Green School News

Green news 2011-2012

Our new Green Team members were chosen recently. We have a representative from each class. They are as follows:

Junior Infants: Evie(R1), Tom (R2), Orla (R3), Ben (R4)

Senior Infants: Lyra (R7), Eoin (R9), Ella (R11)

First class: Diana (R6), Chukwuma (R10), Zviko (R12)

'Green' Events 2010-2011

Green Flag Award Ceremony at Croke Park

On Thursday 10^th March 2011 we collected our second green flag. Two first class members of the green team, Adam and Sophie, accompanied Ms. Jordan to Croke Park to get our second green flag. We have been awarded this flag for our great efforts in reducing energy use in our school. Well done to all children and staff!

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded our second green flag from An Taisce. This flag has been awarded for our efforts in saving energy and continuing to reduce, reuse and recycle in our school. Two lucky members of the green team, Sophie from room 6 and Adam from room 12, were chosen at random to accompany Ms. Jordan to the green flag awards ceremony which will take place in Croke Park on Thursday 10^th March. Success in achieving this flag is due to the hard work and commitment of all pupils and staff and to the support of parents. We look forward to our flag raising celebrations in April!

Green Flag Raised

Ms Jordan and the Green Team co-ordinated a scintillating programme of events to celebrate the raising of the second Green Flag on Friday 27th May.  Minister Ruairí Quinn raised the Green Flag following a marvellous performance by the green team and all the pupils in the hall.  We were treated to a wonder fest of singing, instrumental music, Irish dancing and some break dancing that finished with an exhibition of the splits by one young gentleman that has been unsurpassed by anyone that this correspondent has ever witnessed!

Here in pictorial format is an eye-witness account of the day.

We look forward to another busy and exciting year in St Louis Infant Green school as we hope to get our second “big green flag” for saving energy.

Action Day

Well done everybody!!

St Louis Infant Green School Newsflash

November 2010

Dear parents,

·         As you are aware we are very busy saving energy in our school. We are also busy recycling to ensure that volumes of rubbish produced remain as low as possible.

·         On Friday 5^th November, the green team visited all junior infant classes to spread the green message again and one junior infant child from each class was chosen at random to join the team. The lucky junior infants were: Danga, room 1, Claudia, room 2, Cherry, room 3 and Ciarán, room 4. We welcome our youngest members onto the team!

·         Sincere thanks go to Mr. John McDonald, chairperson of our board of management and Ms. Isobel O’ Connell, mum of Philip in room 10, who have both very kindly agreed to continue as representatives on our green team.

·         Next Wednesday 17^th November will be our “action day”. This is a very important day when the whole school focus on our green project and enjoy some fun activities to celebrate our efforts. We will celebrate action day as follows:

1.      All children and teachers are requested to wear a hat to school on action day to keep the heat in!

2.      Action day will be a special “lights off” day in our school to save energy.

3.      We are currently running a number of green competitions in our classes.

4.      The winners of these competitions will be announced at our action day green assembly on Wednesday next.

Our green competitions are as follow:

Each junior infant class must keep doors closed and lights off in order to save energy. First class students are spot checking rooms 1-4 to find the winner.

Senior infants are carrying out a big battery collection and the class with the most batteries collected by action day will be the winner.

First classes are designing posters, the theme of which is “switch off the light when it’s bright!” One winner will be chosen from each first class.

·         Sincere thanks to all parents for your continued support of our green campaign.

·        Remember to reduce, reuse, recycle and save energy!

Switch off the light when it’s bright!

St Louis Infant School “Green Team”- September 2010:

 Already the new green team have been chosen....

Principal: Miriam Mulkerrin

Teachers: Heidi Jordan

Caretakers: Brian Saunders

                  Paul Saunders

Senior Infants

Ross Finlayson, rm7

James Jury, rm9

Sophia Fitzsimons, rm11

First Class

Claudia Scanlon, rm5

Alexandru Vesa, rm5

Sophie Woods, rm6

Daniel Bradley, rm6

Polly Lyons, rm10

Dylan Barry, rm10

Alexandrina Porfireanu, rm12

Adam Danaher, rm12

 St Louis Infant Green School Newsletter- September 2010:

 Parents have received a green newsletter with lots of tips about saving energy at home.

