This week marks the end of the school year, yet since mid-March this has been a period like no other for children, their teachers and their parents.
All families with school age children have been grappling with remote learning, trying to ensure education is delivered outside the classroom and the direct supervision of skilled teachers.
This process has been challenging, and will be impacted by factors including the amount of time that working parents can spare, the availability of laptops and other resources and the number of children in a household who require different levels of support.
There is no doubt this has been an anxious time for many children and it may be a while before we know the full affect of lockdown on this generation, who have lost out on not just learning but also the structure of daily attendance and the many activities associated with school life as well as crucial interaction with classmates.
That sense of anxiety has surely been heightened in those homes where P6 children are preparing for the 11-plus exams, something that is stressful at the best of times but which has seen added pressure as a result of the pandemic.
Archbishop Eamon Martin and Bishop Donal McKeown have appealed to Catholic grammar schools to suspend the transfer tests this year.
Bishop Noel Treanor has said he shares the concern of colleagues, school principals, parents and others, that many children preparing to transfer to post-primary in 2021 'may be adversely affected by the significant interruption to their education.'
It is not just the interruption to schooling that is causing disquiet but also worry about what may lie ahead as schools try to get back to normal in highly abnormal circumstances while the threat from the virus has not disappeared.
Parents want certainty but while some schools have publicly declared their intention to suspend academic selection, apart from two Co Tyrone grammars that have confirmed they will be using the tests, little has been heard from the majority of institutions in the Catholic sector.
That may be because their policy has not changed but there should be a recognition of the enormous upheaval experienced by thousands of children this year and the questions and concerns that many parents will have.
Wider discussion and greater clarity can only be helpful in these unusual times.
