It was only an hour long, but for the new junior infants at St Columba's school in Glasnevin, it was probably the biggest hour of their lives to date.
The 62 boys and girls arrived at the gates of St Columba's shortly before 9.30 a.m. yesterday, all decked out in shiny black shoes and snow-white-for-the-very-last-time shirts.
The majority of parents accompanied the new scholars into the hallowed halls of either Ms McCann's or Ms Flynn's class, to "settle" them before the serious work of making plasticine people got under way. While mammies guided the small and anxious to their chairs, a few proud dads stepped among the boxes of crayons to document the big day, preserving it for posterity on video.
Most parents were hoping to make a speedy getaway, but many knew it wouldn't be that easy. As they put away their cameras and edged slowly towards the door, the herd in the middle started to get jittery.
"Eimear was very psyched-up about the uniform and the new things, but she got a bit teary when mammy tried to leave. We told her we were only waiting out in the hallway, but I'm not sure she believed us," a video-equipped dad, Mr Neil Collins, said.
Ms Anne-Marie Piquet had similar concerns about her daughter Flora, whom she was trying to keep an eye on through a crack in the door.
"I can just about see her, she's just sitting there quietly, but she's quiet anyway," Ms Piquet said. "She was really looking forward to this but when she sees other kids crying it sets her off, but I know it's important to make the break now or it will be the same every morning."
Fortunately, most children seemed oblivious to the domino wailing effect. The majority of the 62 had done their time in Montessori or day care and took the transition to "big school" in their stride.
For one young man, however, it was all a bit too much at first. "Séamus is one of only three or four boys in the class and he's never been in a crèche. He's always been looked after by me or the family," a misty-eyed Ms Joan Gallagher said. "It's so tough. I've been dreading this. My mother wants to keep him at home if he doesn't like it." And by the sounds coming from the classroom, Séamus didn't like it one bit.
The last of the parents left the classroom by 10 a.m. and a half-hour later, it was all over. Séamus Gallagher was one of the first out into the bright morning sunshine and he was a changed man. "Yeah it was fine, I drew a picture."
The "tent house" was the best part of school for Catherine Kelly, but she was also quite taken with her teacher Ms Flynn. "She has yellow hair with curls in it and it goes down her back and she's pretty," she said.
Emily Clarke was the first to be awarded a star by Ms Flynn. "I was the first one to answer the teacher's name right."
