Green Schools Committee
Presentation Girls’ School Maynooth is proud to be an active participate of An Taisce’s Green-Schools programme since 2006 when we began working towards our 1st Green-Schools flag for Litter and Waste. Since then, our pupils, guided by the various Green-Schools committees, have gone on to earn a further 5 Green Flags, promoting a love and appreciation for the environment. Our current Green-Schools committee consists of pupils from all 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th classes and are currently working towards our 6th Green Flag, Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste while also keeping up all the hard work of our previous committees.
2007 – 1st Flag: Litter & Waste Management
- All classrooms have been given a recycling bin for paper and plastic.
- Pupils are to bring all waste from their lunchboxes home with them and are encouraged to compost any food waste.
- Pupils are encouraged to use reusable drink bottles (not one time use plastic bottles) and to avoid using plastic wrapping/ tinfoil on their lunches.
- Pupils from the Green-Schools committee take part in daily litter picking on the yard while 2nd Class pupils take part in the Picker Pals Programme which promotes environmental stewardship. Picker Pals (pickerpalsworld.org)
- The whole school takes part in the National Spring Clean in partnership with An Taisce and Maynooth Tidy Towns.
2009 – 2nd Flag: Energy Conservation
Turn Off the Light When It’s Bright!
Our Green-Schools committee do regular energy checks throughout the school making sure classroom lights, computer screens and projectors are turned off at lunch times or when not in use. We encourage all pupils to do the same at home and be energy saving ambassadors.
2011 – 3rd Green Flag: Water Conservation
Over the two years we worked towards our Water Conservation Flag the Green-Schools committee monitored water consumption by taking daily meter readings, inserted displacement devices into toilet cisterns, replaced old taps with push down taps and replaced cisterns and flushers with dual flushers. Although it’s been over 10 years since we were awarded this flag our current Green-Schools committee continue to work hard at promoting the importance of saving water at school and at home.
2013 – 4th Green Flag: Travel
At Presentation Girls’ School we promote the use of sustainable modes of travel as much as possible when travelling to and from school. Pupils are encouraged to walk, scoot, cycle, park & stride, carpool or take the bus. Each year we take part in Walk to School Week, Bike Week as well as Active Schools Week. Not only does being active help the environment, it also helps us to feel good and improves our ability to concentrate in school.
2017 – 5th Green Flag: Biodiversity
Here are a few examples of the projects carried out by our Green-Schools committee while working towards our Biodiversity Flag:
- We built a bug Hotel called ‘The Bugson Bay Hotel’.
- We built a Willow Dome with help from Ciara Hinksman from Heritage Ireland.
- All classes planted in our new raised beds. We also created a sensory garden and a wildflower garden to encourage bees and other insects to come and visit.
- We created a raspberry patch.
- We carried out a survey of birds that visit our school.
- We created a biodiversity wall showcasing all the native trees, plants, insects, birds and animals studied by each year group in our school.
2023-24 – 6th Green Flag: Global Citizenship Litter & Waste
Over the next 2 years our Green-Schools committee will be working towards our 6th Green Flag, Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste. We will be revising all the initiatives put in place back when we worked towards our 1st Green Flag but, this time, we will be looking at them from a global perspective. In other words, how do our actions in Maynooth Ireland, directly effect the rest of the world and how can we help with the fight against global issues like climate change.
Here are some of the actions being carried out by our Green-Schools committee:
- Regular bin checks will be carried out to make sure classes are recycling properly and all food waste is going home to be composted.
- Litter picking and Picker Pals will be back up and running.
- We will promote clothes recycling / swap shops.
- We will take part in WEE Irelands Battery Recycling Challenge and help keep thousands of used batteries out batteries out of landfill. Click link to find out more At School or College – WEEE Ireland.
- Collect used stamps to raise money for the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.
- Take part in The Global Classrooms project and connect with other schools around the world working on Global Sustainable Development Goals.
