Today, Wednesday 19th March 2025, we mark the five-year anniversary of the day we closed the school gates of St John’s PS in response to the pandemic. On that day, corridors and classrooms, that had once rung out with the easy chatter and laughter of children, were thrust into stony silence and isolation.
As we look back, we reflect on the challenges and the blessings. We commend our teaching staff, who quickly adapted to online teaching, providing two live lessons daily for our children. We acknowledge the work of our learning support staff, office staff, building supervisor, school counsellor, and school leadership team who looked after 150 children on site when the Key Worker Programme was introduced.
We also recognise the commitment of our parents who became co-teachers and embraced this role to do their absolute best for their children. Our amazing school community managed all of this while dealing with their own fears and anxieties, coping with sick and vulnerable family members, and for the parents, working from home. As we commemorate this milestone, we honour, in particular, the resilience of our children and thank God that they made it through this period safely to return to our school family.
Today, we remember the families who lost loved ones throughout this period. We pray especially for them and trust that they have found some healing in recent years.
Finally, these changes, though initially challenging, sparked innovation and resilience in the face of adversity, a collaborative spirit emerged in our community which ensured that every child maintained a degree of social contact. The importance of community spirit, flexibility, and empathy became deeply engrained in each one of us. Above all, we found a deeper understanding of the power of connection and respect for humanity. Therefore, as a school family, we look forward with hope in our hearts and pray that we will always do our best for our St John’s school family and indeed the wider Creggan community.
