Waterford primary school pupils take home top prizes in global creative writing competition

Waterford school students were awarded for their creative writing skills in an internationally recognised writing competition.

St. John of Gods students, Ava Sheridan, Aoife Lanigan and Lucy Lee O'Donnell were honoured at a ceremony in Dublin to mark the first Green-Schools Marine Environment Awards. 

12 winners of the Green-Schools National Marine Creative Writing Competition, “Tides are changing”, were awarded for their achievements at the ceremony.

Winners of the competition were chosen out of over 220 entries. 

Ava Sheridan won the first and second class category, Aoife Lanigan the third and fourth class category and Lucy Lee O'Donnell the fifth and sixth class category, described as a "real achievement for one school". 

The competition, which is supported by the Marine Environment section of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in collaboration with Poetry Ireland, is in its fourth year and saw a very high standard of submissions this year. 

Eight outstanding schools were also selected for recognition from the 88 schools nationwide receiving their Green Flag for Global Citizenship: Marine Environment this month.

Primary schools and secondary schools were chosen from four regional divisions (Dublin area, East & Midlands, North & West and South), with an overall national winner awarded at each level. 

The Green-Schools Marine Environment Awards is an initiative of An Taisce’s Green-Schools “Global Citizenship Marine Environment” theme.

Green-Schools (known internationally as Eco-Schools), is an environmental management education programme, environmental management system and award scheme that promotes and acknowledges long-term, whole-school action for the environment, and is operating in 73 countries around the world including almost all EU member states, Africa, South America, North America, Canada, Oceania and Asia.