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Southern Regional College student Jude Sands has recently won the John Haldane Memorial Race in Newry.
Jude powered to the finish line on a rain soaked afternoon to beat off the competition.
Jude studies the Foundation Degree in Sports Science at Newry campus. He is from Newry and trains as part of Newry Wheelers cycling club.
Jude said of his win, ““It felt great to get the win, especially on home ground and to be the first Newry Wheeler to win the Haldane since 1993,” His next challenges will be the Tour of the North and Tour of Ulster, and he is looking forward to stage racing again.
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The Business Studies Department at St Paul's High School recently hosted a visit by Andy Haldane, Chief Economist and Executive Director for Monetary Analysis, Research and Statistics, Bank of England. Andy has responsibility for research and statistics across the Bank and was previously named by Time magazine as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people.
Dearbhail McDonald, Group Business Editor at Independent News & Media and one of Ireland’s leading journalists facilitated the Q&A session that followed Andy’s talk.
The morning began with a pre-event reception in the school which was facilitated by Mr Jarlath Burns and the Business Studies Department and was sponsored by Nisa Hughes, Camlough. Special guests included Adrian Toner, First Derivatives, Geraldine O’Hagan, Bank of Ireland and Aoife Robb, FPM.
After this, the group moved to the Assembly Hall where students from St Paul’s High School, St Mary’s High School Newry, St Mark’s High School Warrenpoint, Newry High School, Newtownhamilton High School and St Patrick’s High School, Keady were in attendance. Andy was speaking as part of the Speakers for Schools Charity. Speakers for Schools provide speakers to secondary schools to inspire students and broaden their horizons through access to the insights, experiences and expertise of today’s leading figures.
Andy spoke to a captivated audience about interest rates, Brexit, the economy and inflation. After his talk to the students he was subjected to rigorous questioning from the students and from Dearbhail.
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Through the Shared Area initiative, and with support from NM&DDC’s ‘Live here Love here’ funding, pupils from St Joseph’s Boys’ High School have designed, constructed and planted-out wooden window boxes that have been distributed to local homes around the school.
Event coordinator, Mr Brendan Fearon praised the pupils for their outstanding efforts in helping to enhance the environmental footprint of the local area as well as thanking Mr Emanuel McEvoy and Ms Kathleen Lowry from the local area in helping to promote the work involved.
As part of the capacity building element of the project – a variety of gardening tools and compost have been made available for residents living close to St Joseph’s to use, and anyone interested in availing of these resources is asked to contact the school itself or Ms Lowry at the Mourne View & Linen Hall Community Association. For more information and images, please see: www.stjosephsnewry.com
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Students from Southern Regional College (SRC) have won a record haul of awards at the provinces premier construction skills competition.
A total of 17 awards were presented to SRC during Skillbuild NI, the prestigious annual construction industry awards for apprentices, which was also held at the SRC campus in Portadown for the first time.
At an event in which more than 80 promising students from right across Northern Ireland pitched their skills to win 11 coveted titles ranging from brickwork to wall and floor tiling, SRC sailed home with six first-place medal titles and six second and third-place medals combined.
SRC was duly awarded the Skillbuild NI Department of Economy Cup for the highest number of medals won in the competition as well as the Skillbuild NI Chairpersons Cup for the largest number of entries. SRC also won the prestigious David Cooper Trophy for biggest tally of medals secured across 40 years of competitions.
Skillbuild NI is run and governed by CITB NI and is supported by the Department for Economy and key local employers and organisations such as the Construction Industry Federation, City and Guilds, Colleges NI and the Federation of Master Builders, is designed not only to encourage trainees to improve their skills but to showcase examples of the quality workmanship produced locally.
Every apprentice is challenged to produce quality work in tight timeframes and are continuously assessed on their performance by an expert panel of industry professionals.
The Newry Greenbank campus student success is as follows. In the Wall and Floor Tiling competition Sean McLoughlin from Newry won Gold, Daniel McBurney from Banbridge took home silver and Cathal Murphy from Newry got Bronze. For the Painting and Decorating Conor McCelland from Hilltown came first and Jordan Hughes from Bessbrook was second. Michael Hughes from Newry was third in the Cabinet Making section and Thomas Fegan from Newry came first in Bricklaying.
Richard Shannon from Kilkeel won the Haldane Fisher Cup for Best Overall Skillbuild NI Young Apprentice.
