A thoughtful teacher at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Derrygonnelly cheered up her pupils who were meant to be celebrating their First Holy Communion on Saturday (May 16) by hand delivering a special poem and package of treats to their homes.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all First Communion ceremonies were cancelled, but P4 teacher Zara McCusker still wanted the day to be special for her pupils.

Paul Fitzpatrick, principal of St. Patrick’s Primary School explained: “Zara contacted me last week just saying that she had written a poem for the P4s who were due to celebrate Holy Communion on Saturday. With it being cancelled, she was going to send out a letter but then asked would it be possible for her to hand deliver the letters because she had a wee parcel of sweets and different things for the children as well.”

“On Saturday morning between 11am and 12noon, which would have been Holy Communion time, she visited all the P4 children and delivered to them,” added Paul, noting that there are 12 children in the P4 class.

Senior teacher Claire McAloon has twins, Teagan and Pearse, who were meant to be celebrating their First Communion on Saturday. Zara delivered a package, which included the thoughtful poem and numerous sweets, to their doorstep.

Sharing the response to Zara’s kind gesture, Paul said: “Claire said that they were a little bit shy but they had missed their teacher greatly so it was so lovely to see her. I would’ve got that feedback from parents over the last month or so with lockdown and the school closed, that the children were missing their teachers.”

“I just think there was that added sentimentality to it with her visiting them and giving them her wee poem. It’s a very personal poem written by herself,” shared Paul, adding: “It’s very thoughtful and caring and there’s a lot of sentiment in it, it says that she’s missing the children and noted the occasion that it would have been for them.”

Commenting that as a teacher, Zara has a “real warmth” and a “really lovely rapport with the children”, Paul added: “Some of the parents were saying how much they missed their teacher and I just know that in particular she would stand out because she has a nice warmth and a lovely bond with the kids. She did text me herself that evening to say that the children and parents really appreciated it, her going that extra mile. She also got quite a few emails from parents that evening thanking her for it and that their children were over the moon, that it was such a nice thing to do.”

“So it meant a lot to the parents and the kids and I do think it said a lot about the teacher as well,” Paul told this newspaper.