Green School
WELCOME TO THE GREEN SCHOOL PAGE OF ST TERESA'S NS
Follow the link to see our new Green Schools Blog for updates and events. http://ballintoghergreenschool.weebly.com/
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18th May 2016 Visit by An Garda Siochana Pictured with the Green Schools Committee
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Word of welcome We hope you enjoy looking at our photos . To achieve our travel flag in June 2015 We walked to school every Tuesday on NCT day (No Cars Tuesday) for a whole year! For flag raising day Garda Lavin was our guest of honour to raise the flag We wore our specially made hats , invited in the parents to watch a powerpoint , unveiled the school garden & performed songs & poems. In the afternoon we went on a nature walk. We had great fun. This year (2015/2016) we are working on global citizenship litter & waste(details below) Remember WOW (Walk on Wednesday) starts after midterm & will run to June 2016. Please support |
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Global Citizenship litter & waste
Our theme for 2015/ 2016 is Global Citizenship litter & Waste.
Have a read to see what we have been
We have elected our green school committee . Members are as follows:
Aoibhin 6th class (chairperson), Katie 5th class ( vice chairperson).
Kayla (6th ) Simon(6th) Dominika (6th) , Kyle (6th) ,
Shauna (4th) Krystain (4th) Emily (3rd) , Mark (3rd),
Liana (2nd) Frazer (2nd) Katie (1st) Liam (1st).
The GSC regularly meet in Ms Wynne's room & this is out ten step plan (after carrying out a litter evaluation )
1. To set up & maintain a GSC notice board outside Ms Wynne's room to inform the school community of our work
2 To ask all pupils to bring a reusable bottle & lunchbox daily rather than tinfoil & plastic
3 To compost regularly (putting fruit skins in the green bin & using for the school garden)
4 To establish a litter picking rota to reduce litter in the yard
5 To learn about other countries through the Shoe box appeal , Trocaire (Lent),
6 To give a presentation at assembly about litter & waste
7 To check bins in each classroom weekly & have a competition between the classes for the best waste management system
8 To promote fair trade
9 To reduce the amount of waste in out wheelie bins by reducing reusing recycling
10 To work along side the Active flag committee & re establish NCT/ WOW days to encourage pupils to walk to school 1 morning a week (starting February 24th 2016)
More details to follow ! Well done to all involved so far. More details to follow by text a parent, school website & school newsletter to parents.
Theme 2014/ 2015
: Travel
February 2015
No Cars Tuesday (NCT) will commence this Tuesday Febraury 10th 2015. All pupils are asked to walk, cycle, carpool or come to school by bus (weather permitting) until the holidays.
APRIL 2015
Spring is certainly in the air . Great work is taking place in the school garden to improve its upkeep. Many thanks to Kitty & all the pupils who have helped. Thanks to all the parents who shared their expertise, time & plants . It is looking great & well done to all involved. All volunteers & help is most appreciated .
MAY 2015.
We are delighted to announce that we will receive our Green flag for travel at a ceremony in the McWilliam hotel, Claremorris on May 19th.
Thanks to everyone who has walked, cycled, car pooled or came by bus. Other activities such as guest speakers , celebrating bike week & walking week& undertaking cycling workshops have helped our application too. Thanks to everyone . WELL DONE ALL.
JUNE 2015
Our Flag raising ceremony will take place on Thursday June 18th 2015 .
Activities for parents include :
920am parents, pupils & staff meet at st Michael's pitch for walk to school
Raise green flag (surprise guest)
parents cup of tea, powerpoint, picture display by GSC
unveil new school garden
hat parade by all pupils
entertainment by classes - songs, poems, dance & even a film preview!!
