Scoil Mhuire Girls National School, Sandymount, Dublin 4 - Green School Activities

Reducing our Paper Waste

27/1/2020

Scoil Mhuire has decided to try a new way of reducing our paper waste. The Parents Association kindly donated reusable towels because in our school we had endless amounts of paper towels used every day by almost three hundred students. Each student now has a towel that they use to dry their hands.
You may think that this is unhygienic but the girls will bring these towels home every day and wash them. Every day there are hundreds of paper towels thrown away as people use more than needed.
As 6th class we all agree that this will increase our climate action. Everyone in our class believes that this will reduce Scoil Mhuire’s paper towel waste. We hope this will benefit the environment.

By Millie, Eva and Laoise, 6th Class

January

27/1/2020

In January we like to revise our old flags themes!
We will be creating a lesson for every class in the school to remind them how to save water, energy and to recycle.
Our Green School Committee will be kept busy visiting each classroom and teaching them about how Scoil Mhuire is a green school and about the great work that we do here. They will learn top tips to save electricity and water and how to recycle correctly.

December

27/1/2020

In December we hosted our first ever Christmas Jumper swap! Girls from 1st to 6th class were invited to bring in their old Christmas jumpers. We all met and exchanged jumpers. We did this to promote sustainability and remind everyone of our three R’s; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!The swap was a great success and we will do another one next year!
We also posted a display and researched 12 ways to be green at Christmas! Here are our tips below!!
12 ways to be green at Christmas!
1. At Christmas and during wintertime it can be hard for animals to find food. It might be nice to leave out a bird feeder, and any left over scraps. Make sure not to check first what is suitable, for example bread is not good for ducks. A better option is porridge oats, cooked brown rice and lettuce.
2. Put warm clothes on to avoid turning on the heaters and using unnecessary electricity.
3. Make sure to recycle your wrapping paper.
4. Turn off the Christmas lights if you are not using them.
5. Make sure to recycle your Christmas tree properly. There is usually a collection point on Sandymount Strand.
6. You can look up great recipes for leftover turkey and ham on the Airfield Estate website!
7. Any unwanted gifts should go to your local charity shop.
8. Make sure to put your rubbish in the correct bins.
9. Turn off any taps when not using them.
10. Have showers instead of baths to save water.
11. Pick up any litter on road or beaches , lets keep Sandymount clean!
12. Use paper straws and not plastic ones, or no straws at all is even better!!
By Sarah, Simone and Abby, 6th Class

RTE News2Day Comes to Scoil Mhuire

27/1/2020

We started in the library and met the national coordinator for the NASA sponsored GLOBE programme who shared with the us some air quality data and findings for the local area. We were shocked to learn that school gates have terrible air quality due to too many cars and too much traffic. We then met Allison from An Taisce and the presenter from News2Day . We got clipboards and different surveys and jobs to do. Some of our jobs were seeing if there were any uneven surfaces on the paths, counting how many cars are on the road.
We then set off and the cameras began filming! We stopped to do our jobs and eventually reached Sandymount Green. We couldn’t go any further because it started to rain heavily . We were all interviewed and answered questions about what we were doing and why. It was so much fun, I loved it!
We were on the news the next day and we the whole school watched us during assembly.
By Coco, 5th Class

Scoil Mhuire's Walking Bus

27/1/2020

We conducted a survey of all our students to find out how they get to school. Currently 37.8% of our students walk to school and and 15% scoot or cycle. That means that 43.8% drive.
We have a big traffic problem on Gilford Road and to tackle this we have decided to set up a walking bus. We sent surveys to parents too, to see if they would like to be involved and got a great response. Our next step is to conduct a walkability audit. Watch this space....

November

27/1/2020

November was a very busy month in Scoil Mhuire for the Green School Committee.

We must start by saying massive Congratulations to Emilia who was selected to be a delegate at RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate at Dáil Éireann on Friday, November 15. Emilia impressed the Assessors and the Final Judging Panel to be selected from over 1000 applicants. Emilia was a part of the first-ever Youth Assembly on Climate that saw 157 young people (10 to 17-year-olds) from all twenty-six counties came together to discuss and determine their proposals for climate action. Emilia was a fantastic representative for our school and community.

Well done on all your hard work!!

Junk Art

27/1/2020

On 25th October 2019 4th class asked Ms Ahern’s Junior Infants some questions about the junk art they did. They chose to do junk art to reduce waste and promote creativity. They really enjoyed doing it. They loved making monsters out of recyclable materials like empty yogurt cartons, bottles , lids, toilet roll cores, cereal boxes and egg cartons. They encourage others to do junk art because it helps the planet.

By Katie, Freya, Autumn Rose and Isla, 4th Class

October

27/1/2020

Today we went to ask Senior Infants some questions about green schools. They did things like recycling bottles and paper. They said they enjoyed it because they like saving the animals in the environment. They also said that sometimes they forget to turn off the light but do it as often as they can. We really enjoyed interviewing Senior Infants because they are a nice and friendly class. We hope we can do it again soon.

By Lara, Martina and Lily, 4th Class

Learning about Green Schools Committee

27/1/2020

First Class read a story about Green Schools Committee.They did a comprehension activity and learned the meanings of reused and recycle.They also learned why green schools committee is important. Ms Mc Callion's girls loved the story. And they would like to do more things in the long run. They are all eager to join the green schools committee.

Planting in Scoil Mhuire

27/1/2020

This September, Mrs. Gildea’s 2nd and 3rd class and Mr. Doyle’s 4th class planted Coriander, Onions and Parsley. We got some soil and some seeds , and sprinkled them gently around the soil . We left them on the top of the windowsill, where the radiator was, as it was winter and the plants would die if they didn’t get any heat . Every morning we would water them and watch them grow day by day .
Written by Aoibhinn, Anna, Maecie, and Sadie.