Our Flower Garden
5th and 6th class have been busy working on our Flower Garden. They are doing a great job!
World Earth Day 2021
The boys painted rocks they collected from their local area for Earth Day.
They really enjoyed this activity and displayed them in our school garden.
Litter Picking around Strokestown
The 5th and 6th class boys worked really hard picking up litter with the Tidy Towns in November. They did a great job. We are so proud of them all.
Raising Our Fifth Green Flag
On Tuesday 21st of May, Ms Beirne, Stephen, Emmet and I went to the Hudson Bay Hotel and collected our Fifth Green Flag.
We decided to raise the Green Flag on Friday the 24th of May. We invited all pupils and families to come along. When we went out to stand in our positions, for the raising of the Green Flag , there were lots of people in our garden. Then Ms Beirne, Stephen and I said a few words.
After that Martin Tiernan raised our Green Flag. Finally we sang our Biodiversity rap. An ice-cream van came to our school and we all received an ice cream. Once everyone had an ice- cream they were allowed to go home. We had a great day!
By Sean McDonnell.
We decided to raise the Green Flag on Friday the 24th of May. We invited all pupils and families to come along. When we went out to stand in our positions, for the raising of the Green Flag , there were lots of people in our garden. Then Ms Beirne, Stephen and I said a few words.
After that Martin Tiernan raised our Green Flag. Finally we sang our Biodiversity rap. An ice-cream van came to our school and we all received an ice cream. Once everyone had an ice- cream they were allowed to go home. We had a great day!
By Sean McDonnell.
Our Biodiversity Rap
Biodiversity Year Two
Michael Bell came to our school and spoke about Biodiversity.
Green Schools Committee 2018
Launch of National Gum Litter Campaign with Minister Denis Naughten on 18th June 2018
Green School Travel Flag Presentation- 24th May 2017
Overview
Our school has been working on the Green-Schools programme for 9 years. The experience has been totally positive and has greatly benefited our school, pupils and staff. Pupils and staff are now more aware of how to reduce, reuse and recycle, how to save energy and water and we are now using more sustainable modes of transport when coming to school. We are now in our second year of the Biodiversity flag. We have also maintained the work we did for the flags we have already achieved for Litter and Waste, the conservation of energy and water and Travel.
Our Green Schools committee meets regularly to discuss various issues relating to litter and waste, energy, water conservation, travel and biodiversity and what we can do in our school to help our environment.
We are helping our environment in so many ways. We have greatly reduced our litter and waste, our energy usage, our water usage and are using more sustainable modes of transport coming to school. The children are also carrying the message home and parents are now more aware of conserving our environment. Through curriculum work everyone has a heightened awareness of their responsibility in conserving water and energy, ensuring our environment is litter and waste free and in using sustainable modes of transport.
Litter and Waste:
We continue to use three bins in each classroom and in the staffroom-waste, recycling and compost. We use the compost from our compost bin for growing flowers and vegetables in our school garden.
Our Bin Police are continuously monitoring the bins ensuring that the correct items are put in each bin and ensuring that yogurt cartons are washed out properly before being placed in the recycling bin. Every evening at 2:50 p.m. our Bin Police patrol the yard and school grounds with litter pickers and make sure our school is litter free. Teachers do random checks on lunch boxes to ensure that our healthy eating policy is being followed and to make sure children are bringing reusable bottles to school every day.
Parents and children are encouraged to bring unwanted phones and batteries into the recycling bank in our school.
Every year we take part in the Roscommon County Council recycled Christmas tree decoration competition and we use recycled materials in art classes when possible.
Energy:
We continue to monitor our energy efficiency by reading our electricity meter. Our Switch off Squad ensures that switches, projectors and lights are turned off when not in use. They also make sure that doors are closed during breaks and lunches. They go around the school every evening at 2:50pm to make sure nothing is left on overnight. Everyone has a responsibility to make sure all doors are closed during breaks and lunches to prevent heat from escaping.
We always make sure that we turn off lights, open the blinds, turn off the projectors when not in use and we don't leave any equipment on standby mode. In October 2018 pupils and staff visited Sliabh Bán wind turbines for a very informative trip.
Water Conservation:
We continue to work very hard to conserve water. We read the water meter weekly to monitor our usage. We have ‘Turn off the tap' posters placed beside sinks and wash hand basins. We have basins placed in sinks in each classroom to soak art brushes, trays, yogurt cartons etc. and this helps prevent wasting water. Our plumber has fixed leaking taps. We have erected a rainwater harvester to collect rain water which we use to water our flowers and vegetables in the school garden.
