Green-Schools February E-Zine

Keeping you up-to-date with Green-Schools in Ireland!

Welcome to our February E-zine!

This month has been as busy as ever for Green-Schools! We have received over 230 applications from schools working towards their first Green Flag. As ever, the applications have been of an excellent standard and we continue to be impressed by the fantastic results schools have achieved! In this E-zine, you can read out about our participation in the Eco-Schools Celebration Event in Newry and our visit to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. You can also find out about the HSBC Climate Initiative and the 2012 Travel Competition and learn a little bit about the role of Rachel Boyle, Green-Schools Team Leader. You can keep up-to-date on all our events through our website, www.greenschoolsireland.org.

Renewal Applications 2012

The deadline for receipt of renewal applications is Friday, March 30th, 2012. Remember that your school must have a Renewal Visit before you submit your application. You can find out details of the Renewal Application Procedure here or by contacting us at greenschools@antaisce.org. More>>

Travel Competition 2012

Green-Schools are delighted to announce that the Green-Schools Travel Competition 2012 is now open to all schools that are working on or have earned the Green-Schools Travel Flag. Total prize fund is €5000! This competition is to create artwork on the theme ‘Great for the planet, great for me!’ Using a poem, letter, song, poster or postcard, express how sustainable travel can benefit the earth, our society, our communities and us. You can find all the details about this year's competition including information about how to take part, the competition categories and application form here.

Neat Streets Conference 2012

Students and teachers from ten secondary schools across Leinster came together at An Taisce’s headquarters in Dublin for the first ever Neat Streets conference on 21^stFebruary 2012. The schools are all working on the Litter & Waste theme of Green-Schools and participating in the Neat Streets pilot programme. The conference gave schools the opportunity to share experiences and ideas for tackling litter at school. During the conference forty students of all ages and backgrounds interacted with each other and worked together in teams to come up with ideas and solutions to litter and littering. They also explored attitudes to littering, debated different points of view, investigated some of the issues, and designed anti-litter campaigns. More>>

Donabate Portrane Visit HSBC Offices!

As part of their work for their 5^thGreen Flag Donabate Portrane Educate Together N.S. Green-Schools committee members visited HSBC Ireland offices on Grand Canal dock to find out about green practises in place in the workplace. Donabate Portrane Educate Together N.S. are working on the Climate Initiative theme, this is an international theme sponsored by HSBC. Green-Schools committee members met with HSBC employees and told them about all the environmental work carried out in their school over the past 10 years while working on the Green Flag programme. HSBC employees were very impressed by all the fantastic work being carried out in the school by the committee and the whole school community.
More>>

BT Young Scientist and Technology Awards 2012

Every year, the BT Young Scientist and Technology awards attract over 1500 entries from secondary schools around Ireland. This year was no different, 354 schools participated in the competition, all hoping to be the young scientist of the year. Green-Schools Officer, Joanne Scott went along to have a look at some of the projects. More>>

Eco-Schools Celebration Event

Eco-Schools from across Northern Ireland and a selection of Green-Schools from the Republic gathered in the Newry on 2^ndFebruary 2012 to celebrate their achievements. The packed event, which was supported by the Department of the Environment and sponsored by Newry and Mourne District Council, attracted over 500 people who participated in workshops and activities and honoured the 800^thschool to join the Eco-Schools programme with an award. The all-island video competition encouraged secondary school students from Green/Eco-Schools to produce a short video on an environmental topic of their choice and was run by An Taisce and Tidy Northern Ireland, and sponsored by Irish Environment magazine.More>>

Meet the Team!

Rachel Boyle is a Green-Schools Officer based in Kerry. Here she tells us about working for the Green-Schools programme: Working on the Green-Schools programme has been a fantastic experience. For the past five years I have been blown away by the positivity, the enthusiasm and great work being done in schools all across Ireland. I work from my hometown, Tralee in Co. Kerry, as a Green-Schools Officer and team leader for the Munster area.Mo re>>

World Water Day 2012

International World Water Day (WWD) is held annually on 22nd March. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Keep an eye on the website for more information!