For this year’s theme we have taken inspiration from World Ocean Day 2023 Planet Ocean: Tides are changing.  “Earth is the only known planet covered by water yet somehow it is named for its land”, the ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, and is over 10,000 metres deep – yet over 80% of the ocean remains unexplored. We rely on the ocean for so much, yet we are only now starting to give them attention and resources to protect them, the “Tides are changing”. People are working together to raise awareness of the vital importance of our oceans and the role they play in sustaining a healthy planet. 

What does the “tides are changing”, mean to you?  How are people working together to help the ocean? Can you describe the new wave of excitement towards protecting the ocean and the entirety of our blue planet? Use your imagination and tell us a story about how the tides are changing – use the information above to inspire you or come up with your own interpretation altogether!

Competition

The aim of the competition is for individual students to create an original piece of creative writing inspired by the theme “Tides are changing”. The piece may take the form of either a short story or a poem and must be no more than 500 words in length. 

Eligibility

The competition is open to primary and secondary schools that are registered Green-Schools currently working on, or previously awarded for, the Global Citizenship: Marine Environment theme. Entries must adhere to the Terms and Conditions and be submitted by the deadline of midnight, Friday, 15th March, 2024.

Categories

There are three categories for entry:

• Primary School – 1st & 2nd class
• Primary School – 3rd & 4th class
• Primary School – 5th & 6th class
• Secondary School (all year groups)

Entries from Special Schools are strongly encouraged. Special School entries may be entered into whichever age category is deemed most appropriate by the student’s teacher. 

Prizes

There will be one overall national winner for each age category: each 1st place winner will receive a trophy, €100 book token, a whale or dolphin adoption from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and a writing workshop for their class from Poetry Ireland. 2nd place winners will receive a trophy and a €75 book token; 3rd place winners will receive a trophy and a €50 book token. All winners will receive a printed booklet anthology including their winning entry. Equivalent prizes may be offered subject to availability.

How to enter

Before entering, please read the full Terms & Conditions, which can be downloaded through the link below. Entries may be typed or handwritten but must be submitted through the official online entry form:

We are pleased to invite eligible schools (*) around Ireland to take part in the Green-Schools Uisce Éireann Poster & Video Competition 2024.

This is the 10th year of this competition for schools and there are some great prizes to be won! The deadline for entries is Friday, 8th March 2024.

The theme of the competition is Water for Peace. This is the theme that the United Nations have chosen to mark World Water Day on March 22nd 2024. We have put together a fact sheet with information about this topic to help inspire students as they design their posters and storyboard their videos; you can also download the factsheet from the link below. Each year the Green-Schools Water team are blown away by the creativity and talent of the entrants – and we can’t wait to see what you come up with this year!

(*) Primary and Secondary schools that have been awarded the Green Flag for Water or are currently working on the Water theme are eligible to enter the poster competition. Please note: The Video Competition is open to secondary schools (same eligibility criteria) only.