‘Resilience defines Class of 2020’ - focus turns to CAO offers for Limerick students

BRENDAN Power was home alone in Crecora on Monday morning when he went online at 9.06 to find out his long-awaited Leaving Cert results.

The 18-year-old student was one of 161 students of Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom and one of  60,000 students nationwide to find out their fate in the most bizarre circumstances in the history of the State exam.  There was no exam.

Instead, predicted grades were to decide the students' destiny. And, thankfully, for Brendan, the global pandemic didn’t knock him off course. 

“I’m delighted, I got 589 points,” he told the Leader on Monday afternoon after phoning family, friends and his girlfriend to share his good news.

“I’m planning on doing biomedical engineering in CIT in Cork. To be honest, luckily for me I’m not much of a crammer so I’ve definitely been working hard since the start of fifth year so that did definitely pay off.”

The cool-headed teen, woke up at about 8.30am - some of his friends were pacing the floorboards two hours earlier - had his breakfast and then logged onto the results system.

“I do a lot of sport and music so I’d be fairly used to nerve-wracking occasions,” he smiled. “I was on my own - my parents Carmel and John had gone out for a little while in the morning so I read the results and I told them when they came back. I had wished all my friends good luck the previous day so I checked in with them to see how they were doing. I texted all the family and gave my girlfriend a ring.”

For Brendan, like so many of his peers across the country, the experience was strange.

None of the Leaving Cert Class of 2020 from  Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom went into the school after receiving  their results. There were no hugs or high fives, post-mortems or parties. Covid was dictating the rules today and all were abiding by them.

“I was even thinking recently that I don’t even remember what my last day of school was like,” remarked Brendan, “because the lockdown just happened out of nowhere”.

On reflection he feels the lockdown “wasn’t the worst thing from an academic point of view” but in the context of social interaction it stung.

“We had most of the work done so it was tying up a few loose ends, polishing, so I felt from an online point of view that could be achieved with a bit of concentration but of course the motivation to make sure you get up everyday at the right time and fit in a full school day when you’re sitting at home is tough. But I felt what was more tough again was knowing we won’t have a proper last day, no debs, no graduation. I feel that’s all part of the sixth year experience and we didn’t really get any of that so that was tough for sure.  It was isolation after all,” he said.

The Coláiste Chiaráin principal agreed that the Leaving Certificate students “have been through a lot”. 

“The class of 2020 have been resilient if nothing else,” Gerard O'Sullivan remarked. “From our own point of view they have been a fantastic bunch and there has been some really excellent results. They have worked through what has been a difficult and challenging year and it would be nice to see it work out for them. We had one girl with seven A1s. I’m just glad that the system has been fair to the high achievers and that they haven’t been averaged or made into statistical anomalies just for the sake of it. We had two students Olaf Miklas and Julia Galarowicz who received the perfect 625 points. Well done to them both.”

Many teachers, he explained, received emails on Monday from students expressing their delight at their results “and I have received some lovely emails from parents as well who are very complimentary”.

“Our guidance and counselling team have been made available for the week if they want to come in. They can make appointments and we can facilitate them.

“I think it’s in the days ahead that our students will need more guidance particularly as we face into the CAO options and colleges and choices.”

A Leaving Cert results day like no other in west

IT was a Leaving Certificate results day like no other, as students across West Limerick learnt of their results in a different way altogether.

Gone were the social gatherings in school as results were given out – a sad sign of these Covid-19 ravaged times – with most students learning of their future from behind computer screens at home.

But despite this, there was a lot of pride, with two students from Colaiste Mhuire securing the maximum 625 points.
Serrane Gallagher and Caoimhe O’Connell both from Askeaton, were left celebrating their remarkable results, which this year, were based on teacher grading due to the extraordinary times we are living in.

Caoimhe admitted she is “slightly shocked” with her results, but at the same time, “absolutely thrilled.”
“I’d like to thank all of Colaiste Mhuire for the support over the years, as the hard work and dedication from my teachers has got me to where I am. The lockdown was a difficult time but the continued support provided by our teachers has paid off,” she added.

Another student who did well was Aaron Cummins.

He said: “Quite a number of life experiences, days of celebration and what could be considered cultural rites of passage have been missed out on. But I hope that students everywhere opening their results are proud of what they achieved during this difficult time. I hope too that they can see this as the end of their chapter in secondary school, that unfortunately for everyone finished in quite a stressful and open ended manner, and that students can now look ahead to bigger and greater things.”

Across in Rathkeale, at Colaiste na Trocaire, principal Michael Behan says he is “thrilled and proud” at his student’s efforts, especially in these extraordinary times.

He said: “It’s just a shame we couldn’t have them in the school to celebrate results in the usual way. Look at the turmoil they have had from March, the stresses and strains there. I think it’s a big relief that everyone appears contented and happy with their grades.”

Mr Behan also praised his staff who were “exceptionally professional and thorough” throughout the whole grading process.
”The structures we had in the school allowed us to track students’ progress over the last two years, and this made the calculated grades process more manageable,” he explained.

Next stop, CAO offers day this Friday!