You decide when you are ready to apply for your Green-Flag award.
The application and award accreditation process is based primarily around the successful implementation of all 'Seven Steps' of the Green-Schools programme. As long as all 'Seven Steps' have been up and running for one full school year or more, there is no set time scale between registration and applying for the award. When you apply for the Green-Flag award, the assessors will be looking for evidence that each of the steps has been adopted.
Once the Green-Schools programme has been established and in operation in your school for several months you will begin to know which elements of the programme are working successfully and which need further attention.
The following lists the minimum required for each step:
A Green-Schools Committee has been established and meets on a regular basis.
An Environmental Review has been undertaken, which clearly indicates the environmental impact of the school for the theme being undertaken.
An Action Plan with realistic and manageable goals has been developed from the review, with some of these goals partially or fully achieved.
The progress towards achieving these goals has been monitored and displayed.
The programme has been intergrated with the school curriculum when and where possible.
The whole school has been updated on the progress of the programme and has been involved to some degree. A "Day of Action" should be part of this process.
An applicable "Green Code" has been written, adopted and displayed.
The seven steps are the basis of the Green-Schools programme. When you apply for the award the assessors will be looking for evidence that each of these steps has been adopted. However, it is important to note that the assessment process will take account of each school's individual circumstances. For example, the level of student involvement expected will vary according to the age, abiltiy and experience of the students. If you are in any doubt about meeting the criteria please contact the Green-Schools Office of An Tasice for advice. Remember, there are case studies available here to show how other schools have implemented their programmes.
When you are confident that all of the above points are in place (i.e. that each of the seven steps of the Green-Schools programme have been implemented successfully), you are ready to apply for the Green Flag.