Arrangements for Confirmation
Dear Parents,
I hope that your final preparations for Confirmation are going well. The children have been very busy in school getting ready for the special day!
I wanted to bring the following matters to your attention:
- Time and Date: Confirmation takes place in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Huntstown at 11 o’clock on Saturday the 13th May. Candidates preparing for confirmation are asked to be in the church for 10:30am, in order to ensure that they are dressed in their robes and that they and their sponsors are seated in their correct positions for the start of the Mass.
- Seating arrangements: The confirmation candidates will be seated in the centre aisles of the church. Their sponsors will be seated in the rows behind them. This means that there are only two aisles remaining for parents and other visitors. The church has a capacity for 400 people. We have 73 children making Confirmation. When we include parents and sponsors, this brings the total to over 300. When we include the choir, staff and parish helpers, it will be clear to everyone that we do not have any capacity for any other guests on the day. We would ask parents to understand that we cannot accommodate other guests, including brothers and sisters, in the church and would appreciate your co-operation in this regard. The service will be at least an hour and a half in duration.
- Confirmation Robes: We are delighted this year that our children will be able to wear Confirmation robes on the day. The robes are the property of the parish and are used for all confirmations in the parish. Therefore, they need to be treated with great care. Please note that if these robes are stained with makeup or gel, they have to be sent for special dry-cleaning, which is very expensive. We are asking that girls do not wear make-up/tanning products and that boys and girls keep hair gel to the minimum. There is no charge for the use of the Confirmation robes this year.
- Use of cameras: The use of cameras and video recording equipment is not permitted in the church during the service. There will be ample opportunity for photographs at the end of the service. Please inform sponsors of this policy!
- Arrangements for Monday, the 15th May
Children will be in school for the full day Monday, the 15th May- the first day of school after Confirmation. Their teachers will organise a number of fun activities for the all the children in 6th class throughout the day to mark their hard work prior to Confirmation. This includes art, baking, IT and sports activities. We hope that our children will enjoy the day- and we are very grateful to the staff in the school for organising these activities.
- Photograph at end of year: We plan to bring a photographer to the school before the end of the school year to get a whole-class photograph of all our 6th class children ahead of graduation. We will have more information on this nearer the time.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
I hope that during this busy weeks, you will also find time to talk to your children about their Confirmation and their expectations for the day.
Wishing you every good wish and looking forward to seeing you on the day.
Enda McGorman
