As part of our GCE and Green Schools work in school Mr Mullen’s 3^rd year Geography class learned more about the importance for supporting Fairtrade Farmers and Producers. They carried out some investigative work around cost comparisons on a variety of products available in our local shop and students also got to enjoy sampling these products too.

Our 3^rd Year CSPE Classes (3A & 3B) recently carried out a fundraiser for Bothar as part of their Action Project. They ran a movie morning before Christmas for the 1^st and 2^nd year students, and in doing so managed to raise €566.27.  They choose some items for the money to be spent on, one of which was an In Kid Irish Dairy Goat.  Aisling from Bothar gave us a very informative talk on all of Bothar’s activities, and is pictured here collecting the cheque from the 3^rd Years with their teachers Ms Moran and Ms Bohan.

This year’s focus on GCE was to increase student led awareness and action in the area. Our Social Justice Club organised a School Climate Strike at the beginning of the year. The Green Schools Committee have been busy throughout the year working towards our 7^th Green School Flag and planned a series of events and activities as part of ‘Climate Action Week’ along with creating an eco-friendly Christmas card that was circulated to our school community digitally.

1^st and 2^nd year students have participated in a FAST FASHION workshop organised by ECO UNESCO which then influenced them to upcycle old tops and jumpers in Home Ec Class into Christmas themed jumpers for our annual jumper day. Some 2^nd year students and social justice club members organised a clothes swap shop before the Christmas disco to reduce unnecessary buying of new outfits and instead share / swap clothing.

Some students participated in the Concern ‘World Food Day’ where they learned more about the implications on issues like world hunger, food shortages and food waste. A big action they then undertook was organising the Concern Fast in school where €896 was raised for Syrian refugees living in camps in Lebanon. Through this action students in school learned more about the Syrian crises.

John O Shea (founder and former CEO of GOAL) spoke passionately to students about ‘The Forgotten World’, about humanitarian assistance in global disasters and the concept of social entrepreneurship. Hugh Bergin from Self Help Africa also engaged students in his workshops with TY’s on areas such as climate change and gender inequality. These guest speakers came with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of GCE and this helped to increase students’ awareness and encouraged student leadership to shine through as they engaged in action around various issues.