The Green Schools Committee meet on Mondays during lunchtime. This year we are working towards our Biodiversity Flag. We have been very busy over the last few months taking actions to enhance and support Biodiversity on our school grounds. Biodiversity is the variety of living things and how they interact with each other.
Have a look at some of the work we have been doing:
Composting for Schools:
We are taking part in the Composting for Schools initiative in conjunction with Meath County Council. As part of this a site visit will be carried out by Craig Benton on the 21st of February and he will advise us on changes we can make to our waste management to better support the environment.
Through our engagement with this initiative we have learned that Biodiversity starts in the ground and our school caretaker, Robbie Furlong, built a compost container with the help of some of our 6th class pupils. This compost container will be filled with a mix of grass cuttings and fallen leaves. We will use the compost that is created on our flower beds.
Bird Feeder:
Mr Brennan built a bird feeder for our school garden and the Green Schools committee made energy balls for the birds.
4th and 6th Class pupils have been taking part in the Winter Bird Watch in conjunction with Bird Watch Ireland. Each day they go out to track the birds that visit our school garden and record these on a weekly tracker.
Rainwater Harvesting:
Our rainwater container collects rain water for us in the garden. We tend to use tap-water for all of our water needs. The water in our taps is cleaned, treated and pumped to our houses and is of drinking quality. But most of the water we use in our homes and schools doesn’t need to be of drinking quality.
Our rain water container collects rain water for us to use in the garden. We use it to water the plants and to rinse off our garden equipment.
Bee Hotels:
This is a bee hotel. We have a few of these on the school grounds. Hanging a bee hotel in your garden is a great way of supporting Biodiversity. The nesting tubes will provide a home for solitary bees and provide shelter for bees and bugs. The bee will use the nesting tubes to lay her eggs and raise her young.
Wormery:
This is our wormery. You can put in organic waste such as banana skins and grass cuttings. Composting using a wormery is an ideal way to turn organic waste into an excellent compost for your garden soil. It reduces the amount of rubbish you send to the landfill each week and it reduces the amount of peat you use leaving it in the bog where wildlife depends on it and saving you money on compost.
Pollinator Friendly Bulbs:
We planted pollinator friendly bulbs, Crocus, Allium and Hyacinth at the front of the school and in our school garden. The work we do is in line with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is a framework bringing together different sectors across the island of Ireland to create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive.
Pollinators have had a very hard time lately and by planting these bulbs we hope to give them a helping hand!
Ireland’s four main pollinators are bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies. It’s very important we do our best to support them.
School Garden:
This is our school garden. We are very proud of our school Garden here in Dunboyne Senior Primary School. We have worked hard to create a garden for all of our school to enjoy and work will be ongoing over the next few months to clear out the beds and plant new flowers and vegetables.
Our school garden consists of two parts- the ornamental garden and the vegetable garden. The ornamental garden is a place of many sights and sounds! We have recycled materials such as tyres, old boots, tin cans and plastic bottle lids to create planters and pieces of art. The vegetable garden is organised into raised beds. We will be very busy from now until the end of June – sowing, planting, digging, painting, weeding and watering and will be more than happy to taste the home grown produce.
Hedgehog Hotels:
This is our Hedgehog House. Adding a hedgehog house to your garden is a great way to support the species, which has seen significant declines over recent years. By placing a hedgehog house in your garden, you can provide these adorable mammals with both a place to hibernate and a home to raise little hoglets.
It is important to position your hedgehog house in a quiet, shady area, ideally under some bushes or against a wall or fence.
Trees on the Land:
We are delighted to be taking part in the Trees on the Land Scheme. Trees on the Land is a cross border initiative to establish young native trees across the 32 counties of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They run an annual tree planting event with trees being distributed and planted between December and March each year. The school will receive a hawthorn hedge and some Rowan trees as part of this scheme.
Thank you for taking the time to read our Green Schools update. We hope you enjoyed finding out more about the actions we have taken to support Biodiversity on the school grounds. Thank you to our caretaker Robbie Furlong and to all the teachers and pupils involved for all their hard work and dedication over the last few months.
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