(approximate finsihing time 1020 am)
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1130am - pupils prepare for walk in doorly park
Remember to wear your uniform, suitable walking shoes, coat, suncream & bring your packed lunch
Thanks to the Board of management for agreeing to fund the cost of buses
Pupils are asked to bring in their consent & 1Euro by Tuesday June 16th please
CYCLING WORKSHOP
A cycling workshop will take place on Friday JUNE 19th 2015 from 1- 3pm
Pupils in 4th, 5th, 6th are asked to have written consent in their homework journal, bring a helmet & a bike that has working brakes .
We thank Sligo Sports Partnership for providing this workshop free of charge .
Hopefully the sun will shine
September 2014
Just a reminder that we are still working on the travel theme this year. If we continue to work hard by increasing the number of pupils who walk, cycle or car pool then we will hopefully achieve our next green flag in March 2015. All pupils are asked to travel safely and wear their high vis jackets. Well done to Siobhan and Jake in first class who were elected by their classmates to be green school committee members . We look forward to working with them this year. NCT ( no cars Tuesday ) will operate until midterm. Car users are asked to park a short distance from the school and walk the rest of the way with their children. We are delighted to see the increase in cyclists. Remember bus users also earn a point in our weekly scores on the door survey.We'll done everyone and thanks to all parents who support our endeavours . It is much appreciated,
October 2014
Well done to everyone who took part in No cars Tuesday (NCT) for 6 weeks ( September to Halloween). The results were:
6th class- 97% of pupils took part
4th & 5th: 85% of pupils parked & strode every Tuesday
1st, 2nd, 3rd - 86& of pupils walked or cycled or came by bus Tuesday mornings
infants : 87% of children did not come to school by car Tuesday mornings
WELL DONE. treats were awarded to every class & the winning class enjoyed a night of homework!!
November 14
We are delighted to announce that "Farmer John" will visit classes from infants to 3rd with his mobile farmyard to discuss litter & energy management. on November 25th.
Lisa from An Taisce will visit the senior classes on November 5th to give a powerpoint presentation on Climate change.
Many thanks to these speakers for giving of their time.
June 2014
National bike week : takes place from June 16th to 20th. Try to practise your cycling skills in great weather conditions.
NCT (No Cars Tuesday) offically ended on Tuesday June 17th. Many thanks to all who supported . The group who met at St Michael's pitch never missed a Tuesday morning. We were always blessed with good weather & a great turnout. All who partiscipated in NCT are sincerely thanked . WELL DONE to all!!
Just a reminder that cycling training will take place on the following dates:
Monday June 23rd : 3rd & 4th class cycle training ( bring bike & helmet to school)
Tuesday June 24th: 5th & 6th class cycle training (bring bike & helmet to school)
All pupils must have returned their consent forms to partiscipate .
MAY 2014
The May results are as follows :
The percentage of pupils who walked or came by bus are:
infants 64%
1st & 2nd 83%
3rd & 4th 75%
5th &6th 82%
WELL DONE FIRST & SECOND CLASSES. THEY NARROWLY DEFEATED 5TH &6TH BY 1%
We enjoyed lovely weather every Tuesday morning. Thanks to all who supported
NATIONAL WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK
MAY 13TH 2014
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And well done to our bus users! A great eco friendly way to travel. They all earn points on our scores on the door sheet. |
April 2014 NCT results : the amount of pupils who walked or came by bus is as follows:
94% Infants
90% 1st & 2nd
94% 3rd & 4th
86% 5th & 6th
Raffle eggs were awarded to 4 lucky pupils this month. The trophy was presented to the Infants this month. WELL DONE!!
MARCH 2014
In Ruth's room 76% of pupils walked or came by bus in March. This is excellent as many Infants do not travel by bus due to finishing at 2 p.m. so they were not entitled to scores for coming by bus.
In 1st and 2nd 70% of pupils walked or came by bus in March. Well done everyone. Keep up the walking.
In 3rd and 4th class 86% of pupils walked or came by bus for the month of March. The highest amount of bus users are in this classroom so they got a high number of scores for using the bus.
Finally Ms. Kearins room did really well. This was the class that travelled the most in the car before NCT day. In the month of March 81% either walked or travelled by bus!
