By Sam Matthews
Second class pupils from Urlingford National School (Scoil an Chro铆 R贸-Naofa), Kilkenny took part in a beach exploration workshop hosted by Green-Schools at Tramore beach in County Waterford recently. The group is one of 90 classes from 56 schools nationwide that recently took part in the SeaKeepers Project, and were the lucky winners of this year鈥檚 field trip to the beach. The SeaKeepers Project is an initiative of the Green-Schools Marine Environment theme, which provides primary school teachers with resources and lesson plans to teach children about Ireland鈥檚 marine life, including the basking shark, grey seal, mackerel, oystercatcher bird, limpet, and bladder-wrack seaweed. TAP HERE FOR MORE KILKENNY SCHOOLS NEWS The aim of the project is to increase young people鈥檚 knowledge of Ireland鈥檚 marine biodiversity and to foster a deeper appreciation for our coastal habitats and sea-life. The students took part in a range of fun activities and games. Urlingford NS is a co-educational primary school with approximately 227 students. They have been working on the Green-Schools programme since 2004 and were recently awarded their eighth Green Flag focusing on the Global Citizenship Marine Environment theme, which is supported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. As part of their work on this theme they learned about the impacts of marine litter on ocean and coastal environments, carried out clean ups in school and at their local river and reduced single use plastic bottles in their school.