Schools and their students ‘Spring’ into action
Mitchelstown principals respond to students’ return to classrooms
DOING THE LEAVING BEFORE THEY DEPART
The excitement and relief wasn’t confined to primary pupils, as secondary school students sitting their Leaving Cert, also, moved out from their home environment. Examinations don’t come any bigger than the Leaving Certificate and with prepartion being all important, the last thing you want is disruption.
Students may be a bit behind, but, there’s confidence that with the necessary effort, everyone will get back on track and come the big day, those sitting this year’s Leaving Certificate will be ready to roll - under a new arrangement, this year’s Leaving Certificate class also have the option of ‘being assessed’.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS RE-OPEN
Locally, secondary schools re-opened with students losing no time getting back into the swing of things. Garvan Queeney, deputy principal of St. Colman’s College, Fermoy said this week was very significant.
“There was a lot of excitement and a lot of relief, remote learning is something we adjusted to and I’d like to acknowledge the role played by students, parents and teachers in making this a success. Our Leaving Certificate pupils are back this week and all going according to plan, other years will return in the coming weeks. It’s been challenging, but everyone has risen to these challenges,” Mr Queeney told The
Avondhu.
For their part, students are happy with ‘the certainty’ of the new arrangements. Once again in familar surroundings and with 100% backing from dedicated teachers, the expectation is that the Leaving Certificate class of 2021 will apply themselves like never before and give a really good account of themselves, regardless of what Leaving Certificate format they opt for.
The return of sixth year students to classrooms after ten weeks of Covid19 school closures has been greeted with relief and delight by principals at Mitchelstown’s three secondary schools.
Leaving Cert students returned to the classroom on Monday, with fifth year students due back on March 15th, and remaining second-level year groups set to return following the Easter holidays.
At Mitchelstown CBS, Principal Mary Hannon said students and teachers alike were ‘delighted to be back’.
“They’re getting back into the routine and back to face-to-face lessons with teachers, and that’s a relief,” she said. “It is a challenge for teachers when you’re not in the building with your students.”
Ms Hannon said students had suffered high levels of stress due to uncertainty, but that that had been eased with the announcement of arrangements for this year’s dual examinations and predicted grades system.
“It’s easier now they have something to plan towards and that they’re thinking about what they need to do,” she said. “Some students are planning to sit all the exams, and obviously because you get to choose the higher grade from your exam or predicted grade, we’d be encouraging students to do that. But some students are also thinking strategically and choosing not to sit some subjects they’re confident in, so they can focus on others.”
Ms Hannon said online learning had been successful, but that it was clear students had missed the social element of school, which they were readjusting to.
“They were a little quieter on Monday morning than they’d normally be, and I think that’s because they need to adjust to the school setting again.”
‘RE-ESTABLISHING A ROUTINE’
In Presentation Secondary, the presence of just one class group in the building was lending a ‘slightly surreal atmosphere’, Principal Lorraine O’Keeffe said.
“We’re delighted to have them back and it will be a pleasure to get the fifth years back, too. This week has been about re-establishing a routine and after that, it will be all about preparing for the Leaving Cert and we’ll be encouraging students to sit the exams,” she said.
STUDENTS ‘BACK IN A GOOD PLACE’
Coláiste Fionnchua principal, Edward Cronin said the sixth years’ return was ‘ a bit of light at the end of the tunnel’ following a year beset by challenges.
“Even though we were able to move successfully to online classes, socially and mentally, this puts students back in a good place.”
Mr Cronin said teachers now faced challenges in combining in-person teaching with a continuation of online classes for other year groups, often while juggling their own parenting commitments if they have children who have not yet returned to school.
“There’s a challenge to this hybrid model of the next few weeks, where we have to combine face-to-face and online classes,” he said.
The choice offered to students between a predicted grade and an exam grade was welcomed by students, who he said were ‘ delighted’ by the choice.