Travel:
We have been working on this theme for the past two years and we are looking forward to raising our flag in June. The aim of the Travel theme is to promote sustainable travel to school across Ireland, such as walking, cycling, carpooling, park ‘n stride or using public transport. Raising awareness on road safety and sustainable travel also plays a large role in the Travel theme.
We have taken part in a number of events and have made huge progress. We hold weekly WOW Days (Walk on Wednesday) and we run a competition between the two classrooms for the Golden Boot award. The children love this and it really encourages them to get involved and use sustainable modes of transport. We take part in National Walk to School Week every year and held a Santa Walk to School event at Christmas. We held cycle training in the school for all classes and the senior classes took part in on-road cycle training. All pupils received bicycle maintenance training.
Some of our progress to date includes
66% reduction in car use coming to school.
62% increase in pupils parking and striding to school.
34% increase in pupils who own bikes wearing a helmet.
11% reduction in car use going home from school.
As part of the Travel theme, we carried out a Walkability Audit. Concerns were raised following this regarding the speed of traffic passing our school. We currently have a Junior School Wardens team that assists the children across the road in the evening time. However, we feel that a pedestrian crossing is necessary. Therefore, we have been liaising with Roscommon County Council regarding the erection of a Pedestrian Crossing and this work is being carried out at present.
We have also applied to An Taisce for a bicycle rack to be erected in our school grounds and this will encourage pupils to cycle to school.
Incredible Edibles: This year 3rd & 4th class are taking part in the Incredible Edibles Challenge. Incredible Edibles is a healthy eating initiative for Primary School pupils. It encourages schools across the country to get busy growing carrots, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, turnips and herbs. We used our raised bed in the school garden to grow our vegetables and we also used our own compost produced in our compost bin in the school.
Biodiversity
We are currently working on the second year of our Biodiversity Flag. Biodiversity is our life support system. It is the variety of all life forms on earth, from the tiniest bugs living in the soil to the butterflies in your garden, the plants they feed from, and the biggest whales in the see. Our Green School Committee have completed the Environmental review and have their Action Plan in place. Biodiversity expert Martina Butler visited the school on the 17th of November 2017 to introduce the children to Biodiversity. We completed our Biodiversity survey and our results are displayed on our Green School noticeboard. We held a Climate Action Day on 19th October 2017 when our teachers taught us all about Climate Change. We had a Climate Change Quiz, made Climate Change Pledges and Miss Beirne presented us with certificates for all our hard work. We identified Biodiversity around the school, carried out a mini beast hunt and created a Habitat Map, built a Bug Hotel and Cathal's Dad made us a beautiful bird table. We feed the birds everyday after lunch. We completed our second survey and compiled graphs showing how our knowledge of Biodiversity has improved. We have created our second habitat map showing all the work we have done to help Biodiversity in our school. We carried out a second mini beast hunt and recorded all the mini beasts living in our school grounds. We made bird feeders from recycled materials and have noticed alot of birds visiting our school lately. We have integrated the Biodiversity theme throughout the curriculum. A pupil in third class wrote a Biodiversity Rap(Green Code) which we have all learned and enjoy singing. We have completed our Biodiversity application to An Taisce. Environmental Officer Suzanne Dempsey will visit our school on the first of April to see all our great work.
Our school has been working on the Green-Schools programme for 9 years. The experience has been totally positive and has greatly benefited our school, pupils and staff. Pupils and staff are now more aware of how to reduce, reuse and recycle, how to save energy and water and we are now using more sustainable modes of transport when coming to school. We are now in our second year of the Biodiversity flag. We have also maintained the work we did for the flags we have already achieved for Litter and Waste, the conservation of energy and water and Travel.
Our Green Schools committee meets regularly to discuss various issues relating to litter and waste, energy, water conservation, travel and biodiversity and what we can do in our school to help our environment.
We are helping our environment in so many ways. We have greatly reduced our litter and waste, our energy usage, our water usage and are using more sustainable modes of transport coming to school. The children are also carrying the message home and parents are now more aware of conserving our environment. Through curriculum work everyone has a heightened awareness of their responsibility in conserving water and energy, ensuring our environment is litter and waste free and in using sustainable modes of transport.
Litter and Waste:
We continue to use three bins in each classroom and in the staffroom-waste, recycling and compost. We use the compost from our compost bin for growing flowers and vegetables in our school garden.
Our Bin Police are continuously monitoring the bins ensuring that the correct items are put in each bin and ensuring that yogurt cartons are washed out properly before being placed in the recycling bin. Every evening at 2:50 p.m. our Bin Police patrol the yard and school grounds with litter pickers and make sure our school is litter free. Teachers do random checks on lunch boxes to ensure that our healthy eating policy is being followed and to make sure children are bringing reusable bottles to school every day.
