Eco Schools

P6 Parents

Paula Mulkerns Board of Gov, Eco Schools, P5/P6 Blog, P6 Blog, School Life, School News

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We are delighted to offer our P6 pupils the opportunity this Wednesday, 16th June, to take part in a “Virtual Science Class” with scientists from Dundalk Institute of Technology, (DKIT).

Excitingly a “lab in a box” will be delivered to school on Wednesday morning for pupils to carry out activities under the direction of DKIT scientists virtually!! These activities will focus on water quality and conservation.

Normally delivered as a science out reach project, this year because of Covid restrictions, the programme has been developed to be delivered virtually. Therefore, researchers working at DKIT are interested in your child’s opinion and views on the programme and have asked that pupils complete a short online questionnaire before and after the delivery of the workshop. They have issued us with letters and consent forms for pupils to take part, these will be given out tomorrow and must be back Wednesday morning.

This is a super opportunity for our P6 pupils to work with both scientists and researchers!

Thank you in advance for your co-operation signing and returning consent forms,

Miss Mulkerns + Miss Crawley

Film Crew

Paula Mulkerns Board of Gov, Eco Schools, News, P6 Blog, P7 Blog, Parish News, School Life, School News

This is “Tidy Ring of Gullion Week”  and all around the village,  people are cleaning up litter. Today whilst out doing their bit, our P6/7 class were filmed as part of a wider promotional film for the area organised by the Ring of Gullion. It was a great experience to work with a professional film crew. Watch out for “our stars” when the film goes out later in the year!

“Back from the Brink”

Paula Mulkerns Board of Gov, Eco Schools, Erasmus Blog, European Blog, European Links, International News, News, School Life, School News
Photo by Marie Mc Cartan

We know many of our boys and girls enjoy walking on Slieve Gullion’s slopes and on their walks some have been lucky enough to have encountered a red squirrel. A lucky few, have been fortunate enough to meet the conversationalists whilst they have been out recording and monitoring the pine martin population. So, we thought you might all like to know about a documentary on tonight, Sunday 28th, of March @ 6:30 pm on RTE 1. The programme is called “Back from the  Brink”, and will feature some of the red squirrels and pine martins from Slieve Gullion in a documentary about conservation successes across Europe.

Over lock down in the coldest winter weather the “Ring of Gullion and Cooley, Red Squirrel Group” put out a call for donations to buy food (peanuts) for the squirrels.  A donation from our Erasmus funding on behalf of all the pupils and wider school community of St Mary’s was made. So, tonight we can all watch with pride in the knowledge that St Mary’s has played a small part in this success story!

Congratulations to everyone involved, (especially Marie Mc Cartan for the wonderful photos above), we look forward to tonight’s programme and chatting about it tomorrow.

Children’s Mental Health Week – Day 3

Paula Mulkerns Eco Schools, News, School Advice, School Life, Seasonal
Children’s Mental Health Week – Day 3

Last weekend’s “Big Garden Bird Watch”, gave us all plenty of opportunity here at St. Mary’s to get outside. Not only did we immerse ourselves in nature, we also “expressed ourselves” through: creating bird feeders, taking photographs, drawing and recording what we saw!

We know why we spend time outdoors in nature:

  • It builds our confidence- The way we play in nature is more informal and less structured than most of our indoor play.
  • It promotes our creativity and imagination.  We can think more freely, design our own activities, and approach the world in inventive ways.
  • It teaches us responsibility. When we take care of the living parts of our environment we learn what happens when we forget to water a plant, or pull a flower out by its roots.
  • It provides us with different stimulation. We activate all our senses: we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch in outdoor environments.
  • It gets us moving. Interacting with nature involves more exercise than sitting on our couch!
  • It makes us think. The phenomena that occur naturally in our gardens and fields make us ask questions about the earth and the life that it supports.

  • It reduces our stress and helps our Mental Health. 

               So, what are you waiting for? Be like us and GET OUTSIDE!

Big Garden Bird Watch

Paula Mulkerns Eco Schools, News, P6 Blog, P7 Blog, School Life, Seasonal
Big Garden Bird Watch

The Big Garden Bird Watch takes place this weekend, 29th-31st January and we would love everyone to get involved. We have attached a bird identification and data collection sheet below.

If you do take part please send your results to P6/7 , c/o

pmulkerns611@c2ken.net

P6/7 would love to use the results from across the school community for their Data Handling activities.

rspb_big-schools-birdwatch-teaching_resources_counting_sheets_blank_english-version-

Eco Committee Elections

Patrick McCoy Eco Schools, P5 Blog, P5/P6 Blog, P5B Blog, P6 Blog, P7 Blog, P7A Blog, School Life, School News

A reminder that elections for the school Eco Committee for KS2 pupils (P5,P6,P7) will take place next Monday, October 14th.

Presentations can take the form of a written speech, poem, rap, song or digital presentation. Pupils have been informed that if they intend to stand in the election, they must register with their class teacher. If they are using a supporting digital presentation, it must be brought in on a pen or uploaded to their Google Drive before the date of the election. Promotional posters may also be displayed around the school. Good luck to all of the entrants!

NWP Compost Donation

Patrick McCoy Eco Schools, P7 Blog, School News

Many thanks to Natural World Products who donated a pallet (50 bags) of compost to the school this week. On hearing the pollytunnel  that our school shares with the Ring of Gullion group had been vandalised over the St Patrick’s break, NWP stepped in to help us. It was a wonderful gesture and much of the compost has already been put to use in the new Nursery garden.