A makeshift classroom in the parish hall with strict observation of SOPs.
By Audrey J Ansibin
Sep 23 2020
Only 19 out of 31 Year Nine students turned up while 26 out of 35 students from Year 10 were present, says Sunday School head.
KOTA KINABALU – The St Simon Catholic Church Likas parish, here, welcomed back some 45 Sunday School students on Sept 20.
The parish Sunday School head, Theresa Ham, thanked God that they were able to reopen during the extended Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) period.
“It’s really God’s perfect timing for us to re-start Sunday School at this time as most of parents and students have already adjusted to following SOPs (standard operating procedures) in their respective schools and are already well-disciplined in complying such requirements,” Theresa said.
“With our Sunday School’s SOP in place, we started our first classes (last Sunday) for pre-confirmation (Year Nine) and confirmation class (Year 10).
“Students also joined in celebrating the Sunday Mass with their parents and family in the main church before attending class in the hall.”
Theresa said the students brought their own breakfast and ate at their respective seats.
“They were very disciplined and it was odd to see them so quiet.
“All teachers of the Sunday School from Year 1 to Year 10 were present to support the students and one another,” she said, adding that the next class will be for Year Seven (13-year-olds) and Year Eight (14-year-olds) students on Sept 27.
“We are truly grateful to God for gathering us together once again and we pray that we will continue to love and support one another as we endeavour to further our journey of faith together as a community of believers in the parish of St. Simon Catholic Church Likas.”
Meanwhile, one of the teachers who was present said she had mixed feelings about the reopening of Sunday School.
“The emotions is mixed,” Audrey Fung said. “On the one hand, we are very concerned about the spiritual growth and development of our students.
“We welcome this reopening of Sunday School. But at the same time, we also feel apprehensive because we’re not sure how to go about it in the most effective way.
“One thing that is good is we’re doing it as a team. Even though it’s only two classes (pre-confirmation and confirmation), all teachers are involved. We’re supporting each other and praying together.”
Two students, when asked, said they were happy to be back.
“I feel great and happy,” said Emerald Disimon.
Another student Bethanysha Nicholas said she feels happy to be back even with the strict SOPs to be observed. “It’s been a while since I last attended classes so it’s good to have some sense of normalcy.”
Meanwhile, another student Sandrine Sulit said although she was fine about the reopening of Sunday School, she was also quite apprehensive after not attending classes for a while.
“I’m not that excited but I’m fine coming back because it’s been a while,” she said, adding that she hoped she can recall what she learned from the previous lessons.
