We began our Green Schools journey back in 2008 when it was decided that we would start working towards our very first Green Flag.
According to their website: Green-Schools is Ireland’s leading environmental management and education programme for schools. Promoting long-term, whole-school action for the environment Green-Schools is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community. The programme is operated and co-ordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce
There are 9 different themes included in the Green Schools Program;
Litter & Waste
Energy
Water
Travel
Bio-diversity
Global Citizenship – Litter & Waste
Global Citizenship – Energy
Global Citizenship – Marine Environment
Global Citizenship – Travel
To date we have been awarded 5 Green Flags and this year (2020) we hope to add our sixth.
We have seen many changes in the way we do things here in Scoil Mhuire since we began working on the Green Flag initiative, we have all become much more aware of how our daily actions can have an impact on the environment- Locally, Nationally and Globally.
Some of the initiatives introduced back in 2008 have now become a normal part of everyday life in the school. Our leftover fruits, vegetables etc are gathered and added to our compost bin on a daily basis. We shred waste paper which our local animal rescue centre and local horse owners take to use as bedding.
We have become more conscious of how we dispose of our waste and have seen year on year reductions in refuse going to landfill while at the same time a steady increase in waste recycling, through composting, recycling bins and using our local recycling centre. Our Parents Association facilitate regular runs to our nearest clothing recycling centre.
We have made an effort to move away from chemical cleaning products such as bleach and other cleaners in favour of natural products such as essential oils & vinegar.
We continue to monitor energy and water usage and the children are often the ones who remind the teachers to turn off devices or lights that have been left on!
The Travel Theme inspired many of us to examine how we get to and from school everyday. Some families opt to car share instead of multiple cars being used for the same journey. When the weather is favourable a lot of our students cycle to school, making good use of the bicycle shelter that was installed.
The Bio-Diversity Theme really inspired everyone in the school to get out and explore our local area. We built a ‘Bug Hotel’, installed bird feeders and nesting boxes and made a start on our own herb and vegetable patch in the school yard. We also took to the great outdoors towards the end of term last year when we had ‘Forest School’ sessions one day a week for 6 weeks. This was a fantastic experience for everyone involved – it was great to see how some of the children who were reluctant to get their hands even a tiny bit dirty the first day became fully involved in the whole process and on one particular day came back to school covered in mud – they weren’t going to let a little bit of rain spoil their fun!
We intend to continue this exploration of our local habitat this year with some ‘Beach School’ sessions planned for our last term. We can’t wait.
We have become more involved in community projects such as National Spring Clean Weeks and Clean Coasts.
While Covid 19 may have cut our school year short we had done all our work on our Green Flag renewal and we were delighted to hear from An Taisce that our hard work had paid off and we have been awarded our 6th Green Flag.
Doing our bit for the Bee’s……
Our wildflower garden is in full bloom giving us a lovely splash of colour as we head into winter. We also have a herb corner where we grow Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Sage and Parsley.