Tuesday 30th Jan

A CALL FOR SPADES PLEASE; If you have a spade, please bring it along, Parent Volunteers and members of staff; the Council is providing 19 spades, Baldoyle Community Garden 5, we have another 6 and of course the ground is very soft – it is so wet you see – so it should not be hard to dig but every extra spade will be handy. Please put your name on them (not just a ribbon, as while you may recognise your spade we may not if it gets lost!)

Monday, 29^th Jan 2018

Dear Parents and Guardians,

A reminder that this Wednesday is our school tree Planting Day. We will be welcoming children from our neighbouring school, St. Michael’s House who will help us with this project to enhance our area.

We have an extremely rainy January so the park is WET and it may even get wetter on Wednesday! Everyone will need a smile and a change of shoes and socks in a bag as it will be muddy. If you have gardening gloves please bring them too, if not we will provide some. You might ask, why don’t we park on a sunny day in June? Well this is a really great time to plant trees before they start growing and while they are dormant.

Thank you to the over 50 families who are sending a volunteer to help dig the holes and encourage the children; some have signed up for two or even three hours. Volunteer parents will have received an email by now with further details (a few addresses bounced!); if not please email Orla at irishtreetrail@gmail.com. Volunteers, please meet outside the playground in Seagrange Park at your designated time and remember to bring a spade or trowel if you have one or can borrow one. The children will go with their teachers to and from the Park. This is the timetable;

9.30 – 10.30        First & Fifth classes

• -11.30       Junior Infants and Third classes

11.30 – 12.30     Senior Infants and Fourth classes

1 .00 – 2.00 Second and Sixth classes

More details are on Easy Treesie.com on the links below and there will be an item on the Near FM Enviro programme today at 4 p.m. about our event.

Regards,

Orla Farrell, Green Schools/ /Easy Treesie/ Plant-for-the-Planet Programme Co-ordinator &

An Taisce Climate Ambassador.

P.S. If any of our inspiring Plant-for-the-Planet Climate Ambassadors- who along with many of their parents gave up their whole Saturday this time last year to plant the first 300 trees and inspire us all – can find their T-shirt from last year’s Tree Academy, please wear it on Wednesday !

Parents, if you are not available on this day, there are lots of other ways you can take action on climate change the Green Flag way as we do in school  by travelling sustainably, refusing/reducing/reusing/recycling/repairing waste responsibly and using energy and water wisely.

Which tree is your favourite? Here is a summary of some facts and interesting benefits of the six different species that pupils will be planting kindly sent on by Kieron of Fingal County Council.

Alnus Glutinosa – Alder

Native to Ireland and Europe

Whips being planted are about 3-5 years old

Grows commonly in moist conditions near lakes, rivers and wet woodlands, roots can prevent soil erosion.

Grows in almost all soils particularly in nutrient poor soils where few trees can thrive.

The catkins provide an early source of nectar & pollen for bees and the seeds are eaten by birds like goldfinches.

The value of the wood from Alder is its ability to withstand rot under water and historically it has been used in the construction of boats, sluice gates and water pipes.  An interesting fact is that much of Venice is built on Alder Piles.

Betula Pendula – Silver Birch

Whips 3-5 years old

Native throughout Ireland and Europe

Silver Birch is used to improve quality of soil for other plants to grow; it uses its roots to bring otherwise inaccessible nutrients into the tree which are then recycled into the soil when trees’ leaves shed.

Silver Birch provides wildlife with food and habitat, for example it is liked by more than 300 insect species.

Birch wood is tough and heavy making it suitable for making furniture and toys.

Corylus Avellena – Hazel

Whips 3-5 years old

Native throughout Ireland, Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.

Hazel provides food for the caterpillars of many moths.

Coppiced hazel in managed woodlands provides shelter for ground nesting birds such as the yellowhammer.

Hazel was used for water divining sticks, hurdles and furniture making.

Prunus Avium – Wild Cherry

Whips 3-5 years old.

Native to Ireland and Europe apart from northern parts of Europe due to cold temperatures.

Spring flowers provide an early source of nectar and pollen for bees while the cherries are eaten by birds.

The wood is hard, strong and honey-coloured and is widely used in decorative veneers and furniture.

The wood burns well & produces a sweetly smelling scented smoke, similar to the scent of its flowers.

Viburnum Opulus – Guelder Rose

Whips 2-3 years old.

Native to Europe and Asia.

The red berries are important food sources for birds.

The shrub canopy provides shelter for other wildlife.

