Blackrock School

Oliver Plunkett National School in Blackrock performed extremely well in the 2009 Environment Awards Scheme organised by Louth County Council, the results of which were announced at an Awards Ceremony on the 22nd of June. The school managed to retain Gold Medal status with a very impressive 87.4% achieved across five judging headings. The independent judging panel were particularly impressed with the awareness and enthusiasm of the pupils which was immediately evident as the pupils were able to demonstrate an indepth knowledge of all environmental matters but equally importantly were able to highlight lessons learned from project work carried out in the school. The judges were particularly impressed with the significant waste reduction noted in the school as a result of lunch box policies, text messaging and e-mailing parents instead of issuing letters, and the wonderful reuse of materials for art and craft work. The school was also deemed to be litter free which is of little surprise to anybody who visits there.

Of particular note was the links that have been created between the school and Blackrock Tidy Towns whereby a number of joint initiatives are undertaken including Spring Clean events and art competitions.


Larry Magnier from Blackrock Tidy Towns, who attended the prizegiving event, was delighted with the success of the school and commented “It is wonderful to have the school achieve Gold status in this competition, and indeed I must also compliment them on their excellent environmental programme which sees them fly the prestigious European Green Flag of excellence. That environmental management programme complements our own work very well as the national Tidy Towns competition is now placing increasing emphasis on the issue of waste management. We are indeed indebted to the staff and pupils of the school for leading the way and creating such environmental awareness within their immediate school community and also in their homes.”

It is well documented that Blackrock has never looked better and, while attributing this mainly to the endeavours of the hard working Tidy Towns Committee, Mary Murtagh from Louth County Council was also keen to point out that “The schools in the area certainly play a significant role in the overall success of Blackrock’s Tidy Towns aspirations and should be very proud of their efforts in presenting their school grounds to the highest possible standard as well as taking such proactive and successful action in managing waste, litter and energy”.