The Green Flag initiative is an internationally recognised programme which aims to promote environmental awareness through education and acknowledges long term, whole school action for the environment.
Here in Ireland, An Taisce oversees the whole Green School programme of which our school is a part for the past ten years.
Participating schools can earn a green flag for different themes. The themes are;
- Litter
- Energy
- Water
- Travel
- Biodiversity
- Global Citizenship
To achieve a green flag schools must work through the "seven steps" for the theme. The "seven steps" include setting up a Green School Committee, completing an environmental audit, forming an action plan, monitoring and evaluating work, completing curricular work and informing and involving the local community. Once successful, the school can then move on to the next theme, while also maintaining the previous flag. Renewal of the Green Flag occurs every two years.
We are delighted to be applying for our next green flag this year- Global Citizenship- Litter and Waste. Our new committee was formed in September this year under the guidance of Múinteoir Tina with the help of Ms. Kay and Ms. Joanne too. We have been very busy creating our action plan for the year ahead. Our 3rd and 4th class committee members created a poster for our upcoming clothes collection. 5th and 6th class members contacted our local waste management company to speak with them about litter and waste in our school and it was very interesting. Múinteoir Catherine organised our online survey so that we could collect information from all classes about Global Citizenship. We are looking forward to the year ahead, working towards this new green flag. Check back here for further updates and information about our green schools journey throughout the year ahead!