St Louis Infant School is very proud to be a green school! We achieved our first green flag in May 2009 for efforts made in waste and litter reduction and recycling. Participation in the green school programme which is run by An Taisce offers us the chance to train our young pupils to be environmentally conscious, a vital skill which will stay with them throughout their lives. Our “big green flag” hangs in the front hall for all to see! In order to help continue our success in litter reduction and recycling parents can:

·        Send in old mobile phones- Phones are donated to the Jack and Jill foundation. Last year we donated 200 old mobile phones to the foundation and in return we received over 400 euro worth of books which have been added to our senior infant and first class libraries!

·        Send in used batteries- Batteries are donated to WEEE Ireland

·        Send in used ink cartridges

·        Send in used stamps- Stamps are sent to Kildare to help conserve our bogs

·        Ensure that children have a reusable lunchbox and bottle (if bringing own lunch to school)- All lunch rubbish must be brought home

We also have weekly litter picking to ensure that our corridors and yards are clean. Items for composting are collected three times weekly and we use our compost when planting tree and shrubs annually to celebrate national tree day.

While Ms. Jordan leads the green schools campaign, success is only achievable through the support of all members of the school community; pupils, teachers, ancillary staff, parents and board of management. If any parent would like to get involved in the green schools campaign for the coming year they may contact Ms. Jordan in room 16. Each year children are chosen at random to be part of the green team. The green team meets regularly and lead the campaign. They spread the green news to and enforce green practices in their classes. This year representing first class on the green team will be Adam Danaher, Alexandrina Porfireanu, Dylan Barry, Polly Lyons, Sophie Woods, Daniel Bradley, Alexandru Vesa and Claudia Scanlon. Senior infants will be represented by Sophia Fitzsimons, James Jury and Ross Finlayson while four children will be chosen from junior infants in October.

This year we aim to get our second green flag for reduction in energy consumption. Children are encouraged to switch off lights and appliances when not in use and to close doors and windows to conserve heat. We operate a “switch off” policy whereby teachers and children must ensure that lights are off when the class leaves their classroom and that the door is shut behind them. First class children will soon conduct a survey of energy consumption in their homes and an energy saving poster competition will take place in October. In order to support our efforts in achieving our second green flag here are some energy saving tips for the home:

·        Switch off unnecessary lights

·        Use energy saver light bulbs

·        Switch off appliances when not in use. Did you know that a computer which is turned off at night costs about 9 euro per day while a computer that is left on 24 hours a day costs about 39 euro per day due to the fan working overtime to keep your computer cool!

·        Do not leave appliances on standby. Did you know that some television standby modes use two thirds of the electricity used by a television when fully powered on!

·        Wash clothes at a lower temperature and less energy will be used.

·        Do not use the tumble dryer on sunny days!

·        Close windows when the heating is on in order to conserve heat.

·        Have a shower instead of a bath. A shower uses only one fifth of the energy while you use 70% less water. Although having a shower saves energy and water, spending too long in the shower uses the same energy and water as a bath!

·        Do not fill the kettle every time you boil it if not needed. While it is important to always cover the element, try filling your mug with water and then pouring that into your kettle. Therefore you will only boil as much as water as is needed.

·        Wait until the dishwasher is full before switching it on.

·        Fit a lagging jacket around your emersion heater. An 80mm jacket can cut heat loss by 75%!

All of these simple tips are kind to the environment and equal savings in energy costs. You have the power!

Remember the infant school motto:

Reduce, reuse, recycle,

Bin the rubbish,

When it’s bright,

Switch off the light,

Be clean, be green!

 St Louis Infant School First Class Energy Survey:

First class have surveyed energy use in their homes

Dear parents,

As we aim to get our second “big green flag” we ask for your support in filling out the following survey and returning to the class teacher. The survey is anonymous so please be as honest as possible. Please circle the answer that is most appropriate to you. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

1.    Do you leave lights turned on when you are not in the room?

Yes/ No

2.   Do you use energy saver light bulbs at home?

Yes/ No

3.   Do you leave televisions on standby when you are not watching them?

Yes/ No

4.   Do you leave computers powered on when you are not using them?

Yes/ No

5.   How often do you use your washing machine?

Daily/ Every few days/ Every week

6.   For how long do you turn on the heating everyday (in winter)?

Less than 5 hours

5 hours

More than 5 hours

7.   Do you leave windows open when the heating is on?

Yes/ No

8.   Which do you use more, the bath or the shower?

Bath/ Shower

9.   Do you turn on the dishwasher when it’s not full?

Yes/ no

10.        Do you have a lagging jacket on your emersion heater?

Yes/ No

We will shortly present you with the results of our survey.

