St Laserian’s complete school's first LC programme
They made history! Willow Class at St Laserian's School. Back row: Amberleigh Fox, Isabelle O'Gorman and Zac Feeney. Front row: Tom Kelly, Jamie Stynes, John Hogan
FOR the first time since St Laserian’s School in Carlow opened in 1969, a group of students have successfully completed a leaving certificate programme.
The class of 2026 were the first ones ever to complete the leaving cert exams at the school. Teachers, support teachers, families and friends were all over the moon at their huge achievement.
Principal Rachel Dolan said it was “an exciting day” and “such a milestone” for the school and the 16 leaving cert students.
The level 1 and 2 learning programmes were introduced in September 2024 and are follow-on courses for students who went through junior cycle learning programmes.
The goal of the senior cycle programmes is to prepare students for life beyond school, enabling them to be lifelong learners and to live more independently. They are tailored to the individual learning needs of each student.
“It has been very well planned that the results were given on the same day as the leaving certificate results when the students’ friends, neighbours, siblings, cousins would get their results, too. It creates a sense of achievement and equality for them,” said Rachel.
The 16 students created portfolios of work showcasing their written work, artistic creations, numeracy tasks, videos and photographic evidence of their learning. The teachers collated it over a two-year period as evidence of the students achieving a learning outcome. It was co-ordinated in St Laserian’s by Yvonne Nolan.
“It’s very life skills based,” explained Rachel: “If they’re working on a home economics programme, it will be about independent living, up to advanced cooking skills in level 2.” These portfolios were then assessed by an invigilator in the springtime. All of them received certification and “passed with flying colours,” said Rachel. The invigilator was complimentary of the teachers and the SNAs who supported the students.
“We have very high expectations of our students,” said Rachel.
To celebrate their achievement, the students and their classmates, families and teachers gathered on Friday morning for tea and cake in the staff room.
