Annual Prize Giving for St. Patrick's College was held on Thursday 4th December. 

 Mise Connolly

 Stephen Brady won the Class Motor Vehicle Studies Award.

 Shauna Devlin won the Endeavour Award for English

 Sophie Byrne won the Endeavour Award for Performing Arts

 Emmett McDermott won the Endeavour Award for R.E.

 Thomas O'Neill won 'Footballer of the Year'

 Caitlin Green won 'Sportswoman of the Year"

 Catherine Megrath with the Noble  Cup

 Stephen Brady was awarded the 'Desi Boomer Memorial Trophy'

 Erin McArdle won the 'Denise McAlorum Memorial Trophy'

 Caoimhe Rogan was the top N.I. Student in GCSE Art

 Thomas O'Neill - Footballer of the Year

 Stephen Brady with his award.

Reverend Fathers, Members of the Board of Governors, Invited Guests, boys and girls;

On behalf of all our staff,  I welcome you at our Annual Presentation of Certificates. We have our Year 11 pupils here tonight as well as our past year 12 ,13 and  year 14 pupils.

Tonight is a night of celebration; to all those involved in a job well done,

Our young people are blessed to live in an age when there are a variety of subjects and qualifications available to enable them to achieve and to plan a career path in areas of the curriculum which they like and at which they are talented.

We also live in an age when there is a very significant focus on Literacy and Numeracy;

In other words, when you choose a school, for your son or daughter, what you want for that young person is that they reach the age of 16 and achieve a full range of GCSE subjects at grade C and above INCLUDING Maths and English.

And when the department of Education issue statistics they properly focus on the percentage achieving Five GCSE including Maths and English.  I am very very happy to report to you tonight that the GCSE results in St Patrick College far exceeded the overwhelming majority of nonselective schools in the north of Ireland. Not only that,  when we look at the statistics for all schools; that includes schools which select ;such as grammar schools, St Patricks  College exceeded the average here as well. We have 65% of our year 12 last year leaving with  a good range of GCSEs  ; almost all getting seven GCSEs or more including  GCSE English and Maths at grade C and above. The average for all schools; selective and non selective ,  is 62%. In St Patricks College, you boys and girls achieved 65%. This places us in the top 5% of non selective schools in the north of Ireland.

We are rightly proud of you , year 12 in 2012-13 ; we are rightly grateful to your teachers who did everything possible to ensure your success and we are rightly grateful to your parents who supported you each step of the way; coming to meetings when you needed mentored, collecting you late in the day when you stayed for extra lessons, arranging for your transport on midterm breaks when lessons were held to boost your progress.

Our success involved three stakeholders;  the pupils, the parents and the teachers; and together; we made it work.

We found it very difficult to allow you to go; we knew it was in your best interests and therefore we did what was the right thing. But Our hope is that post 16 will return to St Patricks as soon as possible. That is our aim!

WE are a good school; the inspectorate have declared that the majority of our teaching ranges from good to outstanding.; that our standards are above average and that the inspectorate have faith in us in being able to consolidate the successful position we are in now.

 Our guest tonight is Mr Plunkett Campbell from the Southern Education and Library Board and I want to thank him specifically tonight. I can recall a key meeting last year; with himself and with Mr Tony Murphy; who has recently retired. And I have to say that that meeting was a key turning point in the life of St Patricks,

A commitment was given  by these men that the  SELB would undertake a much needed refurbishment of our school. And this refurbishment moves steadily and relentlessly along. We have all classrooms with doubleglazing; interactive whiteboards, panelled doors. We have the second phase of window replacement beginning next week . Look around you in this hall; we have a new heating system; ceiling, curtains;  in fact a  refurbishment is almost complete. And the board architects are engaged in meetings with  us for the refurbishment of our foyer and all our toilets and changing room areas. I cannot underestimate the part played by Plunkett in effecting these improvements and the school community as a whole is indebted to him.

We are also working with Banbridge District Council with the support of the GAA to bid for transformed facilities in our playing fields; facilities which are much needed and which will enhance the playing opportunity for many groups within the Banbridge area.

In January we will be opening a Learning Hub where members of the Banbridge community will be able to access bespoke courses in the use of ipads and other software.

We are moving forward; steadily and quickly, to be a key provider, at many levels within the learning community of Banbridge.

