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- Twelve schools awarded at Green-Schools Travel ceremony
Cork school Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy was named one of Ireland’s Travel Schools of the Year (Park ‘n’ Stride Mode) at a ceremony in Dublin on Tuesday. An Taisce Green-Schools presented the school with their award at the event honouring the winners of this year’s Green-Schools BIG Travel Challenge 2023 in Haughton House of Dublin Zoo. Eleven other schools were also awarded on the day for their efforts promoting sustainable and active travel modes to school.
During February schools undertook the Big Travel Challenge, which asked them to concentrate on one sustainable transport mode for two weeks to see if they could achieve real, lasting change in the travel behaviour of their staff and students. The Challenge is an initiative of the Green-Schools Travel theme, which is supported by the NTA and the Department of Transport.
Loreto Secondary, a school of nearly 700 students, excelled and embraced the challenge. They made great use of social media to encourage students to park ‘n’ stride to school, and ran a ‘Travel Ticket initiative’- each day that a student chose to travel sustainably, they were given a ticket. These tickets were then placed into a final raffle for a zero-waste gift set.
Congratulating Loreto and the other awarded schools on their achievements, Green-Schools Travel Manager Ciara Norton said:
My team and I have been so inspired by the many ways schools approached the Big Travel Challenge this year. The winning schools created incredible change in a short period of time, showing the desire among young people to travel to school independently, actively and in a mode that is mindful of our climate and local environment. Well done to all!
Eleven other schools were awarded for their part in promoting green travel modes to school as part of the BIG Travel Challenge. These are:
- Piper’s Hill College, Walking School of the Year 2023, Secondary
- St. Mark’s Junior School, Walking School of the Year 2023, Primary
- Adamstown Community College, Cycling School of the Year 2023, Secondary
- St. Aidan’s National School, Cycling School of the Year 2023, Primary
- Scoil Naomh Gobnait, Carpool School of the Year 2023, Primary
- St. Brendan’s College, Carpool School of the Year 2023, Secondary
- St Brigid’s National School, Park ‘n’ Stride School of the Year 2023, Primary
- Loreto Secondary School, Park ‘n’ Stride School of the Year 2023, Secondary
- St. Joseph’s Special School, Special School Sustainable Travel Award 2023
- St. Cecilia’s School, Special School Sustainable Travel Award 2023
- Scoil Mhuire, Big Travel Staffroom Challenge Winners 2023
- Presentation College, Castle Island, Big Travel TikTok Challenge Winners 2023
- St Brigid’s National School, Meath Hill, Ireland’s Travel School of the Year 2023
Green-Schools Travel
An Taisce has been working on the national Green-Schools Travel theme, which focuses on promoting sustainable travel on the school run, since September 2008. The Travel theme is funded by the Department of Transport and is supported by the National Transport Authority.
The ultimate aim of the Green-Schools Travel theme is to encourage students, parents and teachers to walk, cycle, scoot, Park ‘n’ Stride, use public transport or car pool instead of using the private car on the school run.
Green-Schools
Green-Schools (known internationally as Eco-Schools), is an international environmental management education programme, environmental management system and award scheme that promotes and acknowledges long-term, whole-school action for the environment, and is operating in 58 countries around the world including; almost all EU member states, Africa, South America, North America, Canada, Oceania and Asia. Green-Schools is an initiative of FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education).
The Green-Schools programme is based on a seven-step environmental management system and continual improvement process which is very student led and also involves the wider community. Green-Schools is a themed programme with schools initially working on the themes of Litter and Waste and then moving onto themes such as Energy, Water, School Travel, Biodiversity and Global Citizenship. Schools that successfully implemented the programme are awarded the Green Flag. The award must be renewed every two years.