Drumraney NS receives Green Flag award

Drumraney National School recently received its first Green Flag for the school at an awards ceremony in Dublin. On Wednesday, March 4, teacher Emma Lacey and three pupils from the school travelled to Croke Park in Dublin to accept the school"s first Green Flag for Litter and Waste. 'This was a very proud day for the pupils, staff and parents of Drumraney NS, who worked so hard to achieve Green Schools status. In recognition of our efforts in working towards a sustainable lifestyle, Drumraney National School is now a designated Green School,' said Ms Lacey. The school completed a number of steps to obtain its Green Flag status, starting with an environmental review, which allowed the staff and pupils to assess what they were doing right and wrong and how they could improve to make the school more environmentally friendly. They conducted a waste survey and involved the parents and then drew up an action play that outlined ways that they could reduce, reuse and recycle. They monitored the review over a period of time to see what was working and what needed further change. The pupils also took part in colouring competitions with Westmeath County Council and REPAK and Amy Nugent, a junior infant pupil, won a prize in the REPAK competition. The school also held two action days, the first being a sale of work that allowed them to sell on old bits and bobs that they no longer used and saw them raise money for Trócaire. The second day saw the staff and pupils clean the school grounds and school garden. The pupils also grew potatoes and other vegetables at the school. The Green Flag committee at the school was made up of pupils, two teachers, the caretaker and a parent. Ms Lacey paid tribute to past pupils from the school who were on the committee and said the school looked forward to welcoming them back for the flag-raising ceremony later in the year. She said the flag-raising ceremony will give the pupils, staff, parents and wider community the opportunity to celebrate in the success of the school. 'It"s a great achievement for a school with 20 pupils, there was a greater effort needed from each child,' she said. Since it began its Green Flag campaign the school introduced a new bin system with bins for landfill waste, compostable waste and recyclable waste and Ms Lacey explained that the school"s landfill waste has been significantly reduced as a result. At one stage the school hadn"t sent waste to landfill for three months. They also recycled clothes, mobile phones and ink cartridges and from that raised money for Temple Street Hospital. Other initiatives included a slogan competition, which saw the school adopt the slogan: "Litter is mean, so let"s keep it clean. Don"t be mean, be green." A competition was also held for pupils from third to sixth class that saw them construct items from recyclable materials and these are now on display in the school. Jim Fitzgerald from WEEE gave a presentation to the pupils at the school on the safe recycling of electrical equipment and due to their efforts WEEE presented the school with a refurbished computer, which was made out of old computer components. The school also operates a healthy eating policy and sweet wrappers are not allowed at the school. Any lunch material that can"t be composted or recycled must be brought home and pupils at Drumraney NS are urged to bring lunches that aren"t wasteful, for example they are urged to use recyclable drink bottles, rather than cartons. The school"s assessment was carried out in late January and the inspector told the pupils the school had the nicest smelling compost bin she had ever smelled, and thought the pupils were extremely environmentally aware. She recommended the school received a Green Flag without hesitation and An Taisce presented this flag to the school on March 4. Drumraney NS now plans to start working towards its second Green Flag, which focuses on energy and encourages the reduction of electricity use. The school also aims to take part in the National Spring Clean next month. 'We"re constantly thinking of ways to recycle or reuse things - it"s your first thought,' said Ms Lacey, adding that even the junior infant pupils had quickly become accustomed to the environmentally friendly ways of the school.