Green Flag/Active Flag Ceremony - Monday 21st June 2018 |
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The sun was shining in celebration of the Green Schools Committee and Active Flag Committee who raised their flags in front of a cheering audience on Monday 21st June. Such an achievement for all involved!
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Thank you to our 2 green school committee representatives who attended the Green Flag Ceremony on Wednesday 23rd May to collect our 5th Green Flag! They had a great day!
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Biodiversity Action Day to celebrate getting our 5th Green Flag!
The Green Schools Committee have been awarded their 5th Green Flag for Biodiversity! 2 representatives on the Committee will attend The Helix, DCU, on 23rd May to collect our flag and we will be holding our flag raising ceremony on Thursday 21st June. We hope to see you there!
To celebrate this achievement, we held our Biodiversity Action Day on 25th April 2018 which was filled with lots of fun activities. Karen Moore visited our school and took 1st and 2nd class on nature walks to the many green areas in Aikens Village/Bellarmine. The children thoroughly enjoyed identifying the different bird species they saw, learning about our native trees and plants and the hedgerow habitat of many different minibeasts. The finished their nature walk with a fun scavenger hunt and a game of bat and moth! In addition to the nature walks, each class in the school were timetabled 30 minutes to spend in our outdoor classroom - some classes had their DEAR time outside (Drop Everything And Read), other classes used this opportunity to explore the biodiversity in the area - identifying the birds in our garden, minibeasts in our bug hotel and identifying the many beautiful plants and flowers at the front of our school. In the afternoon, we concluded our Biodiversity Action Day with our National Spring Clean. The Green School Committee and volunteers from each class picked up litter from the school grounds, our local community centre, the golf course car park and the local shops. They did an amazing job and we are so proud of our litter free community!
To celebrate this achievement, we held our Biodiversity Action Day on 25th April 2018 which was filled with lots of fun activities. Karen Moore visited our school and took 1st and 2nd class on nature walks to the many green areas in Aikens Village/Bellarmine. The children thoroughly enjoyed identifying the different bird species they saw, learning about our native trees and plants and the hedgerow habitat of many different minibeasts. The finished their nature walk with a fun scavenger hunt and a game of bat and moth! In addition to the nature walks, each class in the school were timetabled 30 minutes to spend in our outdoor classroom - some classes had their DEAR time outside (Drop Everything And Read), other classes used this opportunity to explore the biodiversity in the area - identifying the birds in our garden, minibeasts in our bug hotel and identifying the many beautiful plants and flowers at the front of our school. In the afternoon, we concluded our Biodiversity Action Day with our National Spring Clean. The Green School Committee and volunteers from each class picked up litter from the school grounds, our local community centre, the golf course car park and the local shops. They did an amazing job and we are so proud of our litter free community!
Check out our new and improved minibeast hotel! We are holding a competition to name this bug hotel - there's a prize for the winning entry! Deadline for the competition is Friday 23rd February. Good luck!
BIODIVERSITY SURVEY RESULTS YEAR 2!
Before we commenced work on our 5th Green Flag theme, Biodiversity, we carried out a survey asking all the students and staff in the school what they knew about Biodiversity. These results showed we had a LOT of work to do to raise awareness of Biodiversity throughout the school community, so we made an action plan to promote awareness of plants and animals in our environment through participation in a number of activities which included: the creation of our two outdoor classrooms, planting various plants/flowers in our gardens, making and displaying bird feeders and bird boxes, nature trails throughout the school grounds, creation of a new minibeast hotel and identifying different minibeast species and their habitats and lots of SESE curriculum work in each class linked to Biodiversity. The children's hard work had certainly paid off ... We recently carried out the same Biodiversity survey from November 2017 and check out the impressive results! The children have learnt so much in just one year! Well done everyone for all your hard work!
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Recycled Christmas Tree Decoration Competition!
Well done to everyone for entering DLRCC annual decoration competition! The Green Schools Committee had a very difficult decision picking the winner as the standard was exceptionally high this year. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was the winning decoration! Our committee loved the use of upcycled corks, ribbon and the Coca Cola bottle top nose! Check out the photographs of our winner as he attended the Celebration Ceremony in Dun Laoghaire County Hall. |
Halfords Get In Gear Workshop - 9th November 2017 |
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Aidan and Colm from Halfords store, Carrickmines, returned to St Mary's N.S. in November to deliver their "Get In Gear" workshop to 3rd Classes and 5th Class. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about cycle safety, how to fix a punctured tyre, how to check tyre pressure and loads more! Thanks Halfords! We hope that the children's new knowledge will help increase their confidence in cycling. We expect to see an increase in the number of bikes parked in our cycle rack in school!
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Our School Garden
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Mr. Mahon, our caretaker, and Mr. Hickey have been working tirelessly to improve our school garden and their work has really paid off! Junior Infants have loved exploring the theme of biodiversity. We've even been reading our stories out in the glorious sunshine too! Have a look to see all of our adventures in St. Mary's new and improved garden!
