Green Schools

Adamstown ETNS
Station Road
Adamstown
Co. Dublin

Dear Martha and the Green Schools Committee,
Thank you for your application for the Green Flag Award. I have reviewed your application and I am extremely impressed with the work going on in Adamstown ETNS. As you will be aware, there is a set procedure dealing with applicants for the Green Flag. The procedure is as follows:
1. School sends in initial application
2. An Taisce review the application and make recommendations
3. School implements the recommendations and sends report to An Taisce
4. An Assessor visits the school
5. ‘Green-Schools’ Evaluation Committee makes a decision to award the Green Flag.
Enough with the formality! Firstly, I would like to complement you on the standard of presentation of your application. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your ‘Green-Schools’ application and you seem to be well on your way to receiving the Green-Flag. It is clearly evident that a lot of hard work is being put into your ‘Green-Schools’ programme.
The structure of your committee looks very good, with strong representation from all parts of the school community. Having as many teachers as possible and parents involved is great for the programme. Thank you for sending in a copy of the minutes of your meetings. The issues mentioned give a good insight in the work your school have been doing.
In addition, your Environmental Review looks like it was very detailed and comprehensive, giving a good indication of the initial situation concerning litter and waste in the school. Your Action Plan was also well put together, taking account of the strong need for recycling in your school. It is in table format as required and clearly details the goals your committee set out. The targets you set out were ambitious. There seems to be a concerted effort to reduce waste and increase recycling by both pupils and staff.
As regards monitoring the levels of litter and waste in the school, your committee has done very well. The graphs that you have created and enclosed are excellent visual representations of the work being done in the school, and clearly show huge progress has been made. An increase in recycling and a reduction of 50% in waste going to landfill so far is really excellent, keep up the good work!
A lot of attention also seems to have been paid to Informing and Involving in the school. The GS notice board, GS newsletter, and website are of course great ways to do this. Furthermore your Day of Action clean-up shows your dedication and hard work on the GS programme.
Overall, a huge amount of work seems to have been done in your school. It is clear that the whole school is involved in the programme to some degree. All other aspects (curriculum work and green code) of your Green-Schools application are excellent.
We would hope to arrange an assessment visit with you shortly, and we will be in touch to organise a suitable day. If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to contact the Green-Schools team on 01-4002222 or by e-mail on: greenschool@antaisce.org Otherwise you can e-mail me directly on: asheridan@eeu.antaisce.org


Mise le meas,
Alison Sheridan
__________________________________
Green-Schools Officer