Parents and children are encouraged to bring unwanted phones and batteries into the recycling bank in our school.
Every year we take part in the Roscommon County Council recycled Christmas tree decoration competition and we use recycled materials in art classes when possible.
Energy:
We continue to monitor our energy efficiency by reading our electricity meter. Our Switch off Squad ensures that switches, projectors and lights are turned off when not in use. They also make sure that doors are closed during breaks and lunches. They go around the school every evening at 2:50pm to make sure nothing is left on overnight. Everyone has a responsibility to make sure all doors are closed during breaks and lunches to prevent heat from escaping.
We always make sure that we turn off lights, open the blinds, turn off the projectors when not in use and we don't leave any equipment on standby mode. In October 2018 pupils and staff visited Sliabh Bán wind turbines for a very informative trip.
Water Conservation:
We continue to work very hard to conserve water. We read the water meter weekly to monitor our usage. We have ‘Turn off the tap' posters placed beside sinks and wash hand basins. We have basins placed in sinks in each classroom to soak art brushes, trays, yogurt cartons etc. and this helps prevent wasting water. Our plumber has fixed leaking taps. We have erected a rainwater harvester to collect rain water which we use to water our flowers and vegetables in the school garden.
Travel:
We have been working on this theme for the past two years and we are looking forward to raising our flag in June. The aim of the Travel theme is to promote sustainable travel to school across Ireland, such as walking, cycling, carpooling, park ‘n stride or using public transport. Raising awareness on road safety and sustainable travel also plays a large role in the Travel theme.
We have taken part in a number of events and have made huge progress. We hold weekly WOW Days (Walk on Wednesday) and we run a competition between the two classrooms for the Golden Boot award. The children love this and it really encourages them to get involved and use sustainable modes of transport. We take part in National Walk to School Week every year and held a Santa Walk to School event at Christmas. We held cycle training in the school for all classes and the senior classes took part in on-road cycle training. All pupils received bicycle maintenance training.
Some of our progress to date includes
66% reduction in car use coming to school.
62% increase in pupils parking and striding to school.
34% increase in pupils who own bikes wearing a helmet.
11% reduction in car use going home from school.
As part of the Travel theme, we carried out a Walkability Audit. Concerns were raised following this regarding the speed of traffic passing our school. We currently have a Junior School Wardens team that assists the children across the road in the evening time. However, we feel that a pedestrian crossing is necessary. Therefore, we have been liaising with Roscommon County Council regarding the erection of a Pedestrian Crossing and this work is being carried out at present.
We have also applied to An Taisce for a bicycle rack to be erected in our school grounds and this will encourage pupils to cycle to school.
Incredible Edibles: This year 3rd & 4th class are taking part in the Incredible Edibles Challenge. Incredible Edibles is a healthy eating initiative for Primary School pupils. It encourages schools across the country to get busy growing carrots, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, turnips and herbs. We used our raised bed in the school garden to grow our vegetables and we also used our own compost produced in our compost bin in the school.
Biodiversity
We are currently working on the second year of our Biodiversity Flag. Biodiversity is our life support system. It is the variety of all life forms on earth, from the tiniest bugs living in the soil to the butterflies in your garden, the plants they feed from, and the biggest whales in the see. Our Green School Committee have completed the Environmental review and have their Action Plan in place. Biodiversity expert Martina Butler visited the school on the 17th of November 2017 to introduce the children to Biodiversity. We completed our Biodiversity survey and our results are displayed on our Green School noticeboard. We held a Climate Action Day on 19th October 2017 when our teachers taught us all about Climate Change. We had a Climate Change Quiz, made Climate Change Pledges and Miss Beirne presented us with certificates for all our hard work. We identified Biodiversity around the school, carried out a mini beast hunt and created a Habitat Map, built a Bug Hotel and Cathal's Dad made us a beautiful bird table. We feed the birds everyday after lunch. We completed our second survey and compiled graphs showing how our knowledge of Biodiversity has improved. We have created our second habitat map showing all the work we have done to help Biodiversity in our school. We carried out a second mini beast hunt and recorded all the mini beasts living in our school grounds. We made bird feeders from recycled materials and have noticed alot of birds visiting our school lately. We have integrated the Biodiversity theme throughout the curriculum. A pupil in third class wrote a Biodiversity Rap(Green Code) which we have all learned and enjoy singing. We have completed our Biodiversity application to An Taisce. Environmental Officer Suzanne Dempsey will visit our school on the first of April to see all our great work.
