As you may know, we applied for a Green Flag Award on Friday, 5th December. We are very excited at the prospect of becoming a Green School and all classes have been working hard, learning how to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!’

Some parts of our application still need to be put in place. For example, we need to formulate a Green Schools’ Code and come up with a suitable motto. To date, children have been inundating us with terrific ideas and we should have each of these in place by Christmas. Space on our website has been dedicated to our ‘Green Campaign’ and we hope to be ready for a school assessment sometime early in the New Year. We’ll keep you posted.

One of the most important areas of our application was the formation of a Green School Committee. Six children were chosen from Sixth Class and next term we intend to co-opt two children from Fourth and two from Fifth. The Committee has met rather sporadically up to now, but we will have a more regular routine when in the new school.

The main focus of our quest for ‘Greenness’ is to tackle litter and try to considerably reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill. We have already been quite successful here, as we recycle quite a lot of potential waste. Our playground is also part of our focus, and one of the culprits that can be found in the playground is ‘Clingfilm' and Tinfoil. We are not totally suggesting that it is thrown there – rather, it’s blown by the wind from bins. Popcorn is the other one - children seem to regularly miss their mouths! A Green Committee suggestion is that children in all classes bring their lunches into school in lunch boxes and if extra cover is required, a zip-lock bag (or other reusable bag) be chosen in preference to Clingfilm or tinfoil as it can be washed and reused many times.

Another suggestion is that we start saving postage stamps. We would ask that you cut stamps from envelopes leaving a border of about 1 cm. Lots of charities raise finance from stamps, among them the IPCC (Irish Peatland Conservancy Council). The IPCC are based in Capel Street and seek to improve awareness of the nature and state of Ireland’s disappearing bogs. The stamps are sold in IPCC’s Enviro Shop or are sold in bulk to stamp dealers. With millions of cards in the post at present, it appears to be a good time to start saving. Ever conscious of the overuse of peat in garden products, we have over the last few years been trying to cut down on its use a little by mixing some COIR (coconut fibre) into our planting compost each Spring. Compost from our wormery and compost bin will help here!

We very much appreciate your help and support and will keep you posted as further developments take place, both by circular and on our website.

James Malseed (Deputy Principal)