" Is maith liom bláth,
Is maith liom crann. Nature is beautiful, Never let it down." Congraulations to Ellie Griffiths, Aisling Hammond and Sarah Brassil for winning the Biodiversity Slogan for our school. They worked together to produce this very creative slogan and image. Copies of this slogan will be displayed in all classrooms. It will remind the whole school that we are interested in working towards keeping the planet beautiful and safe for all. Many thanks to all who entered the competition. All entries can be viewed on the Greenschools' Notice Board in the school.
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We had a COW DAY today in Scoil na Mainistreach to get us all back on our bikes for summer. The Greenschools' Committee decided that we should decorate our bikes for the occasion. There was a prize for the best decorated bike. It was very difficult to choose a winner! Congratulations to Ben O’Halloran and Sarah Brassil for the best decorated bikes.
Sixty-three children cycled today. There wasn't enough room for all the bikes in the shelter. As you can see in the pictures, we were lucky that so many bikes had stands. We could hardly get in the front door! There will be a Bike Week from the 11th to 19th June. There will be a National COW DAY on June 15th. Last year 5,000 children cycled to school on that day in Ireland. There might be still some bikes in garages waiting to be oiled and pumped. Be ready for the next COW DAY. 'On yer bike!' On Friday the 13th May, The Tidy Towns' Committee and Fifth Class got together to do a 'spring clean' of the village. Pat Leamy from the Tidy Towns' organised us into 4 groups, with bags, gloves and high visibility jackets. We cleaned the main street, the playground area, the area behind the Community Centre and the green areas at the back of The Abbey Tavern.
Twelve large bags of rubbish was collected. This 'tidy up' was worth 30 points for The Tidy Towns' Competition. It also helps us in our work for the Fifth Green Flag, Biodiversity. Keeping our environment clean is beneficial for protecting species, habitats and ecosystems. Thanks to the Tidy Towns' Committee for asking us to help. We had a great morning; hard work, good weather and loads of chat! A Biodiversity Project.
Ms. Farmer’s Class constructed a Bug Hotel. They chose a site on the side of the playing pitch. Pat collected old pallets from Dangan School. All the children brought some wood, slates, plastic bottles, roof tiles, sticks and old flower pots. They want to attract all kinds of bugs to our school environment. Bugs are very important for biodiversity. They are part of the life-cycle of a healthy garden. This competition is open to all children in Scoil na Mainistreach, Quin Dangan.
We, the Green Schools’ Committee is looking for the best slogan for its biodiversity theme. Your slogan could be the slogan for our new Green Flag! The winner gets a very special gift voucher. So get creative and enter as soon as possible! Our First Green Flag Scoil na Mainistreach first achieved Green School Status in 2007 when we were awarded our first Green Flag. We worked hard to win this award by reducing the amount of litter and waste in our school and the school environment. Since 2007 we all follow the three important steps of the Green School Code: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle We separate all our waste. We have litter wardens and compost bins, we shred paper and collect and use recyclable materials in arts & crafts. Our Green School Slogan for our first flag was: For more photographs of our First Green flag see our Green school photo album under the photo album section of the website. Our Second Green Flag Soon after getting our first flag, we started working towards our second Green Flag by raising awareness of the issues surrounding energy consumption in our school. We started to monitor our energy bills carefully with a view to reducing the school’s carbon footprint and also the running costs of the school. We carried out the following projects in the classrooms:
Following these surveys, the GSC drew up an action plan outlining our targets for reducing energy consumption. Every classroom has its own thermometer and this makes sure we turn on and off the heating as needed. We make sure the heating is never on when the windows are open and all external doors close automatically to keep in the heat. We also have an energy monitor which counts how much energy our school uses on a weekly basis. In 2009 we were delighted to be awarded our second Green Flag for all of our efforts. Our second Green School Slogan is: Saving energy is cool in Quin Primary School For more photographs of our Second Green flag see our Green School photo album in the Photo Album section of the website. Our Third Green Flag In 2011 we applied for retention of the Green School status and our third Green Flag for Water Conservation.
The following are some of the activities that helped us gain our third green flag:
Once again all our hard work paid off; in March 2011 we were awarded our third green flag for water conservation. Our Green School Slogan for Water Conservation is as follows: Saving energy is cool in Quin Primary School Our Green School Song (To the air of The Flinstones) Written by Ms Phillips and revised by Eimhin Dunne Green School we’re a Green School we’re a very happy family. Here in Scoil na Mainistreach We have earned ourselves a victory. Reduce, Recycle and Reuse we all know, just what bins to use. Here in Scoil na Mainistreach It’s a very healthy place to be. Green School we’re a Green School we’re into energy efficiency. Here in Scoil na Mainistreach We have power for another victory. You won’t see any dripping taps in here Wasting water is our biggest fear. We’ve earned another green flag Yes we’ll go down in history |