Results of First Class Energy Survey, September 2010:

 ·        95 surveys were circulated and 53 were returned (so all results are out of 53). Many thanks to all those who took the time to be part of our survey and to support our green campaign!

 ·        First class members of the green team went through all the returned surveys and we found out that:

·        Only 9 households leave lights on when not in the room.

·        36 households use energy saving light bulbs.

·        Only 17 households leave the television on standby.

·        Only 14 households leave computers powered on when not in use.

·        Only 13 households use their washing machines daily while 31 use washing machines every few days.

·        9 households have heating on for 5 hours daily while 13 households have heating on for more than 5 hours daily.

·        Only three households leave windows open while heating is on.

·        Only six households use the bath more than the shower.

·        Only 1 household uses the dishwasher when not full. We also found that a number of families do not have dishwashers.

·        32 households have lagging jackets on their emersion heaters.

Our Message for September is:

Turn taps off. Do not leave taps dripping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Green Years” 2008-2009-2010:

Raising our first green flag in St. Louis Infant School:

On Wednesday 24^th June ’09 we raised our first green flag in our Millennium playground. We were delighted to have special guest Sheana Keane form RTE in attendance as well as Ruairí Quinn and Lucinda Creighton, members of our board of management, members of our parents association, our senior school green committee and senior primary school principal Ms. McCabe. All infant school pupils and staff were present and the sun shone down on us throughout the proceedings. Our recorder group opened the ceremony with a beautiful rendition of “Give me your Hand” and we then sang our recycle song. Our principal Ms. Mulkerrin welcomed our special guests and Sheana spoke to the children about recycling and introduced her dog Eamonn. The green team then reminded us of all the hard work that we have done in order to achieve our flag. First class sang “We’re all in this together” to remind everyone that our achievement has been a team effort. Sheana, Rory and Maria raised the green flag to a huge round of applause while Iseult played a beautiful tune on her violin. We also enjoyed a beautiful rendition of “What a wonderful word” played by Irene on the flute. We then had our St. Louis green poem:

S- Save paper

T- Turn off lights

L- Less rubbish

O- Organise a green plan

U- Use lunchboxes and bottles again

I- Inform those at home about our green work

S- Succeed- Just as we have done!!

Fr. Richard Sheehy congratulated the children on their wonderful achievement and noted that we have shown that being green can be fun. Fr. Richard thanked Ms. Jordan for leading the green campaign and presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. All children then enjoyed ice-pops in the Millennium while our guests enjoyed refreshments on the terrazzo.

What a wonderful day for St. Louis Infant School!!

Green News:

St Louis Infant School is a green school!

On Friday the 6^th of March our green assessor Claire visited and was most impressed with all the efforts we have put into making our school a greener place. We then received a letter from An Taisce to inform us that we have achieved our first green flag for efforts in reducing litter and waste.

On Wednesday 20^th May our green flag was presented to Jenny and Conor, representing the green team, at the special awards ceremony at Croke Park. They enjoyed spaghetti bolognese and apple pie before the ceremony and had a chance to look around the wonderful grounds of Croke Park. However the moment we had all been waiting for arrived when senator de Búrca presented Jenny and Conor with our big green flag and certificate which recognises St Louis Infant school as a green school.

On Thursday 21st May the green team met with Ms. Jordan bright and early to hear about the award ceremony at Croke Park and to be the first people to see the green flag. These children then brought the flag to all very excited classes.

Compost Day:

We held a very enjoyable Compost Day on March 5^th to celebrate National Tree Week. Each class went to the compost area where they were met by our caretakers who reminded them of the items which go into out compost bin: banana skins, apple cores and pencil parings. Children also saw a sample of the compost that we get out of our bin. Children then proceeded to the millennium playground to inspect the growth of the trees which we planted for Tree Day in November’08.

 In our school items for composting are collected from each classroom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This collection is led by the first classes who then deposit all items collected into the compost bin.