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Junior Infants Biodiversity Projects
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Junior Infants have created their very own projects on Biodiversity. We've made ladybirds, learnt about the various flowers and plants that grow in the garden and read a variety of stories based on minibeasts in the school garden. Have a look to see our creative processes and outcomes! We hope you like them!
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Green Flag Ceremony
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Green Flag Ceremony!
We held our Green Flag Ceremony on Tuesday 14th June to celebrate our recent achievement of obtaining our Fourth Green Flag for Travel. Our audience were very impressed with the results that we have achieved during the two year process - an increase of 15% of children walking to school, and increase of 6% of children cycling or scooting to school and a decrease of 14% of children travelling to school by car. Well done everybody for their continued support in choosing a "green" travel method to travel to school, and a special thanks to our Green School Committee members for all their hard work and effort.
We also celebrated National Cycle to School week on this day, with a number of cycling activities that took place - bike rodeos which were led by Karen Moore, our Travel Officer and a bike maintenance workshop which was led by 2 representatives from Halfords. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned useful skills such as cycle safety, how to fix a puncture, how to check tyre pressure and much more!
We held our Green Flag Ceremony on Tuesday 14th June to celebrate our recent achievement of obtaining our Fourth Green Flag for Travel. Our audience were very impressed with the results that we have achieved during the two year process - an increase of 15% of children walking to school, and increase of 6% of children cycling or scooting to school and a decrease of 14% of children travelling to school by car. Well done everybody for their continued support in choosing a "green" travel method to travel to school, and a special thanks to our Green School Committee members for all their hard work and effort.
We also celebrated National Cycle to School week on this day, with a number of cycling activities that took place - bike rodeos which were led by Karen Moore, our Travel Officer and a bike maintenance workshop which was led by 2 representatives from Halfords. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned useful skills such as cycle safety, how to fix a puncture, how to check tyre pressure and much more!
National Spring Clean 2016
Our Green School Committee carried out their annual National Spring Clean of our local area on Friday 13th May. They were most impressed with the results - there wasn't much litter to be collected at all! A fantastic sign that members of our school community and our neighbours are using the bins provided at the Gala Shop or taking their litter home with them. Keep up the good work!
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Travel Flag!
Great news! We have been awarded our Fourth Green Flag for Travel!
Congratulations to all pupils and parents for all your efforts in using a green travel method to travel to school! 2 representatives from the Green Schools Committee will be attending the Award Ceremony at the Helix Centre, DCU on 26th May to collect our flag and we will be holding our school celebration ceremony on 14th June. We hope to see you there!
Congratulations to all pupils and parents for all your efforts in using a green travel method to travel to school! 2 representatives from the Green Schools Committee will be attending the Award Ceremony at the Helix Centre, DCU on 26th May to collect our flag and we will be holding our school celebration ceremony on 14th June. We hope to see you there!
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National Scoot to School Week! 7th-11th March 2016
We celebrated National Scoot to School Day (Wednesday 9th March) through a number of fun activities. Children were met at the school gates with stickers as they arrived to school, and there was a choice of special prizes for children who had scooted to school! Children were delighted with their new high vis vests/reflective arm bands/bag tags/stationery items! Check out our new scooter parking facility that was jam packed full of scooters - a record breaking NINETY children were scooting to school today! Karen Moore led a number of Scooter Workshops throughout the school day which covered: scooter safety, scooter maintenance, emergency stops and obstacle courses! The children all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We look forward to seeing lots of children scooting to school next term!
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On 12th January 2016, a few members of St Mary's N.S. Green Schools Committee, conducted a cycleability audit with our Travel Education Officer, Karen Moore from An Taisce. The purpose of this audit was to assess whether there are safe cycle routes between St Mary's N.S. and Bellarmine/Aitken's Village. The results were very positive and our cycle audit reports safe, wide cycle paths within this area. The Committee noted a few areas for improvement, which included the repainting of some faded cycle path lanes. These recommendations have been sent to the local council. Following this cycleability audit, we have decided to enter the national "Big Travel Challenge" during the month of February, aiming to increase the number of children cycling to school. We are hoping all see all those new bicycles that were received as Christmas presents in our cycle racks, as we now have space in our yard for over 20 bicycles to be parked safely and securely in our cycle racks, with the children providing their own bike lock. Wish us luck!
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We would like to congratulate the cast and backstage helpers for their magnificent performances of "Environment the Musical" at the Lexicon Theatre! The students and teachers from visiting schools were amazed at their talents and professionalism ... And they certainly learned a lot about keeping our schools, parks and streets tidy! We are extremely proud of each and every member of the production!
Our musical production "Environment" will be performed on Wednesday 10th February! Children from 2nd class to 6th class are being invited to attend the 10.15am show at the Lexicon Theatre, Dun Laoghaire. Parents of the children who are performing will soon be given 3 special invitations to watch the evening performance on Wednesday 10th February at 6.30pm. The children have been very busy rehearsing and we are looking forward to see them showcase their amazing talents on stage!
