@BioDataCentre  @GreenSchoolsIre

Today we celebrate World Bee Day – 20th May 2019 

Did You Know?

• Irish Bumblebee populations are in decline.
• One third of our 99 bee species are threatened with extinction from Ireland. This is because we have drastically reduced the amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes.
• In response this decline and threat of extinction, the National Biodiversity Data Centre coordinated the implementation of the an All Ireland Pollinator Plan( 2015-2020) along with 68 other government and non-government organisations as partners to support the plan.

The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is about all of us, from farmers to local authorities, to schools, gardeners and businesses, coming together to try to create an Ireland where pollinators can survive and thrive.  Here at Gortskehy, we are committed to playing our part and making our school bee-friendly.

The middle room studied the Junior Pollinator Plan with their teacher, Ms. Thomas. They learnt all about bees and their important role as pollinators.  They also learnt about the life cycle of the bumble bee & what we can do to help our bees survive and thrive.

  

Our school Pollinator & Green School Teams drew maps of the current school grounds.  This was done to identify areas where we can take action to help pollinators. Lots of good ideas that we hope to put into action were noted by our pupils on the walkabout:

• Plant bee-friendly plants in our garden beds.
• Leave narrow strips around our pitch for wildflowers
• Mow our lawn/pitch less frequently – to allow dandelions and clover to grow – food sources for our bees.
• Reduce pesticides – only use it for clearing slippery areas/paths.  Only weed by hand.
• Plant a herb bed – they are an excellent source of food for pollinators.

These maps will be updated to include all the pollinator areas we will develop around our school.  We will monitor and report on bee activity and update our plans annually.

Here are some photos of our pupils planting bee-friendly plants, flowers and herbs in our new Sensory & Biodiversity garden.

   

    

 

 

For more information on what you can do to help the bees – please visit http://pollinators.ie/

Over the last few months Cathal & Evan two pupils from 5^th class took part in the NUI Galway Youth Academy spring programme. This was a wonderful opportunity for the pupils to gain an insight into college learning. Evan studied Biotechnology & Biomedical Engineering –  “Biolegos: Engineering with the Building Blocks of Life“, and Cathal studied all about the Irish law system “The World of Cops and Robbers: Learning the Law”. Evan informed our class that he really enjoyed the course and over the 6 week programme they covered many topics about the human body including DNA, bacteria & repairing broken bones. Evan also had to opportunity to complete some experiments. Evan’s course took place in the new Engineering building on the NUI Galway campus. Cathal informed the class that he looked at many aspects of the law throughout his course including  jurors, cases and identifying what the world would be like if there were no laws. At the end of each day they would have a competition to see who could remember the most laws. The course helped Cathal understand a lot more about the legal system in Ireland. Cathal’s course took place in the Millennium building on the NUI Galway campus. We would like to congratulate both pupils for taking part in the course.

It was a fun-filled week in Croatia – visiting Zagreb Zoo, Bundek lake and park by the Sava River, Veternica Cave at Park Prirode, Medvednica, Nikola Tesla Museum and coal mines.

The pupils introduced their Croatian friends to Irish dancing and football. We cannot thank our hosts enough (teachers, parents and pupils)  for their huge amount of work in preparing such a memorable trip and taking care of Aoife, Cathal, Evan, Kellyann and Ruby.

Thanks also to Michelle Gannon for accompanying us and being such a great help. The video linked to this article shows the broad range of activities that the pupils took part in during the week.

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Members of the Croatian Red Cross came to the school and gave a First Aid demonstration in the yard. They painted injuries on Cathal, Evan, Kellyann and Ruby who acted as the injured parties. Aoife can sometimes be allergic to body paint so she joined her Croatian friends and watched the demonstration.

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On Monday we arrived at the school at 8.15am. We were officially welcomed by the principal, Mrs. Vlatka Kovač and the pupils from various classes performed song and dance routines after the Croatian and Irish national anthems. Then we were given a tour of the school and in the afternoon we visited Zagreb Botanical Gardens and a guide introduced us to the city and its history. The video below gives a flavour of the day.

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