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St John the Baptist’s College, Portadown

Eco Schools

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The school Eco-Club was first formed in 2006 and has since gone from strength to strength, continually striving to help the environment and make the school more “green” and eco-friendly. We have succeeded in this by gaining our 5th Green Flag and becoming Biodiversity Champions for 2021/2022.
From small beginnings, and a membership of only 8, the club has become increasingly popular in the school and now boasts almost 30 members who work tirelessly to improve their school; by attending meetings and taking part in nationwide competitions and conferences, such as the Young Environmentalist Awards and the Eco-Schools green flag award.
The dedication of the eco club has resulted in great successes, including becoming the first post-primary school in the Craigavon borough to receive a Green Flag Award in 2011.

The Eco-Club were double award winners in the at ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist all Ireland competition. We were awarded 1st place in the Junior Waste Category in May 2013 and we won 1st place again in 2016 for the Biodiversity category which was a great achievement for the pupils involved!
We have 2 eco-gardens, situated on the school grounds, which are a major part of the clubs on-going projects. Pupils and staff from the club worked to secure funding in order to set up and maintain this beautiful addition to the school environment and members of the club come in early in the morning or stay late after school to tend to the garden. The college also worked hard to receive funding for extra resources such as a poly-tunnel, a greenhouse, outdoor classroom and various gardening equipment. The pupils in school take responsibility for looking after this every lunchtime.
The Eco-Club work closely with the Men's Shed organisation to grow fresh vegetables and to help create green spaces around the school. The Eco-Club will be planting Christmas trees to grow and sell in three to four years to help generate funds for future projects and build entrepreneurial skills. 
Eco members were also given the opportunity to build a willow dome on the grounds of the school as the result of a partnership with Lough Neagh Discovery Centre. This partnership has also provided the club with more great ideas for developing ideas that will make St. John the Baptist’s College even more eco-friendly.
The Eco-Club is very keen to spread their eco-message and has been involved in helping local primary schools and nursery schools to become more eco-friendly and achieve their own Green Flag Award. The club hopes to continue to spread its message to the local community and beyond and to build upon its enormous success.
In June 2022, SJBC was awarded our 5th Green Flag Award from Eco-Schools NI.

Well done to all staff and pupils involved in this excellent achievement!


This year the Eco-School The Eco-club runs every Tuesday lunchtime and all new members are welcome. This year we hope to extend our outside area by building a living roof classroom, and we have even more big plans for the future!
If any parent/grandparent or member of the community could help out our eco-club we would love to have a volunteer gardener for a few hours per week to help us maintain our gardens and come If interested please contact Miss Molloy on 02838334725