Flags Galore for Coachford

Coachford National School were the proud recipients of two flags last Friday. The School received their fourth Green Flag  and their first Health Promoting School Flag. The An Taisce green flag was awarded for  the Travel module. The aim of this flag is to promote and increase the amount of pupils walking, cycling, park ‘n’ stride, carpooling or using public transport, which will ease congestion by reducing the amount of private cars arriving at the school gate. It will also lessen the overall impact on the environment by reducing emissions and pollution. The journey to school is an ideal way for children to take part in regular physical activity, to interact with their peers and to develop the road sense children need as pedestrians and cyclists. The school children organised an action day where they walked to school, had a Car pooling awareness week and invited a member of the Gardai to come in and discuss road safety with them. In presenting the flag Dr. Mary Stack of Cork County Council praised the teachers, parents and especially the children. She said, “ this is Coachford National School’s fourth Green Flag and displays a huge commitment from the school over the last ten years to the  environment of the school and  the wider area and places the School as one of the top educators in environmental awareness and sustainability”.  Coachford National School became the latest school in the country to be presented with the Healthy Ireland –‘Health Promoting Schools’ Flag’. The Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools’(HPS) Flag’ is presented by the HSE to schools as an acknowledgement of their work in improving the health of their school communities. The Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools programme supports schools to focus on health and wellbeing. Signing up to the programme involved all members of the Coachford National school community. Students, staff, parents and guardians were consulted to identify priority health areas. Over a period of around 2 school years the school develop an action plan to address the health areas identified. Presenting the flag to the school and certificates to the students who worked on the initiative, Margaret Crowley HSE Health Promotion Officer said, “Schools work, at their own pace, supported by the HSE Health Promotion & Improvement Dept. In each school, a Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools coordinator and Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools team lead out on the progression of health and wellbeing and this work is supported by the school principal, board of management and wider school community.  The pupils and staff here in Coachford have shown a real commitment to the programme  and there is no doubt that being a Health Promoting school will be of huge benefit to the School . European research has shown many benefits of this type of whole school approach to health.  Chief among these benefits are increased self-esteem, safer and cleaner school environments, lowered incidences of bullying, a positive approach to health issues, increased parent involvement and better student/teacher relationships to name a few.

Coachford Community Farmers Market

All good things have to come to an end and so it is for the market.  For the last eight years Coachford market has been a regular successful and enjoyable social event in the village.   However, it is with regret that the committee now feel that it is time to draw this to a close for the moment.  Chairperson of the market, Penny Rainbow said, “We have had tremendous support from many different areas of the community and would like to thank sincerely everyone who has been involved over the years.   The stallholders and the market have collected for several charities over the years and the second hand book stall alone has collected €3286 for Saint Vincent de Paul  over the last six years.  We would like to thank everyone for their custom.  We would also like to wish all the stallholders the very best of luck for the future”.

Little Voices

The first event of the Coachford Autumn Festival takes place on Thursday August 13^th. The Junior Voice of the Festival is being run for the very first time and a large number of entries are expected. Festival PRO, Kieran Doherty said,  “ we are all very excited about this event. The competition is open to singers under 16 and they can be individuals or groups. Musical accompaniment is allowed but backing tracks are not. We have lined up two very good judges to listen to the singers and judge them on performance, delivery and the quality of the voice. It will be a fabulous nights entertainment and all the proceeds of the event will be going to Suicide Aware and local charities.”  Further information can be got from the festival secretary on 086 8030086.