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On Friday 10 March Mr Gault's class led a whole school assembly about 'The Man Who Planted Trees.' This particular assembly is based on a project within the Green Tree Awards (The Woodland Trust) and will get us 2 more points towards becoming a Platinum School.
The Man Who Planted Trees, by Jean Giono, tells a story about a man called Jean-Paul. Over 100 years ago he went on a long walk through the hills of southern France.
The land wasn’t very green, in fact all he could see growing in these bare hills were scrubby bits of wild lavender and little else – certainly very few trees. Tired from a long morning’s walk, Jean-Paul came to a village. Unfortunately he soon realised it was deserted, the ruined houses huddled together and silent. There were no roofs to give protection from the cruel wind that was blowing, no trees to shade him from the sun and the natural spring where the villagers used to get their water had dried up. He’d had no water to drink since the previous day so he walked on.
After five more hours he spotted a lone shepherd looking after his sheep. The shepherd had a weather-beaten but kind face and a gentle manner. He gave the stranger a drink from his water bottle then invited him to share some of his soup. The shepherd’s name was Elzéard (El-zay-ard). They entered the shepherd’s stone house and Jean-Paul soon forgot the bleak and wild landscape outside. The house was clean, neat, friendly and warm. It was a safe place to rest for the night before carrying on his journey.
After they had eaten, Elzéard fetched a little bag and emptied a pile of acorns onto the table. Then he began carefully separating the good acorns from the bad. When he had collected a large enough pile of good acorns he divided them up into groups of 10. Once he had sorted out one hundred perfect acorns he stopped and went to bed.
The next day, after taking care of his sheep, the shepherd took the little bag of acorns and dipped it into a bucket of water then off he went. Curious to see what Elzéard was going to do with the acorns, Jean-Paul went with him. Soon Elzéard began making holes in the ground. He put an acorn into each hole and covered it with soil. Jean-Paul realised the shepherd was planting oak trees. He watched as the shepherd planted all 100 acorns with great care. Elzéard told Jean-Paul that he’d been planting trees in the wilderness for three years. And, in that time, he had planted a total of one hundred thousand acorns. The shepherd said that when he first came to the area, he noticed that this part of the country was dying for lack of trees and, having nothing better to do, he decided to put things right. Jean-Paul thanked the shepherd for his kindness and continued on his journey over the hills.
10 years later Jean-Paul returned to the area. Can you guess what it looked like? He then saw the shepherd in the distance. They walked to where the carefully selected acorns had been planted all those years ago to see the young oak trees. They were taller than both of them. He gave the stranger a drink from his water bottle then invited him to share some of his soup. The shepherd’s name was Elzéard (El-zay-ard).
Over the next few years the young trees continued to grow and grow until the area became a wonderful green forest. Families with children started returning to the area and the wildlife came back too. Instead of rough gusts of wind blowing over an empty landscape, there were soft and scented breezes, the wind in the trees sounding like running water. Indeed water did flow once again from the springs that were previously dry and people repaired the ruined houses. Hope returned and the area grew healthy and prosperous.
All because of the Man Who Planted Trees.
Click the 'read more' link to see some pictures of our assembly
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The School Eco Council have been working on a SPARK VIDEO to encourage and remind our pupils about being a bit more ECO friendly.
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As part of our Green Tree Awards work, through the Woodland Trust, P7E had to opportunity to create their own Tree Champions. As a class, we discussed what a Tree Champion may look like, what their personality would be like, what it is they like about trees, and what they like to do in the woods. We also looked at sections of The Lorax by Dr Seuss which helped us gather information.
Three of our Tree Champion designs were chosen and sent to the Woodland Trust. This will help us as we strive towards getting the Gold status of Green Tree Award.
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Some of our School Eco Councillors went outside the school grounds to do a spot of litter picking today, as part of our 'Adopt a Street' campaign run by Armagh Banbridge Craigavon Council. We got suited up with the equipment provided by the Council and walked down our main pathway, through the alleyway and along the shop fronts picking up any litter along the way. Our School Eco Council hope to do this once a term to keep both our School and our community looking well.
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To aid our PDMU and Healthy Living programmes in school, Cancer Focus NI came into school today to work with all our classes. We'd like to thank Cancer Focus NI for providing numerous educational resources over the past two years, and taking the time to come in and visit us all.
Click the 'Read more' link to see what the boys and girls got up to
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The bags of clothing have started to line our Mall. Please keep them coming, as this helps to raise money for our School Eco Council, who are hoping to purchase some compost bins and bird feeders for the school.
If you need bags, just lift them from the table sitting at the entrance to the Mall.
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Today the School ECO Council met for their monthly meeting. One of the most important topics on the agenda was voting on the new Buddy Bench posters. The Councillors spent a lot of time looking through and discussing all the entries. The Councillors would like to thank every pupil who entered the competition. Winners will be announced soon.
To see all the entries please click the 'Read More' link
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The Bags2School recycling has now started. Please bag up any unwanted adult and children’s clothes, shoes (tied together please), hats, belts, bags and teddies, and leave them in the Mall (Please NO Duvets, Pillows, Curtains, Bedding, Towels or End-Of-Life Clothing). Any bags can be used to collect the clothing, although 'Bag2School' bags are available. These bags are to be found on a small table beside the main entrance to the school. Feel free to take as many as you want.
Donations of mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras can also be handed in separately. Please leave these in the office!
Please try to fill as many bags as you can, don’t forget to ask grandparents, friends and neighbours to have a sort out as well!
Many thanks indeed for helping us with this unique fundraising opportunity.
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Today the Gardening Club started to plant the trees donated by The Woodland Trust. We decided to plant them on one of the banks alongside the Muga. Hopefully we will see these saplings take off over the coming months and years.
We also have hedges to plant, so watch this space
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We are running a clothing collection in conjunction with Bag2School.
By getting involved in our Bag2School collection you have an opportunity to sort through your cupboards and wardrobes and donate any unwanted textiles to school.
This can include adult and children’s clothes, shoes (tied together please), hats, belts, bags and teddies. Donations of mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras can also be handed in separately.
Please NO Duvets, Pillows, Curtains, Bedding, Towels or End-Of-Life Clothing
It is very important that the clothes have to be of good quality for reuse in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Please try to fill as many bags as you can, don’t forget to ask grandparents, friends and neighbours to have a sort out as well! (Any bags are fine, but there are bags available at the main entrance to the school).
If items could be brought into school and placed in/alongside the bags set out in the Mall from Monday 28 November to Tuesday 06 December this would be greatly appreciated (Any donations of electronics should be directly to the School Office).
Many thanks indeed for helping us with this unique fundraising opportunity.
Thank you!
M Gault
Vice Principal
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- Category: Eco activities and competitions
Our School ‘Eco’ Council are inviting you to take part in designing a ‘Buddy Bench’ sign, which will be placed on a bench in each of the playgrounds.
Competition details:
- In your own time, create a BUDDY BENCH poster. It can be created on the computer or be hand written (Please have it LANDSCAPE).
- Give it to your class’s ‘School Eco Councillor’ before FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER
- When the School ‘Eco’ Council meet again they will bring all the entries and will select a winning one which will be used on our Buddy Benches.
