Green Schools

The Saint Raphaela's Green School Programme has been running for 13 years. Many have been members of the committee but every student is well aware of the Green Schools Programme. The impact of the committee can be seen throughout the school and the surrounding grounds. We are affiliated with the national Green Schools programme

Green-Schools is Ireland’s leading environmental management and education programme for schools.
Promoting long-term, whole-school action for the environment Green-Schools is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community. The programme is operated and coordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce (FEE member for Ireland).
Green-Schools for Everyone
Green-Schools’ mission is to protect planet Earth – our shared home to which we all belong – and we want everyone involved! We warmly welcome participants of all backgrounds, cultures, races and ethnicities, religions and belief systems, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. Equity, diversity and social justice are fundamental to our values – so whoever you are, we can’t wait to have YOU involved!

This year, the GSC received a grant from the Department of Education to promote the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development to 2030. This grant will be used to purchase of a Potting Shed for Green Schools Committee and the wider use of the school. We One of the aims of this programme is to empower students to plan and implement biodiversity projects on the grounds of the school. We have created several areas for the benefit of wildlife, students and staff. While we normally purchase plants, shrubs and trees, we have decided to implement a plan to try to produce some of our own planting requirements from seed. There are several benefits to this plan. We obviously reduce the cost of planting. We also show students, staff and the wider community (Through social media) the benefits of this method of production. We also hope that students and staff in other curricular areas can benefit from this endeavour. For example, we plan to have students produce their own vegetables and herbs for the Home Economics department and, in time, create a small TY led plant/garden centre with some of our products for sale.

Green Schools Orchard - May 2023

One of the objectives of the Green Schools team is to create a small orchard on the school grounds. We have taken our first steps in achieving this aim. A parent of one of our students, kindly donated five fruit trees (Apple, pear and plum) to start our quest. In the picture below we can see an apple tree that Ms. McCarthy grew from the seed of an apple she was eating in the staff room!!! Mr. Lawlor and Mr. Brennan gave able assistance to see our fifth fruit tree safely planted!

Education for Sustainability (ESD) to 2030 – Grants to Promote Sustainability

The National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) provides a framework to support the contribution that the education sector is making and will continue to make towards a more sustainable future at a number of levels: individual, community, local, national and international.

ESD to 2030 is co-sponsored by the Department of Education, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The Green Schools Committee applied for an ESD grant this year. Our application was successful, and we were able to purchase much needed equipment and materials. The main purchase was a new potting shed that will be used by the Green Schools Committee and the Gardening Club.

2024 Green Schools Committee Targets.

The Green School Committee have many ambitious targets this year. The key aim, once again, is to promote biodiversity in the school grounds. We aim to improve on areas that we have worked on previously and look at creating new areas that will promote biodiversity. Below is a selection of photos that show the work of the Transition Year students in the Green Schools module.