Flowers are especially attractive to hoverflies and berries can be cooked in jelly or jams.

They are commonly grown as an ornamental plant for its pretty flower heads and bright juicy berries.

Sometimes we plant trees from outside the list of Native Trees because of their usefulness and in addition how they will suit our changing climate. We have chosen the following tree on this basis;

Acer Campestre – Field Maple

Native to Europe

Whips been planted are about 3-5 years old.

Commonly found in woods and hedgerows.

Widely planted in gardens and parks in towns/cities due to its compact growth, its tolerance to pollution and its leaves having a beautiful rich autumn colour.

The field maple attracts aphids and therefore predators i.e. ladybirds, hoverflies and birds.

Flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and birds.

Traditional uses include wood turning, carving and making musical instructions, particularly harps.

January  15^th 2017

Invitation to Parents and Guardians of St. Laurence NS Baldoyle to Join us on our School Tree-Planting Day in Seagrange Park on Wednesday, January 31st

Dear Parents and Guardians,

While you may know our school has won many green flags, you may not be aware that St. Laurence NS has been a leader in environmental education over many years. In 2017 our school came first in Ireland in the Eco-UNESCO Local to Global competition and we have won Repak and Electricity Association of Ireland national environmental awards as well as many regional awards from organisations such as Irish Aid. For the third year in a row, we are in SEAI’s top twenty schools in the country for our Green Flag Tree project.  Our Green Committee has represented the school to audiences of up to 600 people (including Government Ministers and Mayors) at the Helix Theatre and the Mansion House.

One area in which the children at St. Laurence’s have been especially involved has been in a number of tree-planting initiatives. We planted native tree plantations at the front of our Senior Building in 1999 and our Junior Building in 2015. When we ran out of space on our school grounds we teamed up with 8 other schools and planted 300 trees in Seagrange Park, Baldoyle (adjacent to the Senior Building) at our “Tree Academy” last year.

In 2018 we are planning a Tree Planting Day to give all the children in the school an opportunity to plant a tree and in addition will hold a further Tree Academy, which will take place on 7^th March.  This Tree Planting Day will help towards achieving our sixth International Green Flag, for work on “Global Citizenship, Litter and Waste”.  We will work in collaboration with other schools, and hope to plant a total of 3,000 trees this time, one for every primary school in Ireland! The children will plant their trees in Seagrange Park where we hope they will be able to enjoy them for years to come. We are working on this project in partnership with Fingal County Council who will be providing help and trees. Our project will also link with children in over 100 countries around the world as part of a UN-backed project, “Plant-for-the-Planet”.

One of the best climate actions a community can take is to plant trees. Trees not only absorb carbon and other harmful gases while releasing oxygen, they provide a whole host of other benefits, including improving ecosystems by creating habitats and food; reducing flooding (a particular problem in this park) and soil erosion; reducing noise and air pollution; enhancing well-being and local scenery and even increasing the value of property.

The Tree Planting Day event will take place rain or shine so please ensure that your child on this day has

• A rainproof coat
• A change of footwear, such as wellies/football boots or old runners as there will be mud.
• Gloves and tools will be provided – but they can bring gardening gloves from home if they wish                                                                                      Please turn over ………..

While Fingal Co. Council will have prepared the ground, it can be a bit of work digging the holes especially for the younger children and we would greatly appreciate some adult help on the day. If you were free to join us on Wednesday 31^st January during the course of the day for an hour or longer please fill out the form overleaf and return it to your child’s class teacher by Wednesday 17th .

Le gach dea guí,

_________________________

Ms. Orla Farrell

Green Schools Coordinator, An Taisce Climate Ambassador

You can find more information about this project on

https://greenschoolsireland.org/

www.Easytreesie.com

And our school Green web pages on http://room5stlaurence.weebly.com/our-newest-green-flag-project-trees.html

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I,  (own name)    ___________________ , Parent of (child’s name) __________________________

who is in _______Class, volunteer to help out with the School’s tree-planting event in Seagrange Park on Wednesday, 31^st January.

Phone No.________________________ Email address __________________________

Tick the box(es) when you will be available and you will be emailed with further details.

9.30 – 10.30        First & Fifth classes

10.30 -11.30       Junior Infants and Third classes

11.30 – 12.30     Senior Infants and Fourth classes

• 1 .00 – 2.00 Second and Sixth classes

HAPPY NATIONAL TREE DAY

DELIGHTED TO BE LINKING UP WITH TRALEE EDUCATION CENTRE ON THEIR TREE PLANTING EVENT WITH PROFESSOR JOHN COOLAHAN.