Our latest travel survey results! (1st class-6th class survey 21/10/15)
There has been an increase of 9.2% of children walking to school, an increase of 4.9% of children cycling to school and a significant decrease of 13.9% of children travelling by car to school! What a fantastic result!
Well done to all children and parents for your continued support! Keep it up! Our next survey will take place in May 2016
Congratulations to the winner of the Recycled Christmas Tree Decoration Competition!
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The "Ultimate Star Button" was chosen as the winner from over 100 entries! Well done to everyone who took part!
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Recycled Christmas Tree Decoration Competition
We are entering Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council's Recycled Christmas Tree Decoration Competition again this year! The rules are as follows:
The decoration must be able to fit easily on a Christmas tree
It must be made from everyday items from in and around the home
The deadline for bringing in your decoration is Tuesday 1st December 2015. Decorations must have the child's name and class written clearly on them, so they can be returned after the deadline. The winner of the competition will attend a "celebration ceremony" on Friday 11th December 2015 at County Council Assembly Hall and the winner will receive a certificate and a prize! Good luck everyone!
The decoration must be able to fit easily on a Christmas tree
It must be made from everyday items from in and around the home
The deadline for bringing in your decoration is Tuesday 1st December 2015. Decorations must have the child's name and class written clearly on them, so they can be returned after the deadline. The winner of the competition will attend a "celebration ceremony" on Friday 11th December 2015 at County Council Assembly Hall and the winner will receive a certificate and a prize! Good luck everyone!
Upcoming Events!
Our Travel Officer, Karen Moore from An Tasice, has invited St Mary's to take part in a number of travel events to educate parents and children on road safety and cycle safety. It is our aim through these workshops to increase the number of children using "Green Travel Methods" to travel to school. More information on each event will follow in due course, but here are some provisional dates for your diary:
12/01/16 - Cycle Ability Audit (Karen Moore and a small group of cycle proficient children will be assessing the local area for safe cycle routes between home and school)
12/02/16 - Get in Gear Workshop (road safety and cycle safety skills for parents)
March (Date TBC) - National Scoot to School Day!
13/06/16 to 17/06/16 - National Bike Week
14/06/16 - Halfords Bike Maintenance Workshop (Learn how to fix a puncture, put a chain on a bike, fit a helmet correctly and lots of other useful bike skills!)
12/01/16 - Cycle Ability Audit (Karen Moore and a small group of cycle proficient children will be assessing the local area for safe cycle routes between home and school)
12/02/16 - Get in Gear Workshop (road safety and cycle safety skills for parents)
March (Date TBC) - National Scoot to School Day!
13/06/16 to 17/06/16 - National Bike Week
14/06/16 - Halfords Bike Maintenance Workshop (Learn how to fix a puncture, put a chain on a bike, fit a helmet correctly and lots of other useful bike skills!)
Environment the Musical!
St Mary’s N.S. has been selected by Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council to perform in a musical production “Environment the Musical.” This is a fantastic opportunity for children from 2nd Class to 6th Class to develop and showcase their talents in music and drama! Congratulations to all the children who were successful in getting a part in the production and we look forward to seeing you all perform!
Green Passport Competition Winners!!
Following the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council "Green Passport" competition, which ran from March - September 2015, we have some good news to share!
The children from Senior Infants to 6th Class who returned their Green Passports before the closing date in September have all won prizes! Thank you for encouraging your children to participate in this programme and for your continued support. We have been informed that as a school, we came 3rd in the competition of number of passports completed per school population within Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council! Well done everyone! Prizes will be given out next week (w/c 16/11/15)
We will let you know if this initiative will run again next year. DLRCC received very positive feedback from schools and parents, and have deemed the initiative to be an overwhelming success!
The children from Senior Infants to 6th Class who returned their Green Passports before the closing date in September have all won prizes! Thank you for encouraging your children to participate in this programme and for your continued support. We have been informed that as a school, we came 3rd in the competition of number of passports completed per school population within Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council! Well done everyone! Prizes will be given out next week (w/c 16/11/15)
We will let you know if this initiative will run again next year. DLRCC received very positive feedback from schools and parents, and have deemed the initiative to be an overwhelming success!
Green Passports!
Keep track of all your activities during the summer holidays! Stamps can be issued at Dun Laoghaire County Council Hall. Otherwise bring your passports back into school in September to be stamped. Closing date for competition is Friday 25th September. Good luck!
Keep track of all your activities during the summer holidays! Stamps can be issued at Dun Laoghaire County Council Hall. Otherwise bring your passports back into school in September to be stamped. Closing date for competition is Friday 25th September. Good luck!
Celebrating National C.O.W. (Cycle on Wednesday) day! We had 63 children cycling to school on 11/6/15! Congratulations everybody!