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Green Schools • Scoil Ghlas

Green Schools sub-pages:

We got our Green Schools flag:

Green-Schools Committee

The committee consists of two pupils from each class,
from first to sixth class, and parents and school staff.
The committee meets regularly to review and plan the work.
All pupils will have turns on the committee.

Composting

We bought a small black composting bin.
It is just the right size for the small space in our flower bed.
This is the only place where we have soil.
The lid is fixed on, for when the wind blows.
We compost tea-bags, apple cores, orange and banana skins.
We shred A4 sheets when they have been used on both sides.
The worms in the soil help break down the compost.
We now throw out less and have food for the plants.

Bins for sorting rubbish

Long ago all the school rubbish went into the same bin.
This rubbish was put into landfill.
Now there are four bins in each classroom,.
These are for recycling, composting, scrap and general waste.
Very little now goes into general waste.

Collecting for Recycling and Reuse

The school is a collection centre for recycling or reusing many different things:
newspapers, batteries, printer and photocopier cartridges, mobile phones, Christmas and birthday cards, stamps, clothes.

Feeding the Birds

The children learned a lot about bird species and how to feed and observe them from John Murphy when he came to the school.
He showed lovely pictures he had taken of different types of birds.

We have a bird table in the little garden.
We bought peanuts, raisins and margarine and mix cakes for the birds to eat. Starlings, bluetits and sparrows come and the cakes are soon eaten.

The crows get all the leftover scraps from lunch.
The scraps are thrown on to the shed roof for them.
The crows come at lunch time and wait to be fed.

To make bird feeders we used 2l clear plastic bottles with tops,
with bamboo plant supports as perches and wire clothes hanger to hang up. The feeders are filled with peanuts and hang high on the school.

Watching the birds

The children love to watch the birds feeding and to draw them.

One morning in November, when the first children arrived at the school, there was a big heron at the door. He looked as if he was trying to come into the school.

When John Murphy came to the school to talk to us about birds, we asked him about the heron. He said the heron had probably seen something to eat and had come down to get it.

Another morning, in February, a beautiful cock pheasant was walking on the road up near the village. Cars were passing and people were walking to the school. Everyone stopped to look at him.

When two cars came from opposite directions, the pheasant flew up into the air and across the field along by the school. All the people watching, on the road and in the school, were happy to have seen such a beautiful and colourful bird.

We listened in May to the cuckoo calling in the hedgerow of the field beside the school for four days in a row.

Reused Christmas Cards

We made a mosaic frieze for the church to celebrate Easter.
The frieze consists of 39 sections, each on 230mm x 210mm.
It says, “Jesus is risen today, Alleluia.”

The letters and pictures are made by gluing small coloured squares of light cardboard onto backing sheets. The squares are cut from the Christmas cards donated to the school by the community after Christmas. The cards provided us with lovely colours.

The mosaics were strung across the church gallery for the vigil Mass at Easter. They stayed ther for the Easter season and decorated the church the First Communion.

Starting the Garden

When the aunumn came we started work on the garden.
We turned the soil over with the spade and fork. This loosens the soil and lets in the air. We prepared the ground well so that the plants will grow well. The weeds came out easily. Some of them had long roots. All the ivy had to be pulled out to make room for the bulbs we were planting. We put mushroom compost to feed the soil.

In the spring the bulbs flowered and the garden was beautiful.