A virtual graduation in uncertain times

WHEN the 2020 sixth-class pupils of Scoil Eoin Balloonagh in Tralee look back on their final year in primary school they will give a collective ‘kudos’ to the teachers and staff for retrieving a graduation that seemed lost.

Pupils recently enjoyed a ‘virtual graduation’ night and a medal ceremony, which sixth-class teacher Triona Daly said no one could have imagined possible when the school closed in March. But they had always hoped they would meet up again.

“Sixth-class is the end of a stage in their lives and this particular group have been together for eighth years,” said Triona.

She explained that feedback from parents during the lockdown suggested that while the pupils were coping with school work, they were ‘struggling’ because of a lack of social interaction with their peers. Each sixth-class pupil was recently presented with a special medal from the school honouring the fact they ‘stayed home to save lives’.

“As a teacher it was lovely to see them that day and that they were fine and all their families were fine. The children have been absolutely brilliant during this pandemic,” Triona said.

“We had been watching progress since March in the hope of bringing them together for an actual gradation but as time went on we knew this just wasn’t possible. We have 87 children graduating and when you add in their families, it just wasn’t feasible. That’s when we decided on a virtual gradation night.”

A downloadable collection of photos of the children charting their journey from junior infants to their final year in primary school was created. This will give children an opportunity to visualise their progression through primary school. A downloadable memory book was also added to give children a chance to write down their memories and messages.

“It reconnects them with each other and they had to think of all the good times in order to find those memories,” said Triona.

“To bring about that reconnection is where we’re coming from. Some pupils would have joined the school after first-class, so by sourcing their photos as well it allows all the children to finish together. Obviously the graduation is not the same when they can’t physically reconnect but it did bring them together. It was about creating that sense of occasion.”