Balla National School

Our Flags 

Balla NS have 6 green flags

• Litter and Waste

• Energy

• Water

• Travel

• Biodiversity.

• Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste.
  
  We are currently working on flag 7- Global Citizenship and Energy. 
  This is a two year programme and we hope to be awarded this flag before the end of the school year. 
   

Staying Green

While working on flag 7 we are always mindful of maintaining everything we learned while working on flags 1-6 and revisit these regularly in our curriculum work from Junior Infants -6th class. 

We have litter, water and energy monitors in our classrooms and on the yard and we rotate these roles. 

In order to conserve energy in school we monitor electronic devices and turn off lights, close doors and windows when we can. We do our best as a school to conserve energy while also making sure we follow Covid guidelines around ventilation and opening doors and windows. 

The children made signs to remind everyone to close doors, turn off lights, turn off IWB when not in use and these are displayed all over the school. 

Our work towards Global Citizenship

A global citizen is someone who is aware of and understands the wider world – and their place in it. They take an active role in their community and work with others to make our planet more peaceful, sustainable and fairer.

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During this two year process, we have been taking an active role in the following ways: 

In year 1 we took part in Climate Action Week-October 2019

In Term 1 2019  pupils from 4th-6th class took part in a Global Awareness Survey.

This survey will be repeated in April of year 2 
Have a look at the results to see if we have improved!

In March 2020 , the parents in the school took part in a questionnaire to find out about energy consumption in the home.
The results were just in the week school’s closed in March 2020. 
​These were some of  the findings

Energy Consumption Survey

-86% of households know that geothermal energy is a renewable source of energy.
 

-100% of households have installed at least one of the energy efficient measures below in their homes.

-73% have three or more .
Insulation-loft, cavity walls, floors. 
Draught proofing- windows and doors
Use low voltage lamps/light bulbs.
Insulated hot water cylinders.
 

-86% of households turn off lights when they leave a room.

-96% of households do not put on the washing machine unless it is full.

-100% of households do not put on the dishwasher unless it is full. 
 

-92% of our parents surveyed can name two ways in which energy can be saved at no cost. 
 

-20% have heard of the Kyoto Protocol. 
 

The Committee

Our Green Schools Committee is made up of elected representatives from 1st-6th class, Green Schools Coordinator Mrs. Corcoran , Ms. Daly, 4th class teacher and Barbara, SNA. 

This past year in order to keep with Covid-19 guidelines, all meetings took place in the yard socially distant. 

Little Green Thumbs

Ms. Corcoron's class had such an enjoyable time planting in our school garden. The children tidied up the spot before digging, planting and watering their plants. 
If you want to learn about the life cycle of the plant.. click here.

The girls in 6th class and Mrs. Egan keep an eye on the existing potted plants around the school. Watering them consistently. We think they make our school grounds look just wonderful! We can't wait to see who comes to visit our flowers, perhaps some bees might join our school! 

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Green in the Classroom

Flick through our amazing slideshow!

As a Green School  we love to include our Green Flag knowledge in our lessons in the classroom. Take a look at some of the wonderful work completed this year across the whole school. 
 

The theme for Earth Day 2021 is Restore Our Earth.
It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. 

The children did some fantastic work to celebrate Earth Day

Click the link for some fun drawing activities to celebrate!