We have many friends of St Patricks; many who have joined us tonight. Our parent teacher association, past teachers, board employees and parish nieghbours; we need you all and we are grateful to the support that comes endlessly from you.

Boys and girls year 10 and year 12; past and present; in conclusion; what you want from life is to be happy; and contentment is the key to being happy; So, accept yourself as you are. Work with your strengths; don’t judge yourself against another person; that only brings a sense of dissatisfaction. Work hard ,  enjoy working hard; and you will find real happiness .

.

Thank you.

Speech by the Guest Speaker:  
Plunkett Campbell, Chairman of the Southern Education and Library Board

Canon Stevenson,  Chair of the Board of Governors, Principal,  Vice Principal, Distinguished Guests, Ladies, Gentlemen and Students:

Thank you for the invitation tonight and I am glad to be able to acknowledge and celebrate your success.

I have a long association with Saint Patricks:

$1·         I did my teaching practice here.

$1·         I was appointed to a teaching post in the college at the same time as I was appointed Vice Principal in St. John's Primary School, Gilford.

$1·         I became a member of the Board of Governors.

$1·         As a Senior Manager with CCMS, I worked closely with governance issues in the school.

So it can be said I am no stranger to the school.

Responding to an invitation from Mrs. Mallon, the Principal, to visit the school in the spring, the former Chief Executive Officer of the SELB (Mr. Tony Murphy) and I were very impressed at how the school has been transformed by the Minor Works Improvements Schemes that have taken place. You will no doubt have noticed these improvements and I feel Mrs Mallon will have another wish list for us in the Board. We were also very impressed by Mrs. Mallon's vision and enthusiasm and her determination to make St. Patrick's a 'centre of excellence' - and with the courteous manner in which we were greeted by the Head Boy and Girl and the students.

As you know it is the added responsibility of the Education and Library Boards to work closely with non-controlled schools to bring forward and arrange the contracts for minor works. Such works are ongoing in St. Patrick's and I can confirm that, by the end of this financial year, a total of £591,000 will have been spent in this school's improvement scheme.

The importance of modern teaching accommodation cannot be overstated in this rapidly changing world of ours. If we are to lift teachers' and students' aspirations, we must lift horizons with the types of surroundings and equipment provided for learning. To prepare for a modern world, we need to provide education in a modern setting with all the technological benefits this can provide.

Those of us born before 1950 must have been a hardy bunch when we think of the ways in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make.

We lived before credit cards and bank cards and rarely saw birthday cards. We lived before split atoms and laser beams. Course work was a piece of very rough piece of plastering and a chip was a piece of potato that had been fried. Hardware meant nuts and bolts and software wasn't even a word! We never heard of FM radio and in our days, a wireless had wires!. Rock music was a grannies lullaby, but we survived. I wonder what list of things you will be able to compile for your grandchildren in 50 years time? "Things I never had when I was growing up".

 Good teachers inspire our young people to be lifelong learners, creating a culture of independent enquiry with this enthusiasm and passion. ( I know this because I see it quite often when I visit schools.) Good teachers have the skills to know exactly how to get the best out of each and every young person in the school. You have those teachers in St. Patrick's.

It would be remiss of me, on behalf of the Southern Board, not to acknowledge the support and co-operation of the Trustees, the Board of Governors, the principal, staff and students during the period of time that wok has been undertaken. You all responded in such a positive way during stages of what could have been, at times, a disruptive process.

Let me turn at this point to the young people who are in the audience and reflect on what was, for you, a memorable year. Through hard work and determination, many of you have exceeded your own expectations and that must give you great satisfaction. You are now being rewarded for your study. Congratulations and well done.

Staff and parents are no doubt immensely proud of your achievements. Your GCSE exam results have been truly outstanding with 65% achieving 5 GCSE s A*-C including Maths and English. This percentage is well above the NI average  for a school of this type and this has not gone unnoticed by the Board.

As students you have been privileged to receive your education thus far in a school that values equally all its pupils, recognising their different gifts and abilities and developing them to a full potential. The school community has provided you with a happy environment at an important time of your growing up. You have had the benefit of dedicated teachers who have done all in their power to enable each one of you to reach your full potential as individuals. Your parent's and guardian's  interest in your welfare and their co-operation with the principal and staff have contribute in no small measure to making St. Patrick's a success.

