Loreto welcomes students back to in-person learning
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Hollie Grant and Roisin Nepomuceno, 5th Year and TY, back in school at Loreto College, Mullingar, on Monday morning.Image 2 of 7
Mary Kate Gowran, Donna McCormack and Loredana Bura, 5th YearImage 3 of 7
Isibeal Ni Mhurchu, Anna Fallon and Edel McCawley, 3rd Year.Image 4 of 7
Sarah McAnaney, Sara Shayoub and Favour Bakare, 3rd Year.Image 5 of 7
Aine Creagh, Grace Reid and Maebh O’Hara, 2nd Year. (Photos taken on Monday morning.)Image 6 of 7
Stephanie Greville, Sinéad Battle and Anna Casey, Transition Year.Image 7 of 7
Maeve Morrison, Shauna Cleary and Anne Reynolds, 1st Year.The acting principal of Loreto College, Mullingar, had been feeling confident ahead of all students returning to class this week.
On Monday, first to fourth year secondary school students returned to in-person learning, and Olivia Callaghan, who is acting principal at Loreto College, said the school had been looking forward to that.
“Everybody is delighted that the students are back in school and back to face-to-face teaching. There’s really nothing like it,” she said.
Ms Callaghan acknowledged that while having the option to teach online had been great, it also had its challenges.
“There are issues in some areas with broadband so not everybody can get on the live classes or had the connectivity they wanted. Especially if there were a lot of family members at home and parents are working from home. It can be tough,” Ms Callaghan said.
The school, along with the guidance department, sent a wellbeing form to all students at the start of the Easter holidays to gauge how they were feeling ahead of coming back.
“The idea was to check where people were at and if students were worried in case they hadn’t caught up with everything.”
Ms Callaghan said it was a good opportunity for students to share how they were feeling about the return so that they could enjoy Easter without feeling as anxious.
“All the year groups filled it in and there were some small concerns, but generally they were looking forward to coming back,” she said.
In terms of Covid-19 safety, Ms Callaghan is happy and confident with the measures the school has taken.
“We put a lot of work into protocols at the start of the year, and into social distancing in classrooms and student areas. So, the foundation work is good, and we’ll carry on with that and we’re confident,” she said.
Ms Callaghan said the school has multiple entrances, which helps when it comes to the safety of students and staff.
The school staff and Leaving Certificate students have been busy over the last few weeks as the oral exams for languages and exams music have been taking place.
Ms Callaghan said all oral examiners were local teachers apart from the practical exam for music and, although it was a new situation for staff and students, it went well.
“They ran very smoothly. We had all the Covid protocols in place and the perspex screens which our caretakers made for us. We had them set up, along with the laptops and microphones to make sure everyone could be heard properly,” she said.
She also said she hoped that sixth years got a well-deserved break after a busy couple of weeks of exams.
“I am hoping they got a bit of rest over Easter because some of them would’ve been in for multiple languages as well as the music orals,” she added.