Maurice Johnston, Chairman CITB NI said “CITB NI is proud to have been involved in construction skills competitions for 40 years. Skillbuild NI is about raising the status and standards of professional and technical education and training. We have a proud record of success at skills competitions not only on a local level but also on a regional, national and world level.
“Skillbuild NI gives all the competitors a chance to showcase their skills and we congratulate everyone who has taken part and those who have excelled in their trade. Skillbuild NI couldn’t happen without the support of the local sponsors and training network and we extend our thanks to all who have helped the apprentices to be able to compete at this competition.
“We would also like to extend our best wishes to the Northern Ireland competitors who will be taking part in UK team selection for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi in October. Our young people are more ambitious than ever and we hope that Skillbuild NI National Finals will be part of their journey and future careers within the construction industry.”
In a highly competitive environment, marks were awarded for showing essential skills such as following detailed instructions, producing accurate work outputs, being economical with materials and working to strict timescales. Apprentices representing SRC made the biggest impact on the competition.
Brian Doran, Chief Executive, Southern Regional College, said “We at Southern Regional College are privileged to have been selected to host this year’s prestigious Skillbuild NI National Finals. I congratulate the competitors, many of whom have travelled long distances to participate in this event.
“For competitors, today is an important stepping stone to future skills competition success throughout the UK and Worldskills competitions.
“I wish all the competitors every success in the future and I have every confidence that those selected to go forward to UK and Worldskills competition will continue the proud tradition of success at a national and international level.”
Winners for SRC at Skillbuild NI 2017
Brickwork 1st Thomas Fegan – Newry (Greenbank Campus)
Cabinet Making 1st Tommy Helliwell - Tandragee (Armagh Campus)
Cabinet Making 3rd-Michael Hughes – Newry (Greenbank Campus)
Joinery 1st Richard Shannon – Kilkeel (Greenbank Campus)
Painting and Decorating 1st Conor McClelland – Hilltown (Greenbank Campus)
Painting and Decorating 2nd Jordan Hughes – Bessbrook (Greenbank Campus)
Plumbing 1st Nathan Dodds – Castleblaney (Armagh Campus)
Plumbing 2nd Shane Murray – Keady (Armagh Campus)
Plumbing 3rd Jacob Reid – Dungannon (Portadown Campus)
Wall and Floor Tiling 1st Sean McLoughlin – Newry (Greenbank Campus)
Wall and Floor Tiling 2nd Daniel McBurney – Banbridge (Greenbank Campus)
Wall and Floor Tiling 3rd Cathal Murphy – Newry (Greenbank Campus)
Paddy Maguire a Painting lecturer at SRC won the Hugh Gettinby Trophy for Excellence in Construction Training (awarded each year to an individual involved in training of young people who has displayed high standards of success and dedication towards Skillbuild NI ethos)
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Southern Regional College student Conor Larkin from Meigh recently competed in the Knorr Student Chef of the Year competition at Cork Institute of Technology.
Conor studies Level 3 Diploma in Professional Cookery at Newry Campus. Conor was one of 11 finalists selected from all over Ireland to compete at the event which he travelled with his SRC Chef Lecturer Conor MacCann.
Celebrating its 20th year in 2017, Knorr Student Chef of the Year, the most celebrated student chef competition, is open to catering colleges, institutes of technology and training centres across the island of Ireland.
The theme of this year’s competition was ‘Provenance: The story behind the menu’ and focused on celebrating Irish produce. This year’s competition was judged by a panel comprising Unilever Food Solutions’ Business Development Chef Mark McCarthy. He was joined by special guest judge and winner of the National Chef of the Year by the UK’s Craft Guild of Chefs, James Devine. Joining the panel also were Fergal O’Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of the Coeliac Society of Ireland and Ann O’Connor, Chef Lecturer, Cork Institute of Technology.
Students were challenged to create a starter using Irish seafood and a main course celebrating Irish beef. Conor’s starter was seared hake, cauliflower puree, pickled and citrus marinated beetroot. His main course was fillet and braised beef cheek in Guinness, parsnip, kale and duck fat potatoes.
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Southern Regional College star apprentice Gary Doyle has been recognised by City and Guilds with the award of a gold medal for his outstanding achievements at NVQ Level 3 Domestic Plumbing and Heating.