Some here tonight will be familiar with the Department of Education's policy document: EVERY SCHOOL A GOOD SCHOOL. The focus of the policy was to set out the core characteristics of a school: child-centred provision, high quality teaching and learning, effective leadership and the school connected to its local community. Would anyone suggest St. Patrick's doesn't meet all these criteria?

Exams often mark the end of a school career or mark a transition in life, in your case tonight's ceremony formally marks the end of your time in St. Patrick's. A chapter in your life is now completed and you have already commenced a new chapter  you have already made your first steps in life's journey beyond this college. Sometimes the next step in life will be clear, at times, it won't.

How we see life, our philosophy of life or what we would like from it, THE DREAM - is one thing - THE REALITY  is another story. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.

We can all have our dreams, our plans but success will depend on many things like:

$1·         The quality of decisions we make.

$1·         The opportunities that are presented to us now and in the future

$1·         A bit of good fortune (being in the right place at the right time, having the right qualifications for a job when it appears)

$1·         Having good friends, people you can trust to give you good advice.

$1·         Having the health to do what you want to do.

But above all, success will depend on

$1·         Making good use of your talents and personal qualities.

Talents

$1·         knowing and making good use at what you are good at/competent at, eg. flair for design, a carer, nursing, a profession such as joinery.

and

Personal Qualities such as

$1·         having a positive attitude - being aware that the way you think and behave contribute to how you are seen and are judged by others.

$1·         Being ambitious - not being afraid to want to achieve; to improve; to gain additional qualifications.

$1·         Being committed and dedicated to what you do; being willing to get involved; to show a sense of duty or responsibility in relation to what you are doing.

$1·         being trustworthy/dependable; having respect for others, their property and possessions so that they, in return, can develop their trust in you and know that they can depend on you, just as you want to be able to trust and depend on others.

$1·         perhaps most important of all, being willing to learn from experience - "the person who never made a mistake never made anything"

In addition, success or survival is also about drawing on all your knowledge and skills you have at your disposal to improve your chances of success and secure the best possible outcome.

And finally, I would like you to reflect on the following:

As you swim through the waters of life I hope you will find them

$1·         calmer rather than rough

$1·         warmer rather than cold

$1·         that the tide of life is with you more often than it is against you

$1·         that you plan to survive rather than hope to survive.

$1·         that you learn from experiences of your own life and the lives of others around you

$1·         that you remember the friends you have made here and choose the new ones wisely

$1·         that you give to the world you live in as well as take from it

$1·         that you will have regard and consideration for those less fortunate than yourselves and those whose culture is different from your own.

$1·         that you remember kindly the support you have had from your families and your teachers over the years

$1·         that you use wisely the knowledge and words of wisdom they have given you so that you will be successful in the big examination of life itself that lies ahead.

May God strengthen your hand in facing the exciting challenge ahead. 

St Patrick’s College, in the top 5% of non selective schools in Northern Ireland, had over 85% achieving five GCSE grade C and above.

“Every parent wants to see their son or daughter completing five years at post primary with a good set of GCSE results which include English and Maths. We are able to say to parents; in St Patrick’s College your son/daughter stands the best chance possible to achieve this. Over 85% of our students obtained at least five GCSEs at Grade C. This is an outstanding achievement.

But the key achievement is to ensure that GCSE English Language and Mathematics is among those subjects.  That is the all-important statistic, and St Patrick’s College is celebrating the fact that 65% of our students achieved five or more GCSE grade C and above  including GCSE English and Maths. We are justifiably proud of ourselves and are  building upon this achievement  day by day.”

 “Those achieving Five or more GCSE passes including GCSE English and Maths not only far surpassed the average for non selective schools but surpassed the average for selective/non selective  schools together.!” 

Guest speaker Mr Plunkett Campbell Chairman of the SELB paid tribute to the great work going on in St Patrick’s. He applauded the academic excellence evident in this year’s results and paid tribute to the strength of the  partnership of parent ,pupil and teacher.  To date, within one year, the SELB have invested over half a million pounds on refurbishment. This has ensured that the pupils in St Patrick’s College can be educated in an up to date environment, accessing an increasing array of innovative technology.