The winning class is therefore Ms. Mulligan's. Megan and Fionn, from the green schools Committee, accepted the trophy on behalf of the class. They will keep this in their classroom until Easter.
No Cars Tuesday (NCT) . Started on March 4th with a great turnout of parents, children and grandparents. Lisa McDaniel from An Taisce, Alison the Community Garda, and Fr. Vincent were all in attendance for the launch. The sun shone and everyone wore their high vis jackets. It was a very enjoyable morning. Thanks to all concerned. Looking forward to seeing you all again next Tuesday! For safety reasons as many parents as possible are asked to join in any morning they are free. Pictures to follow in the local paper.
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Travel theme 2013/14Meet our new Green School Committee Members who will work on the theme of travelNCT: No Cars Tuesday starts March 4th & will run until June (weather permitting) Parents are asked to park & stride some of the way to school with their children every Tuesday . Please join in. An Taisce have set us the target of reducing the amount of cars coming to school by 5% .Presently 50% of the children travel to school by car.
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.Guest Speakers/ visitors
We were delighted that Ann from the RSA was able to visit our school on March 6th 2014 & inform all classes about road safety.
Many thanks. We all enjoyed her workshop.
Lisa from an Taisce came to visit us on May 13th 2014 to celebrate National Walk to school week. On that day 70 pupils from St Teresa's NS walked to school. Lisa also met pupils who travelled on the school bus & thanked them too. Lisa then chatted with the committee & praised our NCT efforts.We showed her our scores on the doors sheet . We told her about our endeavours for National Walk to school week & how anyone who walked twice or more in the week (May 12th - 16th) got a special road safety prize from our lucky dip bag. Kayla & Kevin visited each classroom daily during National Walk to school week to award these prizes. WELL DONE EVERYONE.
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Biodiversity 5th & 6th
Examining water minibeasts during Martina's visit
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Water theme 2011-2013 Congratulations!!!! Congratulations to everyone involved in gaining our 4th green flag for water conservation. It is proudly displayed outside our school. We had a lovely day on June 21st 2013 where we had visiting speakers, workshops and a fashion show based on the theme of water. Fr Vincent, Shane Kelly, and Chloe McGowan raised the flag, in front of a packed audience of parents, children, and teachers. Well done everyone
RAIN BUTT: Thanks to funding from Sligo County Council we have received a rainbutt for our school. We will collect rainwater & use it to water the flowers in our school grounds & garden. this will help to conserve water
Looking at our new rainbutt for the school garden:
ACTION DAY: March 22nd 2012 Pupils celebrated World Water Day in St Teresa's NS All pupils wore blue and took part in cross circular lessons on water... songs, drama,art, poems, science & geograpghy. Thanks to 4th class who wrote our Green school code on water (see their webpage to read the poem)
BIODIVERSITY St. Teresa’s N.S. Ballintogher was one of the first Schools in Ireland to pilot the topic of “Biodiversity” as part of the Green Schools Programme, which has been organised by “An Taisce”. To achieve our Green Flag we undertook a wide range of work over the past two years on topics including minibeasts, birds, and developing our school garden.
Energy awareness
we were awarded our second green flag for energy conservation. We worked hard to switch off lights & appliances when not in use. Energy monitors visited the classroom to make sure we had not heat on & windows open. We had an action day where the usuage of electricity was minimised. We worked on reducing our electrical bill. We linked this work to science & maths. |
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Energy Awareness |
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Our BIODIVERSITY CodeB is for bees which love to fly Seán, Kayleigh, Niamh, Amy and Kealan
SCHOOL GARDEN. We have an organic school garden at the rear of the school. We grow many plants, flowers and crops. We also have 3 bird tables. We feed our feathered friends during the cold Winter months. The chaffinch has been the most frequent visitor to our bird table.
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Green Flag Day 2009 |
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Polar Ice Caps - Senior Pupils
Our school garden |
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