Green School Committee attend Slane forum. (January 2017)

Our trip began at 9.15. We headed off on the bus to Slane. The forum was taking place in the Conyngham Arms Hotel in Slane. Pauline and Naomi joined four children from the Green Committee: Katie, Saran, Sean and Rebecca on the trip.

 

We entered the hotel for the forum which was to begin at 10. Each school had a round table in the function room which we sat and got ready for the day ahead. There was an element of excitement from all.

 

The course began with a game for all the children from the schools. It was water quiz bingo. There were three boards around the room with various information about water. The children had to run and find the  answers. The children were having such fun with the activity and became very enthusiastic about the water theme.

 

Then we had our first speaker, a teacher from St. Mary’s National School. She gave a wonderful speech about how her school prepared themselves for the water flag. She told of how she continued to implement the litter and energy themes by sharing out jobs amongst the members. She explained how they conducted tests on the toilets and taps. She also explained of the WEE flush campaign which would save water by using the small flush instead of the large flush. We are definitely going to try out some of her ideas in our school.

 

We then heard from Irish water. We were learning all about the water cycle and how we get our drinking water here. We were told how important it is to report a leak if you see it anywhere. All the children received a timer for the shower to encourage taking a shorter shower to save water. Also we are encouraged not to leave the tap running when washing our teeth. We think we could design posters around our school to remind children of this as it is easy to forget. It is also important to keep a jug of water in the fridge not to waste the water and to choose the correct size pan for cooking.We were also made aware of the think before you flush campaign which involves only putting toilet paper down the toilet and that cotton wool buds and face wipes get blocked. The children didn’t really know this before and feel we should make the children in our school aware of this.

 

We then carried out some experiments. We had great fun tasting 4 liquids which all looked the same at the beginning. However, the children learned that just because they look the same certainly does not mean they taste the same. We have some fun experiments to incorporate into our action day.
We got some great ideas on the day. The Green committee members are going to share what they learned with the rest of the school and make everyone water aware!

 

Green school team travel to RDS expo.

IMAG2952 Seven members of the Green school teams of 2015 and 2016 traveled with teachers Maria and Naomi to the first Green School Expo which was held in the RDS, Dublin.

Our school was asked to display the projects which gained us our ‘Energy Flag’ in May 2016. We were the only primary school displaying a project in the energy area which was an absolute privilege and honour for Aston Village E.T.N.S.

The students displayed our ‘shoe-box energy efficient school’, we brought Energetic Eddie and he made a new friend, the famous ‘Guzzler’ and James’ energy saving game was a hit with visiting students.IMAG2886

There were children attending from all over the country and we met children from Limerick and Cork who had been up since 4am!!! But the early start was worth it.

Group School Expo PhotoIMAG2940_1Our Green team members Lota, Olamide, Donata, Demi, Julia, Katie and Jack were interviewed for newspapers and for online channels, they spoke with some of the 5,000 people who passed through the RDS doors, attended creative upcycling workshops, themed areas and commercial stalls and Katie even got to have her picture taken with President Michael D. Higgins.

It was a fantastic day and we hope to return again next year.

Maria

 

***************************************************************************************************************

 

Green Game
James about to show the class and Aisling from Green Schools his game he created on scratch with Mark.
IMG_8015
James’ Game on screen
IMG_8009
Maria’s Third Class about to perform their song, “Do you wanna save a planet?” for Aisling from Green Schools.
IMG_8008
Can you believe this is a cake? Our wonderfully talented SNA trainee Marianne made this wonderful Lightbulb Cake to mark the Green Schools Inspection Today! Lots of energy needed now to burn calories off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/7fdreaAKO-U