January 15th 2018
Invitation to Parents and Guardians to Join us on our School Tree-Planting Day
in Seagrange Park on Wednesday, January 31st
Dear Parents and Guardians,
While you may know our school has won many green flags, you may not be aware that St. Laurence NS
has been a leader in environmental education over many years. In 2017 our school came first in Ireland
in the Eco-UNESCO Local to Global competition and we have won Repak and Electricity Association of Ireland
national environmental awards as well as many regional awards from organisations such as Irish Aid.
For the third year in a row, we are in SEAI’s top twenty schools in the country for our Green Flag Tree project.
Our Green Committee has represented the school to audiences of up to 600 people
(including Government Ministers and Mayors) at the Helix Theatre and the Mansion House.
One area in which the children at St. Laurence’s have been especially involved
has been in a number of tree-planting initiatives. We planted native tree plantations at the front of our
Senior Building in 1999 and our Junior Building in 2015. When we ran out of space on our school grounds
we teamed up with 8 other schools and planted 300 trees in Seagrange Park, Baldoyle
(adjacent to the Senior Building) at our “Tree Academy” last year.
In 2018 we are planning a Tree Planting Day to give all the children in the school an
opportunity to plant a tree and in addition will hold a further Tree Academy,
which will take place on 7th March. This Tree Planting Day will help towards achieving our sixth International
Green Flag, for work on “Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste”. We will work in collaboration
with other schools, and hope to plant a total of 3,000 trees this time,
one for every primary school in Ireland! The children will plant their trees in Seagrange Park
where we hope they will be able to enjoy them for years to come. We are working on this project in partnership with Fingal County Council who will be providing help and trees. Our project will also link with children in over 100 countries around the world as part of a UN-backed project, “Plant-for-the-Planet”.
One of the best climate actions a community can take is to plant trees. Trees not only absorb carbon and other harmful gases while releasing oxygen, they provide a whole host of other benefits, including improving ecosystems by creating habitats and food; reducing flooding (a particular problem in this park) and soil erosion; reducing noise and air pollution; enhancing well-being and local scenery and even increasing the value of property.
The Tree Planting Day event will take place rain or shine so please ensure that your child on this day has
- A rainproof coat
- A change of footwear, such as wellies/football boots or old runners as there will be mud.
- Gloves and tools will be provided – but they can bring gardening gloves from home if they wish Please turn over ………..
While Fingal Co. Council will have prepared the ground, it can be a bit of work digging the holes especially for the younger children and we would greatly appreciate some adult help on the day. If you were free to join us on Wednesday 31st January during the course of the day for an hour or longer please fill out the form overleaf and return it to your child’s class teacher by Wednesday 17th .
Le gach dea guí,
_________________________
Ms. Orla Farrell
Green Schools Coordinator, An Taisce Climate Ambassador
You can find more information about this project on the school Green Flag Biodiversity Tree Project pages and the main Irish Eco Schools pages below,
https://greenschoolsireland.org/
And our school Green web pages on http://room5stlaurence.weebly.com/our-newest-green-flag-project-trees.html
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I, (own name) ___________________ , Parent of (child’s name) __________________________
who is in _______Class, volunteer to help out with the School’s tree-planting event in Seagrange Park on Wednesday, 31st January.
Phone No.________________________ Email address __________________________
Tick the box(es) when you will be available and you will be emailed with further details.
q 9.30 – 10.30 First & Fifth classes
q 10.30 -11.30 Junior Infants and Third classes
q 11.30 – 12.30 Senior Infants and Fourth classes
- 00 – 2.00 Second and Sixth classes