Gary is no stranger to awards having previously been crowned Best Plumber in the World at WorldSkills in Sao Paulo 2015 with a gold medal, and also recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list last year with a British Empire Medal (BEM).
Gary is from Ballyward and completed his Level 2 and Level 3 Domestic Plumbing and Heating qualifications at Newry Greenbank Campus.
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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Gillian Fitzpatrick recently received a copy of the UN Charter from students from St Mary’s High School, Newry; St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook; Down High School, Downpatrick and Shimna College, Newcastle.
In accepting the Charter on behalf of the Council, Councillor Gillian Fitzpatrick said, “The Council’s mission is to lead and serve a District that is prosperous, healthy and sustainable. We support the aims and objectives of the United Nations which are in line with the Council’s values and I applaud the work carried out by our regional group who work to raise awareness and promote the United Nations in our area. I also commend our local students, I am extremely proud of your efforts to foster citizenship and cohesion within your Schools, our district and the wider world”.
The Schools gave an overview of the work they undertake to further the aims and objectives of the United Nations. The meeting concluded with Councillors and students participating in a question and answer session.
The United Nations, set up in 1945, exists to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. UNA-NI is a volunteer-run group which supports UNA-UK's work by organising a diverse range of activities, such as awareness-raising events with keynote speakers. It supports and works with other like-minded organisations which help to promote the United Nations at a local level.
UNA-NI’s Chairperson, Patricia Irvine, said “The 70th Anniversary of the UN has been celebrated world-wide and now at a local level UNA-NI is using the opportunity to engage with the recently merged Councils and to invite schools in each district to make a presentation of the UN Charter to their Council. We recognise the importance of supporting the excellent work carried out in our schools to encourage an understanding of global peace and interdependence”.
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Southern Regional College student Kieran Magee from Mayobridge has been crowned Apprentice of the year 2017 by the Federation of Master Builders.
Kieran has been recognised for his hard work and dedication to Wall and Floor Tiling. Apprentices from all over Northern Ireland were eligible and SRC apprentices Jordan Jeffers and Armondas Tamulis were also given Highly commended awards. The awards were held recently at the Europa Hotel Belfast and the apprentices were nominated by their lecturers Paul Doran and Paddy Maguire.
Apprentice of the year Kieran completed Level 3 Wall and Floor Tiling at Newry Greenbank campus. He is no stranger to awards and has previously achieved gold medals at NI Skillbuild, UK Skillbuild, the Tile Association Trainee of the year and the Montgomery Award.
Highly commended award winner Jordan Jeffers is from Portadown and completed the Level 3 Painting and Decorating also at Greenbank. He is also a previous award winner with gold medals at NI Skillbuild, UK Dulux Decorator of the Year and a medal of Excellence at EuroSkills.
Armondas Tamulis was also Highly commended, he is from Portadown and also studied Level 3 Wall and Floor Tiling at Greenbank. Armondas is also a previous winner of UK Skillbuild Gold and the Montgomery Award for Wall and Floor tiling.
The Federation of Master Builders is an organisation that champions building quality and continuous improvement in building standards. The prestigious awards highlight the best construction apprentices. From the whole of Northern Ireland 5 apprentices were shortlisted and SRC students made up 3 of these, this shows the standard of teaching and facilities available at the college.
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The Southern Regional College i3 Business Support Centre, recently hosted Cyber Security Workshops in Portadown and Newry. The workshops were delivered by i3’s new Information Technology Specialist Brian McGee.
Brian has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry covering all aspects of Software Development, Operations and Management. Brian holds a Level 6 Advanced Diploma in Computer Science and is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, Certified Ethical Hacker and Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer.
The workshops were aimed at Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), and focused on the security issues they face daily and how this could affect their business as well as the reputational damage a breech in online security could cause.
The workshops kick-started with a live feed video showing the number of hacks happening all over the world while the workshop was taking place. Brain engaged the audience by speaking about various different examples of hacks and what signs to look out for to prevent this happening to your business.
Brian provided tips for prevention strategies and the simple things that can improve your online security. He also provided a list of various websites that can inform you if your data has been published on an unsecure site, what to do in this situation and how to prevent it being accessed again.
The events were well attended and great feedback was received. Brian will be delivering an accredited Cyber Security qualification in the coming weeks, if you are interested in this please contact the i3 Business Support Centre today on 028 3839 7778
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