Ballyboy school plants its own woodland after competition win

Scoil Bhríde in Ballyboy recently started to plant a native Irish woodland on its school grounds. The whole school was involved in the planting process and the students planted all of the native Irish trees in their school grounds this week.

The initiative came after the school won a competition as part of An Choill Bheag, a long-term educational programme by LEAF Ireland.

Choill Bheag is a small, dense, biodiverse native woodland habitat on the school grounds. Ballyboy NS won this competition after submitting a video of their poem “Our Very Own Woodland Habitat”.

Drama teacher Mr Jared Madden created a video of the students reciting the poem while they showcase the grounds of the school. Ballyboy was chosen to be one of six primary and secondary schools in the country to be awarded the prize.

Coillte provided the school with 330 Native Irish trees to plant including such species as oak, alder, wild cherry, rowan, scots pine, willow, holly and whitethorn among others. Coillte is also funding the delivery of the project.

The staff of the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce is facilitating onsite workshops and overseeing the planting of the trees alongside the students and staff of the school.

Students learn the necessary skills to maintain, monitor and study this essential ecosystem. An Choill Bheag promotes long-term woodland and eco-system education and management. As the woodland matures, nature trails can be developed. The key objectives of An Choill Bheag are to involve students in site selection and tree planting, encourage proactive, practical and sustainable tree planting and to provide the students with the necessary skills to maintain, monitor and study essential ecosystems for long term use.

The whole school community was involved in preparing the school grounds for planting, the students spent two days with co-ordinators Meabh, Claire and Aileen and worked tirelessly to dig, plant and mulch all of the trees.

The planting of the trees has enhanced the children’s playground and added to the biodiversity of the school grounds. The outdoor classroom will be a resource used by all classes as it matures and grows.