Green-Schools Committee 

Wesley College is a mixed secondary school located in Dublin 16 with approximately 1,000 students and 100 staff. The committee is made up of students from all year groups and three teachers who work together as Green-Schools coordinators. There is a regular attendance of 20 students at weekly meetings. Other staff members of the committee include the head of cleaning, the head of the catering, class teachers and the principal. These members engage with the core committee on a regular basis to address any issues in the school to do with bins, food, energy, biodiversity etc. 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

To monitor and evaluate progress made on the marine theme, the school were surveyed using the marine awareness survey and through Kahoot quizzes. This allowed them to gauge both baseline levels of awareness in Year 1 on the theme, and the increase in awareness as they carried out work on the Marine flag. They also monitored their bins to ensure that single-use items weren’t becoming the norm, the committee regularly reminded the staff and the students to reduce their use of disposable items. 

Actions 

During their Action Week, Wesley College Dublin spoke to primary school students during the National Green-Schools Marine Conference, where they highlighted the threats to the marine environment and Ireland’s marine life. They also participated in the workshop Global Action Plan and Education for Sustainability. During their action week, they led a community litter pick-up to reduce any litter going into drains and therefore the rivers and seas. They have now implemented monthly litter pick-ups and they are very invested in using public transport when travelling to events. 

They raised funds for Friends of The Environment with a marine themed bake sale, and they linked to the curriculum: they created posters, carried out projects and homework assignments on the marine theme as part of various subjects including CSPE, Geography and Science. 

Flag maintenance 

The committee were also dedicated to continuing their work on the previous themes of the Green-Schools programme. In terms of litter and waste – the schools bins were reviewed with their bin company and new larger labels were printed to make the bin type clearer. During assembly, the committee educated the school community on waste segregation through a PowerPoint presentation, and they set up a rubbish relay game. Bin monitors in hi-vis jackets helped students and staff with their waste segregation during lunchtime too. A new food waste weighing machine was introduced in the canteen to allow the kitchen staff to monitor daily waste. 

Staff and students were encouraged to switch all lights and projectors off at the end of the day, with spot checks carried out by committee members. Solar panels were installed on two of the school buildings and a screen inside the school displays how much energy is being produced from the panels.  

During Green-Week, the students did some ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ in the school grounds and around the local area. They used Irish seed bombs and threw them in waste areas to attempt to increase biodiversity there. There is lots of curricular work linked to water conservation in Geography, Science and Citizenship. Students created water diaries and calculated their overall water consumption (directly and indirectly). Students were then encouraged to take on one challenge to reduce consumption. The school linked the travel theme with ‘Health Week’. One of the staff members on the Green-Schools committee presented why cycling is good for your health and also the environment at an assembly, encouraging everyone to cycle to school more. 

The committee kept the school community informed of their work throughout the year using social media, school magazine articles, workshops for students, community events such as litter pick-ups and assemblies on environmental topics.  

Green Code: Keep the Sea Plastic Free, A Better World for You and Me!