Scoil Bhríde Eglantine

Scoil Bhríde Eglantine is a Primary School on the Douglas Road in Cork City. It has 550 students and over 24 staff. They were awarded their Green Flag for Biodiversity in May 2016.

Step 1: Committee

The Committee is made up of Students representing the senior end of this large school, along with three Teaching Staff and the school Caretaker. They meet fortnightly.

Step 2: Environmental Review

Before making changes to the school environment, Scoil Bhríde’s Green-Schools Committee carried out all “Essential” parts of the Environmental Review including:

Carrying out a Biodiversity Awareness Survey;
Compiling a Habitat Map of the school grounds, prior to implementing any actions; and
Revisiting the previous themes and identify links to the theme of Biodiversity.

Having carried out these surveys the Committee identified the following short-comings:

A lack of:

Understanding among staff and students about biodiversity and its importance.
Native shrubs and plants suitable for butterflies and bees.
Spring and summer bulbs.
Suitable feeding and sheltering opportunities for birds on the school grounds.

They also noticed:

The presence of an invasive species; the winter flowering heliotrope, on the school grounds.
Some non native structurally dangerous trees in the school grounds (needing removal).

Image 1: Scoil Bhríde’s Habitat Map – a survey of habitats, carried out at the school (BEFORE any action is taken) –a key component of the Environmental Review

Step 3: Action Plan

Scoil Bhríde’s Committee carried out all of the ‘Recommended Actions’ for the Biodiversity theme, by including the following tasks on their own Green-Schools Action Plan:

Built raised beds
Created a Log Pile
Planted a tree
Erected bird-feeders
Monitored the birds visiting the bird feeders
Contacted a member of the Cork County Council with a view to removing invasive species.
Created a Leaf Pile
Planted Bulbs
Informed the School community and the Board of Management of progress
Created Bug B&Bs
Ran a Competition for the Green-Schools Code
Prepared flowerbeds and plant new shrubs
Took photographs of work and did a write-up for the Newspaper
Mapped and Planted a wild garden area on the school grounds
Took a fieldtrip to Douglas Estuary to do a comparative study of the habitat there
Organised an Action Day
Planted vegetables in raised bed
Invited Guest Speakers to the school
Planted summer-flowering plants

Step 4: Monitoring and Evaluation

Repeated Awareness Surveys.
Repeated the Habitat Map survey.
Monitored and evaluated progress in the new areas of biodiversity.
- Mini-beasts – The 3rd Classes monitored the species visiting the bug hotels.
- Birds – The 4th Classes have been logging their sightings of birds on a daily basis.

Image 2: Year 2 Habitat Map – a survey of habitats, carried out at the school (after action was taken) – it is an essential component of the Monitoring and Evaluation Step.

Figure 1: Biodiversity Awareness Survey Results – from BEFORE (during the Environmental Review) and AFTER actions were taken to improve awareness and biodiversity levels in the school.

Image 3: Results of Bird Species Monitoring by 3rd Class

Scoil Bhríde worked hard to continue to improve in all areas of previous Green-Schools themes. Examples of just some of their ongoing work on these themes are listed below:

Litter & Waste

Each class has a litter monitor
Each classroom has three bins for waste segregation and a “re-use paper” box.
Polystyrene cups are no longer used at school; each student brings their own reusable cup.
Litter wardens have been appointed for the yard.

Energy

Installed energy saving light bulbs throughout the school.
A ‘Green Button’ Campaign has been introduced in the school this year. This allows the computers to enter Hibernate mode simply by pressing the F12 Key when not in use.
Each classroom has an energy checklist so that the class can monitor their energy use.
An ‘Energy monitor’ in each class ensures that the checklist is adhered to.

Water

Each Friday committee members take the reading from the water meter.
The school are aiming to reduce water usage to 18 cubic metres by the end of June 2016.
Each class has a water monitor who checks toilets, taps and radiators for leaks regularly.
A water butt was installed in the school in January.

Travel

Feet First Friday is held monthly – The ‘Golden Boot’ and ‘Silver Skate’ are awarded to the most successful class in each area each month.
Results are displayed regularly.
Feedback is sought from parents and local residents.
In the finer months there is a parent-led walking bus on Fridays

Step 5: Curriculum Work

Subject	Environmental Issue Covered
English	Poetry: A Spike of Green, Birds on the School Window Sill, Wind on the Leaves. Spiders and Flies Story: The Fox, The Camel, The Blue Whale, Language- promoting communication skills through informing and explaining to parents about projects and displays.
Gaeilge	Dán: An tEarrach,
Maths	Measuring growth of plants. Graphing birds who visit our yard
Science	Species studies: Squirrels, Barn owls, Polar bears, Dolphins, Penguins, Spiders, Fox, Seasons: Signs of winter, Signs of spring, A year in the life of a tree Other: Baby animals and their mothers. Reforestation (planting more Christmas trees) & identifying parts of plants. Parts of the fish Habitats Flora, parts of the plant (from bud to apple) Harvesting from the vegetable garden, Seeds, Bird watching in the school yard. Deforestation Mini-beasts – learning through observation – Bug hunt Environmental Awareness
Geography	Recycling Trip to the recycling centre. Water in its many forms. Weather watch. Migration of the Golden Plover from Iceland, Farming: Developing awareness of plants/animals in the farm environment. Local natural environment. Water Conservation Examining species and habitats and creating habitat projects – see appendices
History	Farming: then and now.
SPHE	Media Education / Submitting articles to local paper
Art	Leaf printing. Leaf rubbings and water colours. Painting Trees Creating Environmental Awareness Posters
Music	Songs: Five little Christmas trees and Song about the Rain.
P.E.	Dance : ‘The Life-cycle of the Butterfly’

Step 6: Informing and Involving

Held an Action Day:

Held a guided tour of a photographic exhibition, biodiversity displays, projects and models for parents.
Junior Classes took part in a biodiversity art competition and a spring cleanup.
Middle Classes took part in a ‘snap me’ trail where they were guided by 6th class children. They took photos of biodiversity linked items e.g. plants, animals and habitats on i-Pads.
Senior Classes took part in a table quiz and a treasure hunt to collect letters which would spell ‘biodiversity’.

Involving the whole school community

Committee members are assigned a class to keep informed.
Committee members speak to the School Assemblies each month.
Website is kept up to date
Green-Schools Committee staff members give regular updates at staff meetings.
Each class has an “Energy Monitor”, an “Interactive-whiteboard monitor”, a “Litter Monitor” and a “Water Monitor” actively promoting awareness.
6th class pupils act as litter wardens in the school yard.
All classes participate in our FFF (Feet First Friday).
Senior classes have responsibility for different biodiversity initiatives – e.g. bug hotels, bird feeders, etc
Board of Management – informed and updated regularly.
Newspaper Photographers are invited to Green-Schools events (the committee were featured in the Evening Echo!)

Step 7: Green Code

‘For all species, including you and me, Biodiversity is the Key’

The Green Schools Committee visited all of the classes from 4th – 6th to explain the concept of a Green Code for biodiversity and to announce a competition to select the school biodiversity code.

Testimonial

“Children enjoyed the hands on activities and learned many new skills and pastimes, for example; bird watching and gardening which they will carry through to adulthood.”