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Our Work This Month Here's where you will find projects which we are working on this month. Our Green Flag Page Details of all events relating to School Environmental Issues. Our School Notices Notes to parents. Our School Calendar 2003 - 2004 Dates of openings, closings, and special events. Our Year Diary A quick reference guide for parents to the school year. Our Class Lists Names of pupils, past and present.
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THE GREEN SCHOOLS PROJECT
In Whitechurch N.S. we decided that it was time to create more awareness environmental issues among the staff and pupils. The green schools project seemed a good way in which to encourage and acknowledge whole school action for the local environment. After making enquiries we applied to an taisce to register as a green-school. Waterford Co. Council have assured us of their full co-operation in implementing the programme. We formed a committee consisting of teachers, pupils, parents and care taking staff. We have meetings to discuss plans for the school. We had lots of ideas. One of them being litter patrols where the pupils were put into groups of 5 or 6 and go out and pick up the rubbish. Each group are put on a rata and their turn comes every 2 or 3 weeks. We have three bins in every classroom were we put all the rubbish. These bin are labelled one for organic waste and one for milk and one for paper. The committee decided to relandscape the front of the school. We dug up a corner of the lawn and planted lots of shrubs and flowers. We also set creepers around the oil tank, which will improve the look of it. We also put down plastic on some of the waste area and put pebbles on top so as to stop weeds from coming up. Lots of children brought in seeds found around there home e.g., acorns, beech nuts and chestnut and they set them in pots in school and we are hoping to have little trees to set around school in years to come. We have a suggestion box in school. So far we have had lots of ideas come of which are included above. We decided to put a bird table in the centre of the new shrubs, one child in sixth class made it and looks after and keeps the food on it. We hold a committee meeting every 8 or 10 weeks at this meeting we discuss all the plans we put in place and make sure they are all going well. The committee decided to relandscape the front of the school. We dug up a corner of the lawn and planted lots of shrubs and flowers. We also set creepers around the oil tank, which will improve the look of it. We also put down plastic on some of the waste area and put pebbles on top so as to stop weeds from coming up. Lots of children brought in seeds found around there home e.g., acorns, beech nuts and chestnut and they set them in pots in school and we are hoping to have little trees to set around school in years to come. We have a suggestion box in school. So far we have had lots of ideas come of which are included above. We decided to put a bird table in the centre of the new shrubs, one child in sixth class made it and looks after and keeps the food on it. We hold a committee meeting every 8 or 10 weeks at this meeting we discuss all the plans we put in place and make sure they are all going well We also discuss some new ideas that might be in the suggestion box and decide whether we should go ahead with them or not. We also decided to have a newsletter and send it to the parents telling them of all the improvements that we have made and the ones we entend to do. Our local Co. Council held an environmental art and poetry competition between all the school, in this competition two of our pupils won prizes Marie Shine for poetry and Karen Hallahan for art. GREEN FLAG IS RAISED IN WHITECHURCH
For the clean up we wore our old clothes and we brought shovels,trowels, sweeping brushes, spades, rakes and other types of gardening tools.We spent most of the day gardening with a very hot sun shining on us. We were also split into teams and some of the parents came to help too. The parents also brought some of their own tools. At the end of the day we had the school grounds looking very nice. Stephen, Bernadette, Mrs. Fennell and Mrs. Barry went to a meeting up in Dublin to recieve the green flag. We had to put up a flag pole and a lamp post for the 16th of May. That was the date when John Tracey came to raise the flag. Before the 16th of May we had a mini Day of Action. It wasn't as big or as hard as the first one. Then came the 16th of May. It was a very dull, wet day. There was a slide show in Mr.Culloo's class and tea and cakes were served to the parents.When John Tracey came we all formed a line outside, including the parents.
Here's another account...
May the 16th was the day that we put up our green flag. It was a wonderful celebration for the school and for the community. John Tracy from Villierstown who won a silver medal in the Olympics came to the school to raise the green flag. In the morning we got the place ready for the parents.We put out tables and put cakes and biscuits on them.We got our slide show ready that the 5th and 6th class made with the help of the teachers. The slide show was about achieving the green flag. All the parents were here at 12:00 and when the clock struck 12:30 John Tracy arrived and we were all set to raise the green flag.When everybody was outside the teachers and John Tracy made a few announcments and John Tracy raised the green flag. After that the parents and children went in and had a cup of tea, biscuits, crisps and orange. The day was a great success. Green Flag Achieved!
We
had a clothes recycling day on the 11th of April. We got lots of bags full. People
from everywhere brought clothes to the school. It was reported on the Dungarvan
Leader with a photograph. We had of action on the 10th of May. We had a great
success. We planted shrubbery over near the oil tank and put bark mulch under
all the plants that have grown there, we planted shrubbery going into the blue
door, we laid out pebbles and planted shrubbery near the teachers car-park, and
we also emptied out the shed. We have been putting out eight wheelie bins for
the dump per month and now we are only putting out one per month. We put a big
black bin outside in the playground at playtime for sweet and crisp wrappers,
which are then put into the wheelie bin, this helps to keep our playground tidy.
We put up Eco Kid signs up around the school to help remind the staff and pupils
to turn off the lights when you’re leaving the room, not to leave taps
running, turn off power switches and to keep recycling. We have a little red bin
called an organic bin in each classroom to put our fruit and leftovers into it
but we do not put any ham or sandwiches into it and after big lunch a litter
patrol goes out and collects up all the bins in the school and puts them into
the one then we put all that into a big green organic bin at the back of the
school. As well as that we collect up all the paper that have been thrown around
during lunch break. At first when we started the litter patrol we were
collecting up five times as much as we are now. We are recycling empty ink
cartridges from the computers, old mobile phones and mobile phone chargers. Last
year the committee made out a sheet to calculate out who goes to school by bus,
who walks and who gets dropped off by their parents, and after all that we got
the Green Flag. by Bernadette |
