11 March 2022
Education convener Karen Conaghan and Cllr Ian Dickson present the flag to OLSP pupils.
By Lucy Ashton
Pupils and staff at Our Lady and Saint Patrick’s High School in Bellsmyre, Dumbarton, are celebrating after being awarded their first prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag Award.
Senior pupils in the school’s Eco group were praised for their work in making the school and grounds more sustainable.
Following COP26, S1 pupils engaged in high profile projects discussed at the international conference. ICT pupils investigated local businesses and proposed business plans to help them find ways they can become more sustainable. In English, pupils studied poems based on litter and air pollution while in Maths young people studied the percentages of pollution rates.
The school was praised for their engagement with parents and carers via their Eco Twitter page, which they used to promote and encourage families to think of the environment and become more environmentally friendly.
Creative pupils also posted recipes to encourage families to engage in ‘Meat Free Mondays’ and pupils made meat free recipes in Home Economics, which were shared with friends and family.
The school recently launched a joint campus project with neighbouring St Peter’s Primary, Aitkenbar and Bellsmyre and Andrew B Cameron ELCC working together to ‘Keep Bellsmyre Beautiful’ by doing litter picks in and around the grounds.
Councillor Karen Conaghan, Convener of Educational Services, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone at OLSP for their part in being awarded the Green Flag for the first time. This is a great achievement and everyone should be very proud of playing their part in helping the environment and making Bellsmyre a cleaner, greener area for us and future generations.”
Councillor Ian Dickson, Vice Convener of Educational Services, said: “It’s great to hear how committed and caring the young people are about their environment and how the right choices can have a positive impact on the world around them. This award recognises the commitment from everyone at the school who collectively have the same goal of making positive changes to protect the environment.”
Must agree and pay compliment to the Vice Convener for Educational Services to hear that young people in our schools are committed and caring of the environment and how their choices can have a positive effect around the world no less.
Well as a supermarket once said, every little helps, and without doubt there is every ground to compliment the two council Conveners for Green Flag award success.
On a separate note, I wonder how educational standards for subjects like maths, English and so on are coming along across our region.
Hopefully they are getting a Green flag too. Top of the class in the tables one hopes.