St Patrick’s NS, Ballinagore raise Green Flag for water conservation
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Cllr Liam Daniels, cathaoirleach, Westmeath County Council, raises the Green Flag with students and staff at Ballinagore NS.Image 2 of 6
Aoife Maxwell, Aine Maloney, Barbara Reynolds and Geraldine Kenny were guests at Ballinagore NS on Tuesday of last week for the raising of the Green Flag.Image 3 of 6
The Ballinagore NS Green-Schools Committee – teacher Ian Geoghegan, Cathal, Owen, Cormac, Danielle, Rosie (and missing from photo, Saoirse).Image 4 of 6
Kaitlyn Kenny age 7, Ballinagore NS, with the medal she won for coming first in U10 gymnastics at Leonard’s School of Gymnastics, Rochfortbridge, on Saturday June 24 last.Image 5 of 6
Aisling Stafford, new environmental awareness officer at Westmeath County Council; Cllr Liam Daniels, newly elected cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council; and Gemma Goulding, principal, Ballinagore NS.Image 6 of 6
Joanne O’Brien, Janet Ennis, Aisling King and Emma King were guests at Ballinagore NS on Tuesday of last week for the raising of the Green Flag.St Patrick’s NS in Ballinagore have raised the An Taisce Green Flag they achieved as part of their water conservation efforts this year.
Green-Schools is an environmental management and award programme for primary and secondary schools in Ireland and promotes long-term actions for the environment.
It was the third flag the school has received to date. The first was awarded in 2011 for litter and waste management and the second in 2015 for energy conservation.
Guests on the day included newly elected cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Liam McDaniel, and new environmental awareness officer Aisling Stafford.
The principal of Ballinagore NS, Gemma Goulding, welcomed all those in attendance, and congratulated the Green-Schools committee, made up of one representative from each class. She also acknowledged the cooperation of everyone in the school in maintaining their eco-friendly status.
Cllr McDaniel addressed the students and parents, emphasising the importance of the Green-Schools programme and learning about environmental issues. He spoke of his pride in this achievement by his local community.
“I’m so proud here in my own village of Ballinagore and I’m sure everyone is, to see our school up there at the top with this achievement,” said Liam.
Environmental awareness officer with the county council Aisling Stafford commented on the tools the young pupils have been equipped with during the programme. They will now carry those with them into secondary school and into adult life. She also recognised the success rate of the schools that took part in the initiative around Westmeath.
“It’s great to see every year when we get the results in of the flags being awarded in the county, it is always on the rise.”
Green-Schools co-ordinator at the school, Ian Geoghegan, commended the students, staff and caretaker Stephen who put in so much work over the year to achieve the flag.
“Everyone from junior infants up to sixth class really enjoyed the Green-Schools programme this year. Our aim this year was to try to reduce our water consumption, which we achieved successfully.”
The school hope to continue the success of the programme in the coming years and aim of raising another flag.