In September 2023 the children and staff of Scoil Mhairtín National School began another year of working towards achieving our sixth Green School’s flag, “Global Citizenship Litter and Waste.” The following initiatives were implemented throughout the school over the last two years;
- Bins labeled for waste, recycling and pencil toppings.
- Energy monitors in classroom to reduce energy consumption.
- Regular battery collections.
- Composting
- Walk on Wednesday
- Planting seeds and bulbs in our school garden and polytunnel
- Posters around the school to promote energy awareness
- Project on different nationalities in our school community
- Sustainable Development Goal’s projects completed by every class
- Cycle workshop
- United Nations project
- Fairtrade food project
And many, many more.
All of this work was showcased in our Action Day back in February 2024. Parents and members of the community were invited to come and see our work. Green Schools Ireland’s senior coordinator, Birgit O’ Driscoll, also attended this event. Next an application was made to the Green School’s team informing them about all of the practices we have in place to apply for the flag. We achieved this flag and were chosen as regional winners for our work on the Global Citizenship Litter and Waste theme 2024. We were invited to attend a special ceremony in Athlone to receive our regional award where we then went on to win the Green School’s National Award. We were honoured and very proud to be chosen as the best Irish Primary School in our category. Congratulations to all of the children and staff for their ongoing work in making our school and greater community a greener and healthier place to live.