Local school wins 'Water School of the Year' title

St Brigid's National School, Meath Hill, took top honours in the annual Green-Schools Water Awards when they were named the Water School of the Year in the primary school category.

The achievements of Ireland’s young water champions were celebrated this week at the annual Green-Schools Water Awards hosted An Taisce Green-Schools and Irish Water, when St Brigid’s NS was named Water School of the Year in both the national and East and Midlands Region for the primary school category.

Over the past school year, over 123,000 students from 551 schools all over Ireland have participated in the Green-Schools water theme which is sponsored by Irish Water. The water theme looks at developing awareness around water conservation and how to effectively manage this precious resource in our schools and at home.

St Brigid’s NS showed exceptional commitment to the water theme and in raising awareness of the value of water in their school and the wider community. They have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting the environment by carrying out clean ups of the local beach, river and canal. The pupils at St Brigid’s have also engaged with their local community to learn more about where the locality's water comes from, how it is treated, and to encourage everyone to become more aware of how they use water by sharing ‘top tap tips’ for water conservation.

Meath schools continued to impress, demonstrating their commitment to sustainability with Mai Madigan, from St Declan’s National School, Ashbourne taking home the award for her poster in the East and Midlands Junior Primary category, while Robyn Kelly from Scoil Bhríde was declared the winner in the Senior Primary category.

Sofiat Akindele and Faith Abdul, from Franciscan College Gormanston, were declared the runners up in the Water Ambassadors category for the East and Midlands Region.

Speaking at the awards, Geoffrey Bourke of Irish Water congratulated all the winners for their efforts to highlight the value of water. “We have seen how the younger generation has taken the lead in the battle against climate change. In the same spirit, the students and schools who have taken part in the Green-Schools Water Theme this year have shown exceptional leadership in inspiring their communities to value our precious water resources. We all have a role to play in safeguarding our water and they are leading by example through outstanding water conservation, communication and education initiatives. Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who has taken part in this excellent programme.”

Green-Schools Manager Cathy Baxter said: “Once again this year we have seen some and inspirational ideas from the participating students. They have shown great leadership, not just in their schools but also in their wider communities. Our Schools of the Year winners have shown a real willingness to reach out beyond the schools themselves to engage with a wider audience, including using social media to spread the word about water conservation.

“Well done to all the schools who took part in the programme this year for their outstanding efforts.”