Green Schools

Daily Mile

Each day classes run the daily mile and we actively encourage children to walk/cycle/scoot to school when possible and safe to do so.

Bike Week

Every year we undertake ‘Bike Week’ which the children love. This year it was a huge success with having children from every class making the effort to cycle to school and take part in bicycle activities. We had a high of 62 pupils from 89 cycling to school.

Our new Irish Wildlife Pictures hanging in our corridors

National Tree Day

We marked National Tree Day by planting an Oak Tree on the grounds of the school from little acorns. We have planted new trees and we are taking part in ‘The Great Plant Hunt’ programme. We are learning a lot about our native trees, plants and animals.

Heritage Workshop – How to Protect Irish Birds of Prey

All the children of the school enjoyed a very informative workshop by Heritage in Schools heritage officer Tony Kenneally. They learned all about Irish birds of prey, garden birds, bird feeders and bird boxes.

Bird Boxes

5th and 6th class were very busy and built some fabulous bird boxes for our little friends to enjoy.

The Big Grow

Classes have undertaken ‘The Big Grow’ where they have planted and cared for their own seeds and learned about sustainability.

Wildflower Garden

The children of the school are actively taking care of our school garden and playground. As part of our Action Week the children of CTRNS planted a beautiful wildflower garden. Each class took responsibility for planting a section of the wildflowers. The wildflowers bloomed during the summer months and it was fabulous to see the bees, birds and insects enjoying our efforts. The children of 5th and 6th have gathered the wildflower seeds and we are ready to go again for next year.

School Garden

Some produce from our school garden

The children in 5th and 6th class have been using the produce that we have grown in our vegetable beds during cookery lessons. Below is a picture of a Spanish Tortilla they made from our very own potatoes and spinach.

Collecting seeds and getting ready for our wildflower garden next year

5th and 6th class enjoyed harvesting, preparing, cooking and eating our very own grown head of broccoli.

Bug Hotel

The students of CTRNS built a ‘Bug Hotel’ which is being enjoyed by lots of different types of minibeasts and insects. Minibeasts can use our bug hotel as a safe space to call home, lay their eggs, raise their young, and seek protection from predators.

3rd and 4th Class Biodiversity Code and Poem Pictures

Plastic Free 4 Schools Initiative

We were one of 100 Cork Primary Schools to be selected for the Plastic Free 4 Schools initiative and are hopeful to undertake an interactive workshop later in the year.

Clean Coasts Ballynamona

We are hoping to undertake a beach clean with Ballynamona Clean Coasts Environmental Group later in the year.

Lockdown Litter Picking Campaign

During lockdown we encouraged all families to get out and pick litter around their family homes and local community. This was a huge success and the families of our school collected many bags of litter in their clean ups.

Picker Pals

The families of 1st and 2nd class have taken on the activity of litter picking around the village. Each night one family will receive the Picker Pal collection kit and will go around the village or their home place and collect rubbish that has been discarded. This has been a huge success. Since we started, families have collected many bags of rubbish from our village and the surrounding areas.

DIY Bird Feeder Challenge

We set each family in our school the challenge of building a DIY Bird Feeder. Our families worked really hard and got very creative. The birds now have a place in many homes around Castletownroche where they know they can always enjoy some food.