Green Limerick: Students at Limerick school shoot for the moon

SCOIL na Trionoide Naofa, an amalgamation of the former St Joseph’s Secondary School and St Fintan’s Christian Brother’s School (CBS) stands on the outskirts of Doon and in the last six months has undergone a world of transformation in a biodiverse and sustainable fashion.

Deirdre Carswell is a teacher at the school who has previously worked in a number of educational institutions around the county and has a keen interest in all things biodiversity and shining a positive green light on the world we live in.

Ms Carswell has already undertaken a great number of biodiverse and sustainable projects at the school along with the help of other staff members and keen students.

In October a biodiversity trail at the school was built with the involvement of staff and students alike at the school all for educational purposes.

The biodiversity trail contains 12 wooden posts with outdoor frames showcasing facts about the animals in and around the school’s habitat. A wooden sign for the trail was constructed by the school’s woodwork department.

“We invited 130 local primary school kids in to do the trail and answer a questionnaire on animal facts,” Ms Carswell began.

“We called it Biodiversity and Science Day. Six or seven primary schools in total came on the day.”

The trail also consists of a polytunnel, used to house plants, where the students have made plant potters and have grown seeds.

An Environment Team consisting of first-year students at the school was created. Those students were tasked with planting daffodils around the campus and according to Ms Carswell they are “keen and avid” environmental learners.

Woodie’s DIY also supplied the school with lots of dahlia bulbs which were planted around the school grounds and according to Ms Carswell the students “thoroughly enjoyed” the educational experience and the hands-on learning.

An Choill Bheag (the Little Forest) is another new installation at the school which sees all different species of trees being planted to furthermore promote biodiversity at the school grounds.

“We’ve a huge amount going on in regard to biodiversity. Another teacher, Mr O’Brien is in charge of horticulture at the school and does tremendous work with the cultivation of plants. He had farm animals and all before Covid,” Ms Carswell said.

Scoil na Trionoide Naofa have also begun a joint project with Castletroy College where Ms Carswell previously used to work.

It involves the Green Schools Teams joining together to discuss each of the school's projects and educate one another further on biodiversity, horticulture and sustainability.

Ms Carswell says they plan to meet up at Scoil na Trionoide Naofa soon where the Castletroy College Transition Year students will get to explore the biodiversity trail and will be given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire and quizzes.

“I just noticed that there was an awful lot of work being done in schools individually where as no one was sharing it. I have contacts in different schools I worked in and I thought sure why not invite them over and share ideas?

“I did it with the Villiers School and the students just loved it. Usually, schools are competing with one another but it’s lovely to be able to amalgamate them and say that we are all in it together and that it is a global thing. We need to promote it, work together and share ideas,” Ms Carswell smiled.

Teaching biodiversity has been something Ms Carswell has done in every school she has taught at over the last 17 years.

“When I did my interview here at Scoil na Trionoide Naofa, the principal rang me afterwards and said ‘yeah, you’ve got the job. Will you set it all up?’ and I just said okay,” Ms Carswell laughed.

Another hope of the Green School’s team at the school is to create flower beds.

“There’s just a bit of planning for that as we have to be mindful of the caretakers cutting the grass and we have to make sure that they’ll be able to cut around it and it won’t disrupt them,” she said.

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During the conversation with Ms Carswell, she discussed the joy of bringing students together and how they all fell in love with learning about biodiversity and horticulture.

A climate café during science week, insect hotels and educating students on lowering their carbon footprint are all initiatives taken on by the Green School's team since September.

“What happens is, you have an awful lot of kids who are on their own and they mightn't have many friends so you gather them all up and you bring them together. It builds confidence and self-esteem. It’s a lovely way of getting kids involved.

“Then suddenly they have loads of friends,” Ms Carswell said.

Principal of Scoil na Trionoide Naofa in Doon Helena Foley commented on the work happening at the school.

“These students are an inspiration to our entire school community. We are blessed to have such a beautiful natural environment in Scoil na Tríonóide Naofa and I am delighted that these students are so environmentally conscious,” she said.