Ellen O’ Sullivan, Green-Schools Travel Officer with An Taisce tells us about all the hard work some schools in Limerick and Tipperary have been carrying out as part of their Travel Theme!
Posted by green-schools on Thursday, March 24, 2011
Laurel Hill FJC, South Circular Road, Limerick
Laurel Hill FJC were awarded their Fourth Green-Flag for Green-Schools Travel in 2010 but that hasn’t stopped their efforts to promote Green-Travel in their School. They made several efforts in the past to promote cycling but to no avail so in early March they took it up a notch and piloted the Beauty and the Bike Workshop. Using a traffic light system they identified reasons as to why girls don’t cycle and tried to come up with their own solutions. This worked really well where one student stated that ‘‘It showed me that a lot of the problems I thought couldn’t be solved actually could be’. In addition to identifying issues and solutions, the students also participated in a ‘looking good’ workshop from the Body shop where they learned how to take care of their skin and look good whilst cycling. This was a huge success where numerous positive actions identified to encourage cycling in their school. Examples of these include a fancy bike parade within the school, the investigation of cycle lanes in their locality and researching the possibility of creating a cycle chic club. Laurel hill FJC may have already been awarded their Travel Flag but they prove that you don’t have to stop there. Laurel Hills GS Coordinator was delighted with the result where apparently there is an increased interest in cycle training and cycling to school as a result.
Killenaule NS, Killenaule Co. Tipperary
Killenaule National School launched their WOW (Walk on Wednesday) initiative with aplomb in early March. After extensive work to bring all of the other themes the school had previously worked on (Litter and Waste, Energy and Water) up to speed and to raise awareness on the Travel Theme through holding numerous workshops, the school got their boots on in style. Over 70% of the school participated in their WOW day where the results were announced with a very impressive travel assembly. A graph was constructed in front of all the students and 3RD and 4th Class were the proud winners of the first Golden Boot Award.
Catherine McAuley, Ashbourne Ave. Limerick Catherine McAuley School in Limerick have been stepping up the pace in their bid for the Travel Flag. Most of the students travel by bus so their work has concentrated on eco-projects and raising awareness. They recently held an action day where students learned about climate change and were quizzed on their travel knowledge using an adapted version of the giant snakes and ladders game. They even completed a feasibility study on the use of biofuels for their bus fleet! As they travel by bus they cannot participate in WOWs so they have come up with their own unique idea of having WOW power walks during lunch time in set groups. It has to be said, Catherine McAuley are definitely stepping up to the challenge!
Brothers of Charity, Co. Limerick
Brothers of Charity in Limerick are taking the Green-Flag ethic to a new level with the construction of an environmental course centred on all of the Green-Flag themes. This course is to be provided over a ten week period where attendees will be assessed at the end of each theme completion. This is an innovative approach to incorporating the Green-Ethic into adult education centres and is a credit to Eugene Geary’s dedication to the programme. In terms of travel, most of the attendees travel by bus so WOWs are not an option. Instead they opted to ascertain the safety around their centre by conducting speed checks and identifying safety measures in place. This generated a huge response especially with the attendance of the local Gardaí and their speed camera..JPG)
St. Marys Convent Primary School, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary St. Marys Convent Girl’s National School is located in the centre of Nenagh and comprises of over 420 students. This school has a remarkable programme in place where each theme is firmly incorporated into their school routine. They recently came up with an innovative approach to identifying targets and improving their ‘Green-Travel’ performance. They did this by constructing a map of the estates surrounding the school from which people could walk to school. After an extensive survey they worked out the percentage already walking and also the margin for improvement. They recently held an action day also where classes were treated to bike maintenance talks, Garda safety talks and a climate change talk by An Taisce.
Laurel Hill FJC were awarded their Fourth Green-Flag for Green-Schools Travel in 2010 but that hasn’t stopped their efforts to promote Green-Travel in their School. They made several efforts in the past to promote cycling but to no avail so in early March they took it up a notch and piloted the Beauty and the Bike Workshop. Using a traffic light system they identified reasons as to why girls don’t cycle and tried to come up with their own solutions. This worked really well where one student stated that ‘‘It showed me that a lot of the problems I thought couldn’t be solved actually could be’. In addition to identifying issues and solutions, the students also participated in a ‘looking good’ workshop from the Body shop where they learned how to take care of their skin and look good whilst cycling. This was a huge success where numerous positive actions identified to encourage cycling in their school. Examples of these include a fancy bike parade within the school, the investigation of cycle lanes in their locality and researching the possibility of creating a cycle chic club. Laurel hill FJC may have already been awarded their Travel Flag but they prove that you don’t have to stop there. Laurel Hills GS Coordinator was delighted with the result where apparently there is an increased interest in cycle training and cycling to school as a result.
Killenaule NS, Killenaule Co. Tipperary
Killenaule National School launched their WOW (Walk on Wednesday) initiative with aplomb in early March. After extensive work to bring all of the other themes the school had previously worked on (Litter and Waste, Energy and Water) up to speed and to raise awareness on the Travel Theme through holding numerous workshops, the school got their boots on in style. Over 70% of the school participated in their WOW day where the results were announced with a very impressive travel assembly. A graph was constructed in front of all the students and 3RD and 4th Class were the proud winners of the first Golden Boot Award.
Catherine McAuley, Ashbourne Ave. Limerick Catherine McAuley School in Limerick have been stepping up the pace in their bid for the Travel Flag. Most of the students travel by bus so their work has concentrated on eco-projects and raising awareness. They recently held an action day where students learned about climate change and were quizzed on their travel knowledge using an adapted version of the giant snakes and ladders game. They even completed a feasibility study on the use of biofuels for their bus fleet! As they travel by bus they cannot participate in WOWs so they have come up with their own unique idea of having WOW power walks during lunch time in set groups. It has to be said, Catherine McAuley are definitely stepping up to the challenge!
Brothers of Charity, Co. Limerick
Brothers of Charity in Limerick are taking the Green-Flag ethic to a new level with the construction of an environmental course centred on all of the Green-Flag themes. This course is to be provided over a ten week period where attendees will be assessed at the end of each theme completion. This is an innovative approach to incorporating the Green-Ethic into adult education centres and is a credit to Eugene Geary’s dedication to the programme. In terms of travel, most of the attendees travel by bus so WOWs are not an option. Instead they opted to ascertain the safety around their centre by conducting speed checks and identifying safety measures in place. This generated a huge response especially with the attendance of the local Gardaí and their speed camera.
St. Marys Convent Primary School, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary St. Marys Convent Girl’s National School is located in the centre of Nenagh and comprises of over 420 students. This school has a remarkable programme in place where each theme is firmly incorporated into their school routine. They recently came up with an innovative approach to identifying targets and improving their ‘Green-Travel’ performance. They did this by constructing a map of the estates surrounding the school from which people could walk to school. After an extensive survey they worked out the percentage already walking and also the margin for improvement. They recently held an action day also where classes were treated to bike maintenance talks, Garda safety talks and a climate change talk by An Taisce.
Tags: green-schools an taisce cow wow beauty and the bike travel theme
