Action Initiatives
St. Mary's Amber Flag Day for Mental Health Day 2015
St Mary’s Secondary School , New Ross Amber Flag Mental Health Day 2015 took place on Monday 12th October and included a very special appearance from Nathan Carter.
The Amber Flag was awarded to the school earlier in the year for promoting positive mental health. For the Amber Flag Mental Health Day this year, different activities took place throughout the day- including a fantastic whole school Zumba dance involving over 700 pupils and teachers to the “Waka Waka” Shakira song, led by P.E teachers.
An “Open mic” during lunchtime and breaktime let students express their creative sides, with poetry, music and creative writing be read, around the theme of “mental health is….”
Resilience Packs were given to everybody in the school and included a number of different items.
The Amber Flag & The Cycle against Suicide, which St Mary’s pupils took part in May, are to let people in Ireland know that “it’s OK not to feel OK and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help”
Throughout the lunchtime, students #beattheblues music requests were played by Liam Sharkey and John Reilly which had to be upbeat and uplifting. This built on the work the students had done with Aware and the Samaritans on Resilience and healthy coping strategies for Stress.
There was much fun had as the students danced to their music and in the dancing of the “Crazy Frog” among others.
As students returned to afternoon class, little did they know that a certain country singer’s tour van was waiting at the lights in Irish town!
Nathan Carter made a guest appearance on stage, speaking on the work the school had done on positive mental health. He then Sang, with” Wagon Wheel” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” being the highlights.
He then raised the Amber Flag for Mental Health to the delight of staff and students, lifting the spirits of everyone in St Mary’s.
Laura Howard St Mary’s New Ross
March 2014
The green School Committee are currently working on renewal of the green Flag under the theme of Global Citizenship litter and waste. If the school is successful in this application to An Taisce St Mary’s will be rewarded with our 7 th green flag. Very few secondary schools in Ireland have reached this stage in the process and we wish the Committee the Best of Good Luck
The girls are currently planning an Action Day during which all First Year classes will take part in fun activities which focus on the theme of being good Global Citizens
Remember “We’ve got the Whole World in our Hands “ and we must look after it and each other
In 2001 St. Mary's was awarded its first prestigious EU Green Flag. The Green School initiative is a Europe-wide project encouraging and acknowledging whole-school action for the environment. St. Mary's became the first school in Ireland to be awarded the flag in less than a year.
The 3-Rs, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, are an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of the school. St. Mary's students and staff compost all organic materials daily. Cans, glass, newspapers, cards, plastic bottles, ink cartridges and batteries are all recycled.
The school is divided into indoor and outdoor green zones with each class group responsible for one of each. Each week green points are awarded to the best areas.
Wexford County Council implements the programme in conjunction with An Taisce and is a regular presence in the school. The programme involves the whole school; teaching staff, maintenance staff, cleaning staff and students, all are represented on the Green School Committee.
In 2003 St. Mary's added the Green Schools' Energy Programme to its Waste and Litter Programme A very active Green School Committee spearheaded the programme. Window box competitions and poster competitions were used to support our programme.. Energy awareness week was a great success and following a review by An Taisce, we were once again awarded the Green Flag. Ms Anita Fennelly initiated and co-ordinated the Green School Programme from 2001 to 2004.
Renewable Energy Project 2004
Well done to class 2:3 on their presentation at the Renewable Energy National Conference. The event was organised by Wexford Energy Management Agency.
As St. Mary’s is a designated green school, the students researched the mechanisms behind various forms of renewable energy and then carried out case studies on their own areas and suggested suitable sources of Sustainable Renewable Energy taking all factors (culture, economy, tourism, planning and climate) into consideration. All sites were plotted onto a 3-D plan of the south east from Forth Mountain to Tory Hill and from the Saltees to Mount Leinster.
The class exhibit was awarded a prize of educational Lego and from this, the girls constructed a solar – powered car and a wind turbine.
In 2005 St. Mary's was involved in a number of projects which led to the retention of the Green Flag for another two years.
Mrs Eva Duhig was appointed co-ordinator of the Green School Programme for 2007 and works with a very active Green School committee on a number of environmental projects including energy and litter and waste management. Following a review by An Taisce, in May 2007 we were once again awarded the Green Flag.
In 2006/2007 Class 2.4 were won the prize for the best classroom and green area.
Sarah & Amy who were the Environmental Representatives ( E.R.'s) for the class collected the Green school award on Award's night October 13th. on behalf of class. Their prize was a day out at the Dunmore Adventure Centre which they enjoyed on October 23rd.
The winners of the best classroom and green area in 2007/2008 was class 3.3. Congratulations to the girls and their class tutor Ms Walpole for the great effort put in during the year.
A lot of effort went into winning this award which requires a class to keep their room tidy at all times, keep their green area tidy & separate the waste put in their bins. This class were a wonder with a sweeping brush and also participated in other Green school projects to do with litter.
Members of the Green School Committee take turns in emptying compost bins and raising and lowering the Green Flag.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Conserve energy by turning off lights and closing doors when rooms are not in use.
A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath.
Leaving electrical appliances on "stand by" wastes energy and means higher E.S.B. bills
Think Globally, Act Locally
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
THE 10 MOST POWERFUL WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARE:
"IF IT IS TO BE - IT IS UP TO ME"