Green Schools Journal
June 2022
Take a look at our Road Safety video that we created for our Green Schools Action Day.
May 2022
Celebrating Our Ninth Green Flag
(Green Schools Committee and Co-Ordinator Ms. Philbin)
The pupils had a wonderful day celebrating the arrival of our ninth Green Schools flag. Our Green Schools committee, pupils and staff worked hard on the theme "Global Citizenship Travel". Over the past two years sustainable travel was promoted throughout the school, our pupils particiapted in many WOW days and we have noticed an increase in the number of pupils opting to walk, cycle or scoot to school. We raised our flag on Friday 27th May and celebrated this achievement with a delicious treat.
Beach Clean Up
Well done to our 6th Class pupils who took part in a beach clean up on May 27th.
Globe Air Quality Survey
Ms. Leacy's 5th Class recently participated in a national air quality survey. The pupils in 5th Class Orange placed three test tubes at various locations around the school. After three weeks, they collected the test tubes and sent them to a lab to be tested for the presence of nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide is a harmful gas that is produced when cars use petrol / diesel. Each test tube received a score depending on the levels of nitrogen oxide present. All of the test tubes from our school received a score between 10 and 20. This means that there are low to medium levels of nitrogen oxide in the air around our school. This is a good result but we can make the air quality even better by choosing green ways to travel.
Take a look at the wonderful project created by Ms. Leacy's class below.
KPS Featured on East Coast FM
Last February, East Coast FM invited members of our Green Schools committee to participate in a segment about climate change. You can listen to our wonderful committee discussing climate change by clicking the following link: KPS East Coast FM
Bike Workshop for Bike Week 2022
Lorraine from Green Schools facilitated a bike workshop in KPS on May 16th. The pupils practised signalling, balancing skills, weaving and even learned how to use the emergency brake. Our cyclists had lots of fun playing games on their bikes. One game involved balancing a wet sponge on their heads whilst cycling! Thank you to Green Schools and Wicklow Local Sports Partnership for providing wonderful prizes. It was a fantastic start to Bike Week 2022.
Podcast Episode 6
Click the link below to listen to the latest episode of our Green Schools podcast.
Green Schools Podcast Episode 6
Bike Week
Next week is Bike Week. We would love to see as many of our pupils as possible cycling to school next week. Don't forget that there will be a bicycle workshop in the senior building on Monday 16th May.
Congratulations KPS! We have been awarded our ninth green flag!
Well done to everyone for promoting sustainable travel over the past two years. We hope that our pupils will continue to choose sustainable ways to travel.
March 2022
Renewal Visit
On 25th March, our Travel Officer (Lorraine) visited the school to meet Ms. Philbin and our Green Schools committee. This visit is known as a renewal visit and it is an extremely important part of our Green Schools application. This was our committee's opportunity to showcase all of the work that we have completed based on our current theme "Global Citizenship Travel". The committee expertly represented the student body and also explained how we maintain our previous themes throughout the school. We hope that we will be awarded our green flag in the coming weeks.
Scoot to School Week Results
Congratulations 6th Class Green. You have won a homework pass for your class. Throughout the week, 72% of your class chose to travel to school in a sustainable way. Well done!
Scoot to School Week 2022
Scoot to School Week takes place from March 7th to 11th. We hope that our students will "hop on their scooters and be clean commuters" just as our Green Code states. Our Green Schools reps will record the number of pupils who choose sustainable ways to travel throughout the week and the class with the highest percentage will win a homework pass. Good luck!
The Globe Programme
Ms. Leacy's 5th Class are currently participating in the Globe Programme which aims to test the air quality around schools all across Ireland. KPS are one of over 150 schools participating in this air pollution experiment. Ms. Leacy's class recently received an air quality pack containing 3 test tubes. The pupils have placed the test tubes at various locations around the school where they will remain for three weeks. The tubes will then be sent to a lab to be tested. We look forward to receiving information about the quality of the air at KPS.
Feb 2022
The No Idling Campaign
Many drivers don't switch off their engines when they are waiting to collect their children from school. This is called "idling". When a car's engine is idling, it actually produces more emissions than it would if it was moving. We would like to encourage all parents to get involved in our "No Idling" Campaign. Turn off your engines and help us to keep our air clean.
The Love 30 Campaign
February 14th 2022 marked the introduction of our Love 30 Campaign. This campaign aims to reduce the speed limit to 30km / hour outside the school making the road safer for all. The pupils designed posters, flags, t-shirts and banners to raise awareness of the campaign and to encourage drivers to slow down. Lorraine and Laura from Green Schools visited and helped 6th Class to record the speed of cars using speed guns. The pupils reported that cars slowed down when they saw their posters. A positive outcome for all road users. You can see more information about our Love 30 Campaign at the following link: KPS Love 30 Campaign Greystones Guide
Green Schools Action Day
Wednesday 2nd February was a day filled with fun activities, games, artwork and a quiz all based around the theme of travel. The pupils of KPS participated in road traffic surveys, watched a road safety video and completed a variety of Green Schools lessons including lessons about air pollution, food miles and the "No Idling Campaign".
The Golden Runner Returns!
Our WOW days recommenced this term. We've seen a huge effort from all classes to choose sustainable ways to travel. Every Friday, a class in each building is awarded The Golden Runner. By choosing sustainable ways to travel, we are helping to reduce air pollution.
Jan 2022
6th Class have been learning about the weather. They've studied the various tools that are used to measure the weather and have completed lovely artwork based on the water cycle.