Time To Say Goodbye

St. Mary's Secondary School in Ballina held a virtual graduation ceremony this year which closed with the sixth year singers performing a virtual rendention of 'Time To Say Goodbye'.

“They had been rehearsing the piece for the practical section of their Leaving Cert Music exam, which didn't go ahead with school closures,” explained music teacher Regina Deacy.

“As their music teacher, I thought that it would be nice for them to sing it together as a choir at the online graduation ceremony one last time - even if it was virtually!

“In the last two weeks, they all recorded their individual parts at home and sent in their videos. The piece was engineered and compiled by another Leaving Cert student, James Hackett in St. Muredach's College in Ballina.”

Ms. Deacy said that because it wasn't possible for St. Mary's to have its usual graduation for the Leaving Cert students and their families due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they thought it important to mark the occasion in some way for they girls and decided upon a 'virtual' ceremony.

“We created a live event on our school Teams software and streamed the event to students and their families to watch in their homes. Over the past few weeks, Leaving Cert students were busy sending in videos of themselves doing readings, prayers, reflections, singing hymns and playing music. We posted out a gown, hat and certificate to each of them. They sent back fabulous photos in their uniform and gowns, which we collated into a large graduation class photo.”

The school principal, Robert O'Reilly, produced the event, compiling the pre-recorded contributions of the students into a moving ceremony. The final roll call was read live, as was the principal's address and the student speech, before 'Time To Say Goodbye' closed the ceremony.