Four schools in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area have secured their first ever Eco-Schools Green Flag.

St Paul's Primary School, Cabra was one of the four schools to be recognised by the internationally recognised environmental award scheme. Glasswater Primary School, Crossgar; Killowen Primary School, Rostrevor, and St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel also received their first flags.

Visiting St Paul's Primary School to congratulate them on the award, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Cathy Mason said: "I am delighted to be able to spend time with you today and to hear all about the exciting work you have been doing to improve your school's environmental performance. It is great to see that all the hard work that you have invested has paid off and culminated with you now joining the many schools in the district who can proudly fly their Eco-Schools Green Flag. You, and all the past members of your committee, should be extremely proud of your achievement."

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Newry, Mourne and Down has a strong record of schools participating in the Eco-Schools Programme with 51 of all registered schools currently holding a flag. As part of the Eco-Schools Programme each school must set up an eco-committee who take the lead in promoting the Programme, deciding what needs to be tackled and ensuring actions are carried out.

For their first flag St. Paul's eco-committee decided to tackle the topics of Healthy Living, Litter and Outdoor Learning to improve their performance. The pupils delivered a solution to every obstacle they incurred, seeking advice and support from their local community, and actively involving everyone. A community day was held where parents and grandparents were invited in to help the pupils tidy and plant vegetables in their planting beds, and local community groups were asked to support the planting of tree saplings around the perimeter of the school.

School Principal, Mr Declan Mason added: "On behalf of our school I wish to thank everyone who donated materials, gave their time, expertise and helped in any way. I personally would like to thank the Friends of St. Paul's Association for their continued support and Mrs Truesdale and Mrs Fegan who helped collate the documents as evidence for this award.

"My biggest thanks go to every pupil in St. Paul's who embraced this initiative and worked with their Eco Committee peers to successfully achieve this Green Flag."