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Tag Archives: St Caimin’s

Class action for LGBTI+ students

Owen Ryan reports on an initiative at Saint Caimin’s to bring about a culture of acceptance regardless of sexuality HOMOPHOBIC bullying has cast a dark shadow over Irish secondary schools for many years and blighted thousands of young lives. Name calling, intimidation and sometimes violence against young people who identify as LGBTI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Intersex) or even suspected of being so, has been widespread in many schools. While the country enthusiastically passed the same sex marriage referendum, has had a gay taoiseach and gay sports stars, discrimination based on sexuality is still a concerning and prevalent issue among Irish teenagers. Given that virtually every year group in every secondary school must have LGBTI+ members, the impact of homophobia on young people can only be seen as hugely damaging. However there are some efforts to fight back against it, and in St Caimin’s in Shannon teachers Cora Guinnane and Chloe Morey are helping to run a group for …

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“There was so much denied to them”

2020 has surely been the oddest year to be a Leaving Cert student, with the exam, the great rite of passage, not actually happening at all but the young people still getting a set of results. Despite results being distributed online these days, until now former students have still come to St Caimin’s to meet their former classmates on teachers on the big day, but it couldn’t happen this week. “No, unfortunately not, it was another one of those things that were denied to the year group I’m afraid. It’s an awful shame, it’s normally a great day when you meet them all and wish them all the best. It would have been a logistical nightmare to bring them in,” said principal Alan Cunningham. He feels those whose school days concluded in 2020 have missed out on an awful lot of important experiences. “There was so much denied to them. We’d always have a graduation mass celebration, our awards ceremony, …

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“The unknown was the disaster for everyone”

THE Leaving Cert is one of the great Irish rites of passage but the class of 2020 will never negotiate it. It may not be ideal but Alan Cunningham, principal of St Caimin’s in Shannon, feels it is probably the least worst option at this stage. “Yeah, the unknown was the disaster for everyone. Taking into account everyone’s wellbeing, keeping them hanging until July 29, when it might not have happened either. They had to come up with some kind of plan and it is what it is now, we can all get on with it and see how it comes out the other end.” Some young people are happy with the idea of predicted grades, but not everyone is, he feels. “There’s a fair mix. You’d have some people delighted with it and some people who would feel they have a better chance on the day, with the paper. Every student has their individual way of looking at it. …

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Students deliver messages of hope

SHANNON students have been reaching out to residents of a nursing home who are unable to have visitors, letting them know they are not alone during the Covid-19 crisis. More than 80 students of St Caimin’s secondary school have written letters to the residents of Carrigoran House nursing home in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Students of the school usually visit Carrigoran at Easter time, but because of restrictions surrounding the pandemic this annual event had to be cancelled. School chaplain Cora Guinnane said that the letter writing was “the next best thing” and the students at the school were delighted to get involved. Cora explained that she and another teacher saw a similar initiative being carried out at a nursing home in Cork which had been a great success. “We thought it would be a fantastic idea to do with our students. So  I put the call out to students and teachers who would like to participate and we had a fantastic response. …

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Cunningham takes up Caimin’s principal role

HE has taught at St Caimin’s for more than 30 years and now Alan Cunningham has taken on the big job, succeeding Claire Knight as principal. “I’m following in a long line of leaders in St Caimin’s and my hope is to do as good a job as they did,” he says of his promotion. Alan was dealing with a family bereavement earlier this week but still generously made himself available to talk about his new responsibilities. Virtually his whole career has been at St Caimin’s, as he went there straight from college. “It was back in the ’80s. There wasn’t much around but this school was built the year before I qualified. I came in part-time, bits of hours here, bits of hours there. I was two years doing bits and pieces.” A native of the town, he went to national school at St Conaire’s and second level at St Patrick’s Comprehensive. The elevation to principal comes after four …

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‘I can see the difference it makes to people’s lives’

WHEN Government ministers or business leaders talk about prioritising what they call STEM, it shows a very one-dimensional view of what Irish education should be. Such a view isn’t particularly concerned with developing people, rather with creating human units of economic activity, but thankfully many people with a more balanced view of young people are active in Irish schools and classrooms. Cora Guinnane is one of them, a woman who serves as chaplain of St Caimin’s in Shannon, and whose enthusiasm for what she does is very obvious. “I love chaplaincy, love it. I really believe in it. I can see the difference it makes to people’s lives. I see the kids at a different level. I would know the kids who might come to school without a breakfast or the kids where there is a bereavement or separation. “There could be addiction, just the kids that are struggling with emotional difficulties, their well-being mightn’t be great or their mental …

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St Caimin’s, the history makers

St Caimin’s  Shannon 20  Abbey CBS, Tipperary 17 St Caimin’s Community school Shannon made rugby history at the 4G pitch at the university of Limerick this Tuesday afternoon when they won a Munster rugby title for the first time. Having qualified on Friday last with a 22-15 win over Clonmel High school, the Clare side produced another impressive display when overcoming another Tipperary school in the final. Behind 5-10 at half time, St Caimin’s  came storming back in the second half to capture the honours. By Seamus Hayes, Sports editor   Photographs by John  Kelly

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All good friends in Caimin’s

ST Caimin’s Community,  School recently held a Friendship Week aimed at promoting positive relationships between students and tackling bullying. The approach adopted was for LC1 students to give presentations to junior cycle students. The older students reminded the younger ones to speak out about situations before they escalate and they offered advice on how to deal with bullying and its effects. Other activities during the week included a ‘Thought of the Day’ which was communicated over the school’s intercom. The objective of this was to give students a positive thought to keep their spirits up during the day. During the week LC1 students were visited by Colm Fagan from Aware. Colm spoke to students about how to recognise anxiety and about how to cope with it effectively. Posters, created by the students, were displayed around St Caimin’s to remind them to be aware of the support systems available in the school. There was positive feedback from both staff and students …

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