We enjoyed a very successful Action Day on Wednesday 4^th February. Our special visitor was Éanna Ní Lamhna who visited each class and spoke to the children about the importance of caring for our environment. The green team were busy emptying the recycling boxes from the green area and sorting items such as the mobile phones and ink cartridges for collection. All of our parings were also collected and added to our compost bin. “Litter pickers” were busy around the school. Members of the green team carried out bin checks in each classroom and stickers were awarded to each class where bins were found to be in order. All classes enjoyed a very successful green assembly in the halla where we met our parent and B.O.M. green representatives again. Members of the green team spoke about all the work that we have done and must continue to do in order to achieve our first green flag. Two members of our senior school green team also joined our assembly to inform us of the green activities in their school and to wish us luck in our campaign. Ms. Jordan organised a number of competitions leading up to Action Day and all children were excited to discover the winners. All classes in junior infants made a huge effort to have the tidiest classroom so it was felt only fair that we picked the winner out of the hat.

Our Green Schools Action Day:

The winning class in junior infants were Ms. Cushion’s class. In senior infants, Ms. Moran’s class won the stamp collection prize with a huge total of 166 stamps collected, while the winner of the green badge design was Elizabeth from Ms. O’Neill’s class. All members of the green team were presented with their new green badges displaying Elisabeth’s wonderful design. Our special song “Recycle” was sung beautifully by all!

This is a very exciting year for St. Louis Infant school as we work towards achieving our first green flag. Our school promotes reducing, re-using, recycling and saving energy. We aim to make our environment a greener place and we hope to make the world a better place for the future.

The green schools programme is run by An Taisce. The programme involves pupils, teachers, parents, and everybody in the community. We aim to achieve our first green flag for litter and waste management later this year.

Our green school campaign is being led by Ms. Jordan in room 16. Our green committee this year includes the following children: Zuzanna, Maria, Grace, Jenny, Robert, Ryan and Rory from first class and Conor, Joan, Louie and Sahir from senior infants. As junior infants are now well settled in, four children from junior infants will join the green team in October.

This is our green code:

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle,

Bin the rubbish,

Spot the light,

Be clean, be green!

Recycling:

All of our paper and card goes in the green bin. Children bring in batteries, stamps, old mobile phones and ink cartridges for recycling in school. The stamps go to Lullymore in Co. Kildare to help conserve our bogs, while we send the mobile phones to the Jack and Jill foundation.

Re-using:

Card, paper, fabric, cartons, boxes and lots more are re-used during our art classes. The first class children in room 12 did some lovely recycling art in September using old newspapers.

Reducing:

We all understand that rubbish must go in the bin but this year we have made a big effort to reduce our weekly rubbish. Each child takes their lunch rubbish home in their re-usable lunchbox. Re-usable bottles are also used and plastic bags have disappeared!

Energy:

Our “spotlights” are busy making sure that lights are switched off when not needed and when leaving the classroom. Also members of the green team check that our computers are off when not in use. We close our doors to keep the heat in and we try to save water by making sure that taps are not left dripping.

Composting:

All of our pencil parings go into the compost bin in the lower yard.

Our teachers and staff are busy too!

In the staffroom teachers put all used teabags into a special bucket which is later emptied into the compost bin. Milk cartons and cardboard packaging are flattened and recycled. Teachers photocopy on both sides of pages as much as possible and only use the printer when necessary. We no longer have a printer in each classroom which cuts down on the amount of ink cartridges and paper used.

Sheila is busy in the office shredding paper to go into the compost bin and tearing stamps off of letters for recycling.

Ms. Mulkerrin regularly reminds us, via the intercom, to switch off lights, keep doors closed and only put paper in the green bin.

Our caretakers Brian and Paul deserve a big thank you from us all. They help Ms. Jordan check that we are reducing our rubbish and also help us plant lovely trees and shrubs to make our school a greener place. We enjoy helping them in the millennium on “Tree Day”.

Green Assemblies:

First class enjoyed their first green assembly on Monday 18^th September. Ms. Mulkerrin spoke to the children about all the activities we are undertaking to achieve our green flag. Members of the green team gave us some important reminders about being part of this green school and we sang our special song, “Reduce, Re-use, Recycle”. Junior and senior infants will attend their green assemblies during October.

Tree Day 2008:

All children in our school enjoyed a very successful “Lá na gCrann” on Thursday 9^th October. Classes planted heathers and a variety of small plants in the Millennium, assisted by our caretakers Brian and Paul. We also had the opportunity to replace one of our dwarf trees which we had planted on “Tree Day ‘07”. Luckily the rain stayed away and we all had fun making our school a greener place!

TIP:

Why don't you have a "spot the light" at home. Each time your child spots a light on where it needn't be they can earn points!!