In Scoil Iósaf we have always fostered environmental awareness. Back in 2004 we decided to participate in the Green Schools Programme.

This programme aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of the school. We are now the proud owners of six Green Flags.

We received our first Green Flag in 2005. This flag was awarded to Scoil Iósaf in recognition of the excellent work undertaken to reduce litter and waste in the school. The combined efforts of teachers, pupils, parents and ancillary staff proved to be a winning formula!

We were awarded our second Green Flag by an Taisce in 2007 in recognition of the school’s excellent work in raising awareness in the school, home and community in the field of Energy Awareness.

In 2009 we won our Third Green Flag for our efforts in Water Conservation.

Water is a valuable resource and should be used wisely. We thought about the ways in which we use water and raised awareness that simple actions can cut down water use substantially. We undertook an environmental review and became aware of the areas that had the greatest potential for wastage.

An Action Plan was devised and included:

• “Turn off Taps” campaign
• “Water Action Day”
• Placing “Hippos” in toilet cisterns to reduce the volume of flush
• Collection of rainwater for use in school garden
• Home Survey/Questionnaire
• “Top Tips” for reducing water consumption in the home
• Visit to local river and Water Treatment Plant

2011 Scoil Iósaf Awarded 4th Green Flag

An Taisce’s Green Schools Evaluation Committee, was extremely impressed with our Green Programme on Travel. The Green Flag was raised in a special ceremony in May 2011 Congratulations to our Green Committee and to Mrs Margaret Harrold and Ms. Ann Marie Lomasney, our Green School co-ordinators, who worked so hard during the year. Our success is due to the great co-operation of pupils, parents and staff who took on board a Green and Eco-friendly way of travelling to school.

Our Fifth Green Flag

In June 2013 we raised our 5th Green Flag of which the theme was Biodiversity. Our flag raising ceremony was a great success. Parents’ Council chairperson, Claudine Herbert, praised the school for its great work in the area of environmental awareness. Community representatives, Ron McCoy (Tidy Towns) and Vicky Nash (Community Council) congratulated the school on its success and inspiring example. During the school years 2011 to 2013 year we investigated the many species of birds, minibeasts, trees, wildflowers, herbs and plants found in our school grounds. We then looked at ways in which we could increase species numbers in the school. We created a beautiful wild flower garden, a hedge made from beech, a herb bed and a nectar patch to attract butterflies and bees. We built a Bug Hotel to encourage and accommodate many different species of insect. We also placed lots of bird feeders and nesting boxes around the school grounds to attract Irish garden birds to our school. The whole project was a huge success. Biodiversity has become a way of life in Scoil Iósaf.

All this work was co-ordinated by the Green Committee under the direction of Mrs. Margaret Harrold and Mrs. Ann Marie White.

Global Citizenship Litter & Waste

We are very excited about the 6th Green Flag theme, Global Citizenship Litter & Waste.
As with the other Green-Schools themes, Global Citizenship Litter & Waste cross-cuts and integrates with the rest of the themes in many ways.

The overall aim of the Global Citizenship Litter & Waste theme is that as citizens of the world, we have responsibilities to each other and to the Earth itself. We can help come up with ways to make the world a better place.

Congratulations to our newly elected Green Committee

Megan Costello, Sophie leenders, Sophia Condon, Ella Geary, Clara O’ Connor, Nikita Morrissey, Ellie Woulfe and Marysia Markowska

Our Achievements so far:

• Our school is almost litter-free
• We conserve energy
• We conserve water
• We travel to school using environmentally friendly means
• Biodiversity- we have increased the number and variety of wildlife in our school

We are now the proud winners of Six Green Flags.