“It is heartening to see, even in these challenging times, how school children and adults alike can take a theme of injustice and turn it into inspiring poems that tell similar stories often with hopeful messages for the future,” said the organisers.

“The theme for Catholic Schools Week this year encourages us to see that we all have a responsibility to care for the earth, not just for our own future, but for the future of every one of God’s creatures,” says Fr Paul Connell.

Catholic Schools Week – the annual all-Ireland celebration of Catholic education – runs from 28 January to 4 February.

“Young people should be given the opportunity to be Christ’s joy in the world, in their schools, parish communities or in their wider community.”

Tribute paid to teachers' contribution to the holistic development of their pupils.

“No young person should be turned away from a Catholic school on the basis of their mark in an entrance test at the age of ten or eleven”.