On Friday last we held our Green School Day of Action where the whole school got a chance to celebrate the achievements of the school and the committee in securing our 3rd Green Flag. Throughout the week the children had been getting active and doing laps of the school in an effort to run around Ireland. After adding up our km's we calculated that we ran a staggering 1,340 km, which means we made it all the way to Germany. The children also completed a travel themed orienteering activity and after figuring out all the clues were surprised to learn that Ms. Foley went all the way to Centreparcs on her scooter. A special thanks to Dr. Bike - Johnny Kiely who was very kind to give of his time, and carry out safety checks on all the bikes before the children completed our gruelling obstacle course designed by members of the committee. The rain threatened all day long but despite the weather there was a great buzz when the flag was raised by our special guest and Green School Coordinator Edwina Coman. Eamon Byrne took home the golden boot award for the student who made the biggest effort throughout the year walking, running, scooting and cycling to school. There were also some prizes for children who participated in the Carpool Karaoke earlier in the year. We finished the day with a Silly Sock Parade through the hall way and ice-cream from Kenneths. It is with great pride and excitement that Scoil Naomh Gobnait has been named Ireland's Carpool School of the year. On Tuesday last teachers and representatives of the Green School's Committee travelled to Dublin Zoo to receive their award. They were among 11 other schools all receiving awards for their efforts in promoting sustainable and active travel modes to school as part of this years Green School's BIG Travel Challenge. Well Done all! Ms O'Brien's 1st class after their litter pick around the school this week. They collected lots of rubbish and were able to pinpoint litter black spots. Strategies will be discussed as how best to reduce and eliminate rubbish being littered. Our Travel Officer Edwina Coman came to the school Wednesday last to take part in a Walkability Audit and Speed Survey with our Green School Committee. We walked the perimeter of the school and carried out an investigation on the road markings , footpaths and signage around our school grounds. Pictured , is the newly formed Green School Committee. This year we will be vying for our Travel Flag and taking big steps to reduce our travel footprint by encouraging walking, cycling, scooting and carpooling to school.
We have been awarded our second Green Flag on the theme of Water. Looking forward to a fantastic flag raising ceremony in September.
One of the seven steps which we had to complete in order to renew our Green Flag was to have a Day of Action centered around our present theme of Water. This happened on Wednesday 11th of March. The Junior and Senior Infants had a fantastic Water Themed Art Session, they made Beautiful Collage Rainbow Fish, then they made boats with items we found around the school and tested then for floatability! Finally they made a Beach in a Bottle. First and Second Class, helped by Fifth Class completed a Scavenger Hunt around the school. The hunt clues were written by three of the boys in sixth class. Well done boys, you did an amazing job! Third and Fourth also did the Scavenger Hunt. Finally Sixth Class were given a Water Themed Table Quiz. Thank you very much to all of the staff and pupils who helped to make this a very enjoyable and worthwhile day. We had also planned a Walk For Water Event which has been postponed because of the schools closure. The Green Schools Committee did a really good presentation to the classes about their trip to the water treatment plant. Afterwards there was a question and answer session from the rest of the school children. We were lucky enough to get a large map of which shows Kilgobinet and Colligan and all of the areas where the upgrading of the water supply is taking place. The children were really interested in it and delighted to be able to pick out where they lived. First and Second classes did an excellent experiment showing the effects of water pollution on fish and they spoke about it to Ms Ella Ryan from Waterford County Council when she came to visit us last week. On Thursday the 30th January nine of the Green Schools Committee went to visit the Water Treatment Plant in Kilmeaden. They were really impressed with the workings of the plant from seeing the untreated water gushing into the holding tank to the level of expertise required to make the water safe to drink. Later this week the children will speak about the visit to the rest of the school. Huge thanks to everyone who organised the visit for us. Before Christmas the Green Schools Committee presented all of the teachers with organic aloe vera hand gel which was scented with lemon essential oil. They made little presentation boxes from leftover coloured card. There was disappointment when we realised that there was none spare for our hard working committee but we might make another batch later! Two of our pupils presented me with the fantastic socks pictured below. They saw the slogan while they were shopping and it reminded them of all the environmental work which has been discussed in school. Isn't that wonderful. |