Junior Cert results celebrated at Loreto

Junior Cycle Assessment Certificates were presented to the Third Year class of 2020 at Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy on Friday last, September 17.

Each class was called down to the hall to receive their results from school principal Orla Forde, deputy principal Trevor Franks and TY year head, Aoife Hennessy.

According to a spokesperson for the school, a half-day was awarded to mark the excellent results achieved across the board.

“The excitement was palpable and the girls were thrilled to open the envelopes containing their results,” the spokesperson said.

While the official State certificate is issued later in the year, this certificate was awarded to recognise their completion of the programme and celebrate the excellent results they achieved.

One student who received their certificate on Friday was Grainne Finn, who said that there was a lot of uncertainty regarding whether Junior Cycle exams would go ahead.

“We were attending online classes from after Christmas until after Easter in 3rd year. Even days before the pre-exams, which were due to begin on February 8th, we were not sure if the exams would be taking place. This was stressful and made me feel so uncertain,” Grainne said.

For Marie Humphries, a return to the classroom this year was a very welcome one, as was noted by other students too who had to adapt to online learning rather than the classroom environment, which many had become used to.

“There were sometimes technical issues, such as poor wi-fi or issues with Zoom. It could be quite frustrating. One might miss chunks of a lesson or not hear what was being discussed. We were glad to return to the classroom after Easter 2021,” she said.

SENSE OF OCCASION

Loreto principal, Orla Forde, outlined why the school choose to take time time to honour their students on Friday last.

“So many young people had a difficult and challenging year last year. The social distancing, sanitising and mask-wearing were alien to us all. Then came lockdown and the move to online learning. During all of this, our students were cooperative, adaptable, diligent and resilient. They missed so many significant milestones and coming of age rites of passage.

“We wanted to mark this for them and give them a sense of occasion. They have completed a programme of study under such extraordinary circumstances. It is only fitting to acknowledge this,” she said.