Eleven year old primary school pupil Dara Leonard certainly has a flair with words.
The St Mary’s Newtownbutler Primary School pupil has penned a poem which reflects his own thoughts and indeed the toughts of many during this difficult time under Covid-19.
The primary seven pupil, a son of Noel and Catherine Leonard, was assigned a topic by his teacher Niall Sludden on Covid-19 experiences and what he came up with truly reflects his thoughts.
The poem received great praise from his teacher and the principal of the school Paula Kelly.
His mother Catherine explained that the teachers were always encouraging the pupils to improve their literary skills and asked them to think about Covid-19 either in a diary or time capsule.
Dara chose prose and has really impressed with his thoughts and words.
Mrs Leonard said, “Dara sat down last week and came up with this. I just thought it really captured his thoughts and the principal called me to say it was ‘absolutely brilliant’.
“He’s thinking about not just himself, he’s thinking about how bad it is for older people and one day he said to me ‘this is devastating mammy. I’m never going to get back to my school’.
“I saw the message of praise first, but didn’t say anything. But I watched him read it and I just wanted to capture his little face on camera. It completely lit up when he started to read.
A delighted Dara, who is mad about football, GAA and soccer, turned to his mum and said, “Look at the message I got”.
“He was more than delighted and extremely chuffed at himself that he had actually taken the time to sit down and do something that wasn’t the normal mundane Maths or English.”