Green Flag
Green-Schools is the leading environmental management and award programme in Ireland, working with primary and secondary schools across the country.
What is the Green-Schools Initiative?
The aim of the Green-Schools initiative is to promote long-term whole school action for the environment. It is a student-led programme with involvement from staff and the wider community. The programme is operated and co-ordinated by the Environmental Unit of An Taisce (FEE member of Ireland).
Within St.Margaret’s N.S we established our own Green School committee at the start of the year. The committee is made up of one pupil from each class in the school and they meet regularly with Ms. Dunne and Ms. Keegan to discuss their plans and initiatives for the school year. The members keep all classes up to date on Green School news and events and they have various leadership roles and duties. They monitor classrooms at break times to ensure that all lights and projectors are off and we are saving energy. The committee members also visit each classroom regularly to remind everyone what goes into each waste bin and what we can and cannot recycle. Our school has a Green School notice board which is updated and monitored regularly.
St. Margaret’s N.S. Green School Slogan
This year we are focusing on the theme of Global Citizenship – Energy which is the seventh theme in the Green-Schools Programme. This theme takes a closer look at energy and climate issues worldwide. At the start of the year, the Green school committee ran a competition within the school to see who could come up with a school slogan appropriate for this year’s theme. Cara Hand in 5th Class was the overall winner who came up with the clever slogan “If us humans want to stay, we need to find a better way!”
Leave No Trace programme
Ms. Gorman’s class participated in the Leave No Trace programme which was a fun and engaging way to learn all about Ireland’s natural environment. The class took part in two workshops.
Spring has Sprung!
To mark the start of spring, the children planted bulbs, seeds and bare roots with help from James, our wonderful school caretaker. We are looking forward to harvesting our own beans, peas, carrots and strawberries over the coming months.
Competition Winners!
CONGRATULATIONS ! A big well done to Liam and Robyn who won our recent Shop Local Poster Competition. They both put a huge effort into their posters. We hope that they enjoyed all of the delicious fresh fruit in their beautiful hamper. A big thank you to Keelings Farm...
Food Miles
During the month of April the Green-Schools Committee set the children of St. Margaret’s N.S. a challenge. They wanted to find out how far our food has travelled before we eat it.
Green Schools – Christmas Movies
Our Green Schools committee have complied a list of their favourite movies which they would like to share with you. You may enjoy watching some of these over the Christmas holidays. Check out the short video clip to hear their recommendations.
Climate Action Week 2020
The Green team in St Margaret’s have been very busy this year. Just before the midterm break we celebrated Climate Action Week. The week was filled with fun activities. We learned a lot about how and why our climate is changing, the effects of climate change on our planet and how we can and must take action to stop it.
Happy Halloween!
We had a wonderful last day of school before the Halloween mid-term break. Like every year, the children donned fancy dress costumes to school. However, this year, as part of our Green Schools Initiative, we held a competition where any child who designed their own...
Picker Pals
In February we had a visit from Patrick Jackson. Patrick together with Fingal County Council has set up the Picker Pals Programme. We’re delighted to be chosen to take part. The programme is aimed at inspiring young people to pick up litter and to take care of their...
S.E.A.I Workshops
Thanks to Claire McDonald from The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who visited our school in February. Every class in the school had the opportunity to participate in a sustainable energy workshop with Claire. During these workshops the children learnt...
Human Rights Week 2020
For Human Rights Week we have been talking about the United Nations' ‘Global Goals’. The main aims of the 'Global Goals' are to eliminate poverty, flight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change by 2030. We all have a part to play in bringing about these...