Whitecross National School

At the Pride of Place for Schools Garden Awards

When we came into 4 class, in September, we had to weed and dig the garden and have a big clean up. The top left corner bed was the worst. We put down some new topsoil and used some of our own compost. All the children in the class helped. We worked very hard in the garden and tried to make it look the best.
In March we planted potatoes and in April and May we planted things like geraniums, begonias, marigolds, sunflowers, poppies and strawberries. We had to weed and water and do a lot of recycling. We got green containers and put beer in them to control the slugs.
A man called Andy came and looked around the garden and children for our class and 5 class were speaking to him. He loved everything.
On June 16 8 children from our class went to the garden awards in Navan Arts Centre. In the lobby we got sweets and crisps and met many children from different schools. We were then shown to our seats and introduced to Dustin and Rob Ross. Dustin was very funny and made us laugh. There were 25 schools there and only 15 got prizes. We were scared that we were not going to win a prize, it was nerve-wracking. Then our school was called out. We were awarded with the title of Best Traditional Garden. We won €500 which we are going to spend on a recycled plastic picnic bench because our wooden one is rotting. Mrs. Ffrench was proud of us and we had a great day out.
We love spending time in the garden, being outside as well as missing some class work – it paid off!

Whitecross Green Schools Committee Report

We have received our third green flag (for Water Conservation) from An Taisce!

On May 24, PJ, Sam and Mrs. Ffrench, our Green-Schools coordinator went to Croke Park to collect our third Green Flag for our school. To achieve this, we had a blue day where we all dressed up in blue clothes to remind us of water, we had water for our lunch drink that day and we did lots of water activities. We had a water slogan competition and the winner was “You’re Never Too Old to Treat Water Like Gold”. Over the last two years we all learned about saving water and how valuable it is for life on earth.
When we arrived at Croke Park, after travelling on Matthews bus, we had some photos taken and were then shown to the eating area in the Cusack Stand. It was Spaghetti Bolognaise for the children and curry for the adults. Dessert was apple tart for the kids and chocolate Swiss roll for the teachers.
When we got our flag, we waited until the ceremony was over and then had our picture taken with our new flag. We walked back to the bus-stop and PJ and Sam say it was one of the best days ever.
By PJ Woods and Sam Reddin

You’re never too old to treat water like gold.