🌿🟩Green Flag Award🌿🤩

🟩Green Flag Award

🌿We are delighted to share that we have just received confirmation that Saint Patrick’s has been awarded its very first Eco-Flag Award. This is a wonderful achievement for our entire school community, and we are incredibly proud of this recognition. The award reflects the hard work and dedication of everyone involved—our pupils, staff, parents, Friends of Mullinahoe, and the wider community—who all played a part in making this possible. By working together, we have achieved something truly special. We look forward to proudly displaying our Eco-Flag above our school as a symbol of our commitment to caring for the environment. Together we play, we learn, and we grow by recycling, saving energy, and exploring the world we know! 🌍 

Report from the Eco-School's Evaluation

Congratulations to all concerned - staff and pupils alike, and not forgetting the caretaker and many parents who helped your school achieve its environmental targets.

The assessors made the following comments about the strengths of your school evident in the assessment:

THE ECO-COMMITTEE:
It's great to see a large eco-committee that has members from P3-P7. The members are also either elected or selected by a teacher to join. It’s good that the minute taker and chairperson are both pupils. The eco-committee is also pro-active in sharing the minutes and decisions with the rest of the school. They have also been well supported with school governors and someone from the community attending a meeting.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
It's great that the eco-committee were involved in creating the environmental review, and that it has formed the basis for which the topics where picked. There is also a good explanation given for the topic selection.

ACTION PLAN:
St Patrick's Primary School has produced an excellent Action Plan. Each Action Card has been uploaded with excellent detail and evidence. It great to learn of how hands on the eco-committee have been in this, from organising events, leading assemblies to share updates to evaluating feedback. The three topics of Outdoor Learning, Waste and Energy have all been successfully explored. For Outdoor Learning the new outdoor classroom has been a great addition to the school. The eco-committee have taken an active role in helping to clean and maintain the area. Similarly, the new polytunnel which was donated by the Friends of Mullinahoe Group has been put to good use for planting. The gardening club has been active and done a range of activities including a bug hunt. The farm to fork strawberry growing initiative is a great example of how the whole school has got involved. The waste monitors have also been busy with their twice weekly inspections. While book swaps and power down days have also been highlights. The eco news updates is also a wonderful idea!

MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
There is good data for each topic. The outdoor learning audit is a detailed document highlighting the activities and number of children involved. It's great that the pupils are involved in collecting and reviewing the data, the food waste data is really good as it shows the change over time and highlights the input the pupils have had for this. Likewise, the energy audit and the steps taken from it to have a daily energy inspection are good example of data collection and action taken post the evaluation.

LINKING TO THE CURRICULUM:
It's great to see that the eco activities have been successfully integrated across a wide range of subjects across the curriculum. The whole school is involved in these activities and learning which is great to see.

INFORM AND INVOLVE:
St Patrick's Primary School does a great job at informing and involving the whole school community. It’s great that the eco-notice board is so well used and that other methods including assemblies and class visits are used to keep pupils and staff updated. While the use of the website, social media and PTA meetings are good for keeping parents and the wider community updated. It's also good that pupils not on the committee can share their suggestions.

ECO-CODE:
A wonderful eco-code that features the eco-girl mascot! It's great that the pupils were involved in creating it and that it is widely displayed throughout the school and on the website