Ministers Naughton and Murnane O’Connor congratulate all those taking part in national Active School Week 2026
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton and Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing & the National Drugs Strategy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor today congratulated all those taking part in national Active School Week 2026, which is taking place from April 27 – May 1.
The initiative, open to primary, post-primary and special schools, seeks to incentivise and support schools to find ways to energise the school day, for everyone. All #ASW26 activities prioritise participation, inclusion and fun.
One of the aims of Active School Week 2026 is to support schools to find ways to integrate physical activity with learning, as a means to decrease sedentary behaviour in line with Every Move Counts, Ireland’s National Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines.
A range of teaching and learning charts are available for #ASW26, supporting teachers to bring teaching and learning outdoors. These include charts sets focusing on the counties of Ireland, native Irish birds, junior parkrun, gymnastics and pitch and putt.
Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton said:
“I would like to congratulate all pupils, students and schools taking part in ‘Active School Week’ (#ASW26)
“Being active is incredibly important for physical and mental health and school is a fantastic place to start the habit of building physical activity into your day. Active School Week brings the whole school community together, to engage with physical activity, and try new activities - with the focus on participation, inclusion and fun.
“An active school day brings many benefits to teaching and learning. This message has already been embraced by teachers and schools across the country and I would encourage as many schools as possible to use the ready-made ‘learning on the move’ activities and skipping tutorial videos, both available in English and Irish, to provide teachers with inspiration during #ASW26.
“This year’s #ASW focus is on Crazy Golf. Designing and building a Crazy Golf course opens up a multitude of rich teaching and learning opportunities, while Crazy Golf is an activity that can be enjoyed by students and staff of all ages, and all abilities.
“I want to wish everyone that is taking part in #ASW26 a really great week.”
Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD said:
“The promotion of physical activity is one of my priorities as Minister for Public Health and Wellbeing. It is vitally important that we encourage children and young people to get into the habit of being active from an early age. Active Schools aligns with our Healthy Ireland goals in terms of improving children’s activity levels and promoting physical and mental health and wellbeing; it has been great to see it go from strength to strength and expand its reach.”
Active School Week is part of the Active School Flag initiative which aims to get more schools, more active, more often.
Notes to Editor:
Further information on Active School Week 2026 resources
Building on the success of ‘Skip Around the World’ in September 2025, five new skipping skills videos are available to schools in both English and Irish for this Active School Week 2026. Students and school staff are encouraged to try these out during their #ASW26 programmes.
Two of Ireland’s top athletes, Olympic boxer Grainne Walsh and Paralympic Rower Tiarnán O’Donnell, ambassadors for the Dare to Believe programme, will be online on May 1 to tell their inspiring stories, answer student questions, demo some baking skills and Olympic Movement breaks and share their pro-tips!
Each year, Active School Week takes on a different focus. For 2026, the Active School team are delighted to partner with Pitch and Putt Ireland to support and to encourage schools to create Crazy Golf courses on their school grounds.
Active School Flag
Active School Flag (ASF) is an initiative of the Department of Education and Youth, supported by Healthy Ireland and administered through Mayo Education Centre. The aim of the programme is to get ‘more schools, more active, more often’.
The process encourages schools to promote physical activity, using a whole-of-school approach that prioritises participation, inclusion and fun, integrating student voice and student leadership. It also supports schools to find ways to integrate physical activity with teaching and learning, through movement breaks, walkway activities and active classroom routines.
The Active School Flag (ASF) accreditation process recognises schools that demonstrate their commitment to achieving a physically educated and physical active school community.
Website https://activeschoolflag.ie/ (Home Page)
https://activeschoolflag.ie/asw26-active-school-week-2026/ (This is the ASW page)
X (Twitter) https://twitter.com/ActiveFlag
Instagram active_school_flag
Healthy Ireland
Healthy Ireland is a major government-led initiative which aims to create an Irish society where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health, and where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society. Under Healthy Ireland, the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) is led by the Departments of Health and of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, in partnership with a range of other key stakeholders including the Department of Education. Encouraging more schools to participate in the Active School Flag is a key objective of the plan.
“Every Move Counts”, the National Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Ireland, provide detailed information for a range of population cohorts, and can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/healthy-ireland/publications/every-move-counts-national-physical-activity-and-sedentary-behaviour-guidelines-for-ireland/. The Guidelines were published in 2024, and expanded to include guidance for pregnant and post-partum women, and people living with chronic conditions, in June 2025.