Mr Kearins welcomed everyone to our school to celebrate the graduation of our four sixth classes from St. Declan’s. It is a very special moment for all these children as they leave primary school and move onto the next stage in their lives. It is a time to remember and a time to look forward.  Most of them have been part of our school community for the past eight years and some joined us along the way. 

Emma, Enrika, Igor and Liva read out the prayers of the faithful.

School attendance is crucial to success at school and we had a number of pupils from our 6th classes who have achieved a fantastic attendance record over the past 8 years in St. Declan’s.

Eimear O’ Connell, Chloe Doherty, Aaron Ennis and Evan Finglas. The overall attendance winner from the last eight years in St. Declan’s NS was Daniel Mc Mahon. 

We had many worthy nominees of sportsperson of the year in 6th class this year. This award takes the past 8 years into account. It is awarded for participation, dedication, sportsmanship, team spirit, leadership skills and behaviour on and off the pitch. We had 12 nominees for this award. Mr Farrell read out the 12 nominations. They were Chloe Doherty, Luke Keegan, Gerard Tyrell Foran, Alex Kelly, Mikolaj Mocek, Connor Valentine, Eimear O’ Connell, Sophie Flynn, Daisy Szpara , Daire Mc Mahon,, Chloe Michaels, Shane Morrissey. The overall award went to Chloe Doherty from Mr Melia’s class. Mr Farrell and Mr Kearins presented Chloe with her trophy. 

The pupil of the year trophy was an award that was first presented in 1995 on behalf of the Flannery family.   Eileen joined us at graduation to present the trophy. The nominations for pupil of the year were Ellie Sweeney, Ruby Melia Skopinski, Mia Carberry, Luke Walsh, Arian Angustia, Jake Pollard, Jason Ston, Alannah Dagger, Maja Slifierz, Chloe Garrigan, Eoin Tannam and Aaron Byrne. The overall winner of pupil of the year 2021-2022 was Eoin Tannam from Ms Lydon’s 6th class Room 24. Eileen and Mr Kearins presented him with the trophy. 

Mr Kearins thanked the Our Board Of Management, our caretaker Tommy and our secretaries Karen and Joanne for all their hard work in the school. The help of the PA is also vital to the school .Over the past year, the PA has helped in many practical ways by catering for all the annual events and organising fundraising.  They are very important and active partners in the life of St. Declan’s and we are indebted to them for their time and dedication.  Natalie Kelly and Audrey O’ Neill presented Mr Kearins with a cheque for 15,000 from money raised this year.

Mr Kearins thanked all the class and Special education teachers who had worked with the children over the past eight years. Ciara read a poem ” A letter from a teenager”.

The slideshow brought a few tears to the audience as we reminisced over the past eight years. The children took to the stage to finish off with their song “Memories”. Thank you to Mr Mc Keown and Mrs O’ Rourke for preparing the children for the song. A huge thanks goes to Ms O’ Donnell, Mr Melia, Ms Lydon and Mr Farrell.

We wish all the children the very best of luck as they move onto the the next adventure in their lives. As we stand proudly in the light of their achievements we hope that they continue to grow in mind and heart and in wisdom and compassion. All the best class of 2022 from the staff of St. Declan’s NS .