The Green-Schools committee decided to get the whole school involved in ‘The Big Travel Challenge’. The aim of the challenge was to promote sustainable travel to and from school for the month of March. Sustainable travel methods included walking, cycling, scooting, bus or park ‘n’ stride. The main mode of transport the school promoted was the park ‘n’ stride option from the hall or the church to the school.

The Green-Schools committee set up a tally chart to record how many pupils travelled to school using a sustainable mode of transport. The committee also decided to make the challenge a bit more competitive and fun for the pupils by setting up a points system where pupils could earn points for their class by travelling sustainably to school. The points could then be traded in for rewards. The children thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and said they had lots of fun coming to school each day.

During ‘The Big Travel Challenge’ the Green-Schools committee also ran the No Idle/Clean Air Campaign. All classes watched a video on how car idling can have a negative impact on the environment and people’s health. The pupils decided to create posters to raise awareness and promote no idling at the school gate.

The results of ‘The Big Travel Challenge were submitted to the Green-Schools national competition. Our school was delighted to have been chosen as County winners for Mayo 2024 and Northwest Regional Winners 2024 winning a total of €700. This was a fantastic achievement for our whole school community. Representatives from the committee attending an awards ceremony in Dublin Zoo on April 25th where they were presented with their award.