Congratulations to our ninety 6th class children who had their graduation on the 26th of June to acknowledge their eight years with us here in St. Declan’s. It is a very special moment for the children as they leave primary school and move onto the next stage in their lives. Most of them have been part of our school community for the past eight years and some joined us along the way. During the time with us they have been nurtured by the love of their families, inspired by the guidance of their teachers and bound by the precious gifts of friendship. 

We were joined on the night by our four 6th class teachers Mr Barry, Mr Quinn, Ms McGee and Mr Melia. Geraldine Boylan (Chairperson of the PA). Frank Reidy and Eileen Flannery also joined us for the awards. The children have been working with their class teachers over the past few weeks and created some very impressive art work for the hall. Have a look at the amazing work.

We opened the ceremony with the children taking to the red carpet and they got a standing ovation from everyone in the room.

Bonnie, Lily and Eli read the prayers of the faithful for us. M Barry, Mr Quinn, Ms Mc Gee and Mr Melia read out the names of the children for graduation and they came up to order their medals and certificates.

The awards for 2023/2024 were as follows: 

Thomas Ashe Award – To acknowledge outstanding achievement and effort in academic learning. Well done to Josh Connolly, Danny Crowe, Kenzo Samuel Gabriel and Aleksandra Calka who received this award.

Golden Heart Award – for someone who showed remarkable kindness, friendship and respect towards others. This award went to Emma Mulligan O’ Grady, Áine Ratcliffe, Eva Donnelly and Chloe Molloy.

 Creative Arts Award – for someone who has shown fantastic ability, talent and creativity in the arts (music, art or drama). Congratulations to Molly Cowley, Anthony Plominski, Millie Willoughby and Patrycja Olechowska who won this award.

Outstanding Sports Achievement – Someone who has demonstrated excellent achievement, participation and contribution to sports in the school. This award went to James O’ Donoghue Hernandez, Darragh Murphy, Emily Thomas and Ashton Dillon.

Overall Attendance Award – we like to acknowledge the importance of school attendance – every day counts. Jessica O’ Donohue had the best overall attendance for the last eight years in St. Declan’s. This is an exceptional achievement. 

Sportsperson of the Year – “The Reidy Award” in honour of our former principal, Frank Reidy who worked tirelessly to promote sport in the school and across Co. Meath. Frank continues to be involved in promoting sport as a member of the Fingal League organising committee and Cumann na mBunscol. Our Sportsperson of the Year for 2023/2024 was Patrick Toth.

Pupil of the Year Award – this award is a long standing tradition. The award is presented by the Flannery family in memory of their late son.  The pupil of the year 2023-2024 was Tristan Hayden. Huge congratulations Tristan.

Thank you to the four 6th class teachers Mr Barry, M Quinn, Ms McGee and Mr Melia for their dedication and hard work with their classes and to all the teachers and SNAs who have worked with these classes over the past eight years. Mr Kearins acknowledged the work of the Board Of Management,  our secretaries Karen and Joanne our caretaker Tommy and our house keeping staff. Our PA presented Mr Kearins with a cheque for 21,000 for money raised through fundraising events throughout the year.

6th Class Graduation Song 2024

https://youtu.be/ISMWlhFhWqY?feature=shared

6th Class Slideshow 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugXCfE_UIR8

We had a photo booth for the children to take photos in after the graduation. They had great fun trying on the different props.  Thank you to our Parents Association for providing refreshments for the families and staff after the graduation.  It was a great night and we are so proud of all the children as they move forward to secondary school. We wish them all the very best of luck and hope they will look back with fond memories on the time spent with us here in St. Declan’s NS.