Conna National School wins Pride in our Community Schools Garden Competition 2019

The staff and Pupils of St. Catherines N.S Conna are thrilled to be Overall Winners at the Cork County Federation Muintir ná Tíre Pride in our Community School Garden Awards 2019 which were held in County Hall on Monday June 24^th 2019.

St Catherine's NS Conna  winners of the Muintir na Tires School Garden of the Year 

Mrs Mary Barry, Joanna Carr, Isabelle Coyle, Eoghan O’Mahony & Lisa O’Mahony. with Conor Nelligan Katherine Corkery, Michelle Green and Trevor Dineen of Cork County Council.

   The Competition is in its seventh year and this year saw a record amount of entries. The enthusiasm and high standard and quality shown from all the schools proved to to the Judges that the project continues to be a huge success. The competition involves each school developing/planning a garden in their own way.  Both adults and students work together to decide what type of garden they want to create. The competition encourages all students to get involved in working in the garden and the competition also promotes sustainability and biodiversity.

Mr Sean  Murphy welcomed the schools involved and congratulated each school on their efforts. This was then followed by an audio visual presentation that showcased all of the schools hard work. Sean then thanked  the Muintir ná Tíre sub group for all their hard work in making the Pride in the Community School Garden’s Awards a huge success. He also thanked Cork County Council for their huge support.

Sean Holland Chair of the sub group of Cork County Federation Muintir ná Tíre was highly impressed with the standard of the gardens entered and spoke about the importance of getting into the garden and “getting your hands dirty.” He asked pupils to think outside the box and to include lots of colour in their gardens. He also thought that the Video on the gardens was a good way for new entrants to see other school’s work and come up with new ideas.

Mayor Christopher O’ Sullivan was highly impressed with the response to the School Garden Awards and encouraged everyone to get involved. He congratulated all the schools and said they were all winners. He hoped next year’s competition would be even bigger and better. Trevor Dinneen of the Environment Directorate, Cork County Council was very impressed with the huge involvement from all the schools and congratulated all the schools on their huge contribution and the amount of work that was done by both students and pupils. Conor Nelligan Heritage Officer of Cork County Council thanked everyone for partaking and attending the Awards Ceremony. He said the competition was a huge success and congratulated all involved. Brendan Scahill HSE was highly impressed with the commitment of all the pupils involved and said that pupils would develop life skills by getting out and enjoying the garden.

 

                            St Catherine's NS Conna  winners of the Muintir na Tire 

School Garden of the Year

 Isabelle Coyle, Eoghan O’Mahony & Lisa O’Mahony

Organised by Cork County Federation Muintir na Tire and Cork County Council

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Wellington Road Cork

Phone:0214500688

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email: admin@muintircork.com

website: Muintircork.com

About the Competition:  The competition is run in conjunction with Cork County Council, Environment directorate and Heritage Section and Griffins Garden Centre.  The aim of the “Pride in the Community Schools Competition” is to support pupils, teachers in County Cork, to bring nature, wildlife, plants and colours into their school grounds, to promote horticulture and biodiversity to give students a chance to interact with the environment and nature in a positive way. Studies have shown that school gardens promote positive environmental attitudes and provide an excellent opportunity to develop more positive attitudes towards science at an early age.