So lie back, stretch out those legs and arms and keep them up. Best of luck!

Thank you to all who have taken part so far for the past month. If any fit families could send in their checklists and any photos or videos under 15 seconds for this weeks final challenges by 9pm Sunday night to bmurphy@piercestownns.com

Today we are lucky again to have Ms. Sinnott showing us another dance exercise. Ms. Sinnott is going to show you some fun dance moves to the hit song ‘The Witch Doctor’. So grab your lab coats and shake out those creaky bones and get moving to another energy fueled song. You can watch along here on the blog with an instructional and just dance version or on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_WR-LlsLo4&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JulieSinnott or https://youtu.be/fUZO-G4iXmI

Nearly there with just two days to go!!! Today’s challenge we are wanting you to try do as many burpees as you can in 60 seconds. In the battle today we are up against Ireland rugby’s superstar Beibhinn Parsons, Wexford footballer Alan Tobin, The Sunday Game’s presenter Jacqui Hurley, Mayo footballer Tommy Conroy, Junior World Champion off road cyclist Oisin O’Callaghan, Mayo and AFL star Grace Kelly, St Martins and Wexford camogie player Amy Cardiff, Tipperary football hero Conor Sweeney, Irish hockey player Sarah Torrans, Irish sprinter Sharlene Mawdsley, Cork City and Ireland soccer star Saoirse Noonan and Riverdance dancer Mairead Trainor. So grab the stopwatch, stretch out those limbs and get burpee-ing.

Hello everybody, welcome to day 3 of our active exercise videos. Today we are lucky to have Ms. Sinnott to get us up off our couches and start moving in a rhythmic way. We are going to learn some steps on how to dance like Shakira and get some exercise as well. Follow along here on the blog with an instructional dance video as well as the just dance version for when you come back to try it again or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1qxkv6o2JY&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JulieSinnott for the instruction video and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-4nhFkTiHo&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JulieSinnott for the just dance version. So get up, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to move!

Hi everybody, welcome to day 3 of our final week of Fittest Family. Today we are testing your yoga skills with the ‘Crow Pose.’ Taking part in today’s challenge we were lucky to have from Ireland’s Fittest Family The O’Rourke’s, The Mileys and Wexford’s own The Mahoney’s, Kilkenny hurlers Walter Walsh and Padraig Walsh, Cork dual GAA star Eoin Cadogan, Wexford and St Martin’s heroes Joe O’Connor and Jake Firman, Riverdance dancer Ellen Bonner, social media influencer Lorna Jane Duffy, fitness model Katie Smith and Body Feel’s wellness practitioner Niamh Boggan. Watch below for some of our celebrities saying hello and showing off their poses too. The So stretch out those wings of yours and get ready for lift off! Best of luck!

Happy Tuesday, fit families! Today we are going to do a special squat challenge led by Ms. Farrell. You are going to listen very carefully to the music and every time you hear the word up, you stand up and whenever you hear down, you squat and stay down. Can you keep up with Ms. Farrell? Follow along on the blog or watch on YouTube on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nTTCxsmjvo&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JulieSinnott

Best of luck!

Welcome to day 2 of our final fittest family week. Our second challenge this week, is to balance on one leg for as long as possible with your eyes closed. Can you find your balance and hang on to defeat some more top class athletes and familiar faces. Today we are lucky to welcome Wexford hurlers Liam Ryan and Paudie Foley, Ireland international hockey players Chloe Watkins and Zoe Wilson, Waterford hurlers Stephen Bennett and Jack Fagan, racing jockey supreme David Mullins, Beat radio’s own Trishauna Archer, Wexford Youth and Ireland international Ellen Molloy, Women’s National League Player of the year Karen Duggan, Natalya Coyle Olympian in various sports and Wexford camogie star Uná Sinnott. International hockey player Zoe Wilson has also challenged you to try to some keepy-ups with your hurl or hockey stick on one leg and see how many you get. Her best was 40. So time to get in the zone, find your inner balance and freeze!