CONGRATULATIONS ON A WONDERFUL “PEACE TREE” EVENT.

Wishing “Yew” All a Merry Christmas!

Thanks so very much to Niall Conway, good friend of the trees – he has been planting them since he was in primary school he told me today – for updating our website so that we can do more.

So much is happening with our project right now; it was such a pleasure to represent Crann at the Tree Council December meeting in the glorious setting of the Botanic Gardens and meet so many of the members. There is so much extraordinary work going on – one of the really exciting projects being the Crann-led “Giant’s Glen” Redwood project. We have learned so much in recent weeks, participating  at the Woodland Trust AGM – they are also working on some dazzling projects – and the Crann AGM also took place recently. How lovely to be asked back to meet with Diarmaid McAree and Marguerite Arbuthnot-O Brien to outline what we are up to in Easytreesie and get the benefit of their advice. It was also most interesting to meet with the tree-planting project originating in the UCD Science Department with its founder Felip – he is collaborating with one of my new fellow Climate Ambassadors who I look forward to meeting at our inaugural session next month.  There will just about be time for that as our 3,000 tree plantation commences in January in Seagrange Park. All go!

Here’s to the continued success of our million tree project!
Here is the programme for the film launch for those who couldn’t make it!
Welcome to the launch by Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton T.D.’s of the “Irish Tree Trail”.

We are honoured to have you here today in St. Laurence School to mark the beginning of National Tree Week. We are so grateful to all who have worked so hard and provided us with so much support and such valuable sponsorship in this and all of our related tree projects.  Go raibh mile maith agaibh go léir. 
We hope you enjoy learning from Éanna as much as we did; the background to this series is that we planted a Tiny Forest in the Senior School 18 years ago; the trees are now taller than the school. We love it so much we kept going and are now on our fifth plantation – we have run out of space; in January we planted 300 trees in our local park with UN-sponsored Plant-for-the-Planet , with help from delegations of children from the UK, the US and five local schools in Ireland’s first Tree Academy. We wanted to help other children plant Native Trees but first we needed to know what they were. So now we can get on with the work; the challenge from the 9-year old Felix was to plant a million trees by 2020 to address climate change. Germany did it in 3 years and matched them in Mexico, we think we can too. We are also sponsoring equivalent plantations in the Global South. Here is a little poem to explain what we are doing. 
Mother Earth is Like a Dolly, by the Green Committee, St. Laurence School
Orla had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick.
So she called for the doctor to be quick, quick, quick.
The doctor came with his bag and his hat
And he knocked at the door with a rat-a-tat-tat.
He looked at the dolly and he shook his head
He said “Take that heavy blanket off the bed!”
Wet a sponge for her hair because she’s ill, ill, ill
“When she’s cool, she’ll get better, yes she will, will, will.”
Mother Earth is like a dolly who is sick, sick, sick,
So we called the Consultants to be quick, quick, quick.
The Team took the temperature, they checked the chart.
They said “Our opinion is; Be Quick – Act Smart!”
The sea is rising and there’s melting ice.
There’s drought and flooding and it’s just not nice!
Smoke traps the sunshine and the dirty air
Is ruining all the atmosphere, it’s just not fair!
It’s hot under blankets that are made of Gas
But Tree technology is just First Class!
Do we want to live in deserts or a pool, pool , pool?
Forestry’s the sponge to make us cool,  cool. cool!
“But we’re the Emerald Isle we said, as green as green can be!
Sure Ireland is the greenest place on earth, you see. “
Good news for us and bad news; to sing a different tune,
“Irlande; First at growing!
But for Forests; Wooden Spoon! “
So we all got planting in our little school.
We measured out some playground with a metre rule.
We each dug a hole for a native tree.
Soon there was a little home for birds and bees.
They need homes as well as us, it’s nice to share.
Mother Nature minds it all, it’s in her care.
Some people aren’t that lucky but they love trees too.
They’re short of food and things and money, it is true.

We knew they’d plant a WildAREness if they had trees.
So we sent them off some money and said “Join us please.”
They planted lovely flowers, plants and trees growing fruit.
Soon the rains will come and they will need swimsuits.
So every school around the world, first plant one tree
Then a little Forest Are for you and me.
A thousand billion trees! We’ll keep the score, score, score!
We love our WildAREness, so we want more, more, more

Our film guide to the 28 native trees of Ireland will be available from today from The Tree Council of Ireland’s website, treecouncil.ie  and our Green Schools’ Tree Project website, easytreesie.com.  
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