It’s been a busy month for Picker Pals, with the biggest news being that we recently featured on national television when RTÉ’s Nationwide came out to film the students at Burrow National School in Sutton.

It was a great opportunity for more people to see how Picker Pals ties school-based environmental education with on-the-ground environmental action, so we were incredibly proud to be featured.

We’ve also started visiting schools to see Picker Pals in action.

We had a great day at Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe in Swords, where it was lovely to hear the programme being run through Irish. We also called into schools in Naas, Ashbourne and Arles, Co. Laois. We love meeting the teachers and children in person, as it gives us a clear picture of the impact that Picker Packs is making in different communities across Ireland. The visits aren’t finished yet though and we’ll keep everyone posted on more visits as they happen, so keep an eye out for us as you never know where we’ll appear next!

In classrooms this month, our Live Meet-Ups focused on two new themes. We did a deep dive into how recycling of different materials actually works and its place within the hierarch of other “Re” words in the circular economy like REFUSING, REDUCING & REPAIRING.

We also taught about Weather & Climate. For the weather lesson, we showed the students how Met Éireann tracks the atmosphere and predicts what’s coming, as well as talking about some of the causes and impacts of climate change. As usual, our Kahoot! quizzes at the end of the calls were a big hit with the classes!

Behind the scenes, we’ve started writing reports for this year along with our funding proposals for next year. We’re focusing on making the programme as efficient as possible, especially with our "Booster Box" model, so we can keep existing schools involved by reusing their equipment while reaching new schools too.

All in all, it’s been a solid month of school visits, new lessons, and hard work for the Picker Pals.

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