Ms Molly Hynes:

The meitheal and senior prefect programme has been in operating in our school for as long I have been there. I do not actually know when it started but I know that it has been very successful. The senior prefect role is probably less intense than the meitheal leader role. It involves fifth years dealing with second years so the age gap is not too big. In terms of the meitheal role, first year students acknowledge that the sixth years have been in first year before and have been in their shoes previously. Meitheal leaders and senior prefects make it abundantly clear that students can come to them about any issue and also that an issue does not have to be brought to the attention of a teacher if the student does not want it to be, unless it is really serious. The meitheal and senior prefect programme has always worked for our school and is so good in the context of mental health awareness.