St Patrick's PS Aghagallon pupils make it a clean eco sweep

Mr Raymond Farrell, Caretaker, Jake Turley, pupil, Nathan ONeill, pupil
Mrs Emma-Jayne Morgan, P3/4 teacher and ECO Co-ordinator who were presented with the NI Amenity Council's Best Kept Primary School award — Mr Raymond Farrell, Caretaker, Jake Turley, pupil, Nathan ONeill, pupil Mrs Emma-Jayne Morgan, P3/4 teacher and ECO Co-ordinator who were presented with the NI Amenity Council's Best Kept Primary School award

St Patrick’s Primary School has scooped a major accolade from the Northern Ireland Amenity Council.

Though a small rural school set in the close-knit community of Aghagallon, the children have made great strides in making a difference to their local environment.

And on June 7 this year, St. Patrick’s PS pupils were delighted to learn that their little village school has won the Northern Ireland Amenity Council Best Kept School Award for 2016.

The award ceremony, which took place at the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre was attended by Mrs Morgan, the teacher in charge of the ECO Team this year.

Also attending were two of the boys from the Eco Council and Building Supervisor Mr Farrell.

Proud Principal, Mr Kevin O’Hara, commented, “This has been a fantastic year for our school.

“Last month we celebrated outstanding assessment results for our children.

“This was followed by the award of our first ever Green Eco Flag.

“We were all very proud on Friday 3rd June to raise the flag for the first time, after a very successful sports day,” he said.

“The Best Kept School Award is the icing on the cake for us.”

These awards are a resulted of a concerted effort by the children and the school community over the past three years.

Mr Farrell said, “When I joined the staff of St. Patrick’s I was asked to become involved with their Eco Efforts.

“This has been a pleasure, the children are a delight to work with and they have tried really hard to set the school apart, due to their consistent efforts.

“Litter picks, in the school grounds and around the village, are a regular occurrence.

“We hope the children can help give everyone in the village a great sense of pride in their area.”

Mrs Morgan said, “We are blessed to have so many willing children and their parents and grandparents, who have worked with us over the past few years to help broaden the children’s experiences through looking after the school and surrounding area so well.”

The hope and expectation now is that this legacy can be maintained and extended beyond the school in years to come.