An Choill Bheag ‘little woodland’ forest classrooms come to Monreagh

Monreagh NS, Carrigans has become the first school in Donegal to take part in the exciting educational programme An Choill Bheag (little woodland).

The small three-teacher rural primary school got a new school building in 2011 and has been thriving ever since.

They have beautiful school grounds and plenty of space to promote biodiversity.

In 2021, the Green Team and assistant principal, Karen McDermott (Green Schools co-ordinator) made a video application expressing their interest to take part in the Choill Bheag initiative.

They were delighted to hear that they had been awarded one of 11 national places. Monreagh NS is the first school in Donegal to have earned a place on this prestigious project.

On Monday, with the help of their coordinators Rob Nelson and Angus Kennedy, the children and parent volunteers planted a small, dense, biodiverse native woodland habitat of 200 trees on the school grounds.

The trees planted were a range of oak, birch, holly, alder, spindle, lime, native cherry, rowan, hawthorn, guelder rose, hazel, Scots pine, and willow.

Volunteers
We were blessed with a beautiful, bright, and sunny day for the planting. Parent volunteers were on hand to assist with the planting of the trees.

The trees were then covered with cardboard and bark mulch to assist them to grow without the threat of weeds. The project was 100% nature friendly and no pesticides or fertilisers were used.

Karen McDermott and Kerry Harris, principal are looking forward to watching the school's outdoor living classroom grow over the coming years.

A circular space was created in the centre of the trees, which will allow for classes to spend time learning outside in the future.

In years to come, it will be a beautiful enclosed area where the pupils can be immersed in nature. As An Choill Bheag matures, nature trails will be developed and students can learn the necessary skills to maintain, monitor, and study this beautiful ecosystem on their school grounds.

Wesley Harris, a parent, kindly captured some drone footage of the planting, which shows the scale of the project.

This was the Day of Action for the Green Team are in the process of applying for their green flag on the theme of Biodiversity.

The success of the day was made possible by the support of the Green Team members, Rob, their co-ordinator, the pupils on the school, and the parent volunteers.

Well done to all involved!