Green Schools 

Welcome to our Green School page! 

Green Schools is Ireland’s leading environmental management and award programme working with primary and secondary schools across the country.

Every year we elect a new Green School Committee with representatives from the middle and senior classes in the school. Together with staff and guidance from our Green School co-ordinator in An Taisce, we set out our action plan and activities for the school year. 

The Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning. The theme for our First Green Flag was Litter and Waste. We have since been awarded Green Flags for the following themes: Energy, Water, Travel, Biodiversity, Global Citizenship – Litter and Waste, Global Citizenship - Energy. We are currently working on our 8th Flag renewal. The theme is Global Citizen – Marine Environment.  

Scoil Mhuire follows the Green School environmental approach in every aspect of the school day. We use sensor lights so that a light can never be left on wasting energy. We re-use, recycle or dispose of our electrical equipment ethically by arranging WEEE collections. We have separate bins for recycling and litter in every classroom in the school. There are regular litter picks in the school grounds. We send lunch litter home and encourage parents to use as little waste packaging as possible. Most children use recyclable bottles for their drink. We use recycled materials for many of our Art and Craft projects. 

We encourage water conservation with signs at the sinks and basins. We harvest rain water to flush our toilets and our Green School’s Committee frequently remind the children to use the correct flush on the toilet. Pupils are educated about our marine environment and other natural habitats as part of the curriculum. We bring topical and global issues to their attention, as well as the devastating effects of plastic and waste on the environment. 

We have plans to build a beautiful sensory garden. It will house bug and insect habitats in the school grounds. We hope to plant bee- and butterfly friendly plants.  

Pupils are encouraged to bus, carpool, walk or cycle to school. Part of our class curriculum work looks at transport, emissions and the effects on the environment. We continue to look at individual themes in various classes as part of our curriculum work in English, Science and Geography. Fairtrade fortnight, International Toilet Day, Tree Week, Marine Week and many other special days/weeks.  

Our Green School’s Committee 

 

The Committee consists of the principal, 2 teachers, 1 SNA, our secretary and our school caretaker.  We meet once a month (usually at lunch time) to plan and discuss upcoming events and issues which have arisen. We sometimes meet fortnightly during the lead-up to significant events such as our World Toilet Day or our Day of Action during Fairtrade Fortnight. After each meeting the class representatives report back to their classes to relay the information and to follow up on designated tasks. The class representatives keep the children from Junior Infants to Sixth Class up-to-date with planned events. 

 

Third Class	Holly Myers & Ruairí Keehan
Fourth Class	Jessica Mc Donald & Michael Smyth
Fifth Class	Aisling Keehan & Darragh Malaba
Sixth Class	Aoibhinn Murphy & Jeaic Diviney
Principal	Mrs. Geoghegan
Teachers	Anne Keane & Rachel Meaney
Secretary	Lorraine
Caretaker	Atilla
SNA	Teresa