Green Flag

St Patrick’s De La Salle Green Flag

Numerous activities take place in our school in order to ensure that we have a clean safe and healthy working environment. We conduct many activities and information campaigns within the school.

Each class from Junior Infants to Sixth Class has a representative on the Committee. We meet approximately once a month.

The ideas and opinions of children are taken into account. This year we are focussing on Biodiversity. This pertains to all living things, plants, animals, insects, trees, flowers, hedges and so on.

We conducted a survey at the start of the year to consider how much the children knew about biodiversity. Naturally, many children did not know too much but many children had a fairly good idea about it too. Once we signed up for the Biodiversity Flag, many suggested activities are sent to us. It would be impossible to embark on them all but some of those we carried out were: Bike to school week, scoot to school week (Unfortunately a week of torrential rain), and walk to school week later in the year. Each green flag takes two years to gain. We hope to know a lot more about biodiversity when we get this flag in 2023.

We also created a section of our school garden where every class and every ASD class has a box, In which a wide variety of plants, vegetables and fruit have been planted – February, March and April 2022. We also planted apple and pear trees. Many children created a map of the school environs, which is another aspect of the Green Schools criteria for Biodiversity. We also have a notice board for Green Schools information. Some of the maps are up on this noticeboard.

Staff and children are involved in the committee and anyone in the school is welcome to contribute ideas. Shane, our caretaker, keeps the grounds in very good condition, adding to the aesthetics of our school. Mrs Tierney signed us up for the collection of tokens for Bees through Supervalu and this has been a great success. She has sent forward a proposal for how we would spend the prize for this competition should we be successful. Fingers crossed.

We also created a compost area for leaves in the school garden in October. This is building up and will eventually be usable. Other staff members that are on the committee are Mr Walton, Ms Treacy and Ms Walpole. We are very active on social media showing what we are doing.

The correct usage of the bins – litter, recycling and compost is encouraged and children are encouraged to use the bins.

Children are encouraged to reuse plastic bottles for their drinks, use plastic lunch boxes rather than tin foil, conserve paper by writing on the back of sheets deemed “waste” etc. We also encourage the children to take their waste home with them so as to cut down on the volume that the school actually produces. Targeted Recycling Weeks throughout the year will be introduced where old phones, used batteries, ink cartridges and old clothes will be collected and sent to the relevant agencies or to the proper centres to be recycled.

Our school is working diligently to do our bit to help the environment and raise awareness.