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Southern Regional College’s much anticipated Art & Design end of year showcase is back. With exhibitions from the College’s Foundation Diploma and Higher National Diploma students, the exhibition promises to ignite creativity as students prepare to showcase their final exhibits to the public.
The exhibition commences on Thursday 25th May 2023 with opening night at the College’s Newry West Campus between 06:30pm – 08:30pm. The general public are also invited to attend the exhibition between Tuesday 30th May to Thursday 1st June.
The College’s Foundation Diploma is described by Newry student Jordan Lennox “The best in terms of subject and environment.” Jordan had considered undertaking a Foundation Diploma at university but after considering options, he decided SRC was the better option as the curriculum on offer provided him with a broader experience.
The Foundation Diploma course is available in both the Newry and Lurgan campuses and helps students obtain direction on a wide variety of specialist disciplines while preparing portfolios for university interviews, or the College’s own BA (Hons) degree in Creative Imaging.
Jordan commented: “The Foundation Art Diploma at SRC is broader in scope than comparative courses at university. After investigating my options, I felt the course at SRC was a much better option and has prepared me for university a lot better than the universities’ own foundation art courses.”
Fellow student Gergana Georgieva from Banbridge aspires to become an illustrator. Gergana came to the College after completing A-levels in chemistry, physics, maths and psychology at secondary school. Whilst undergoing her A-levels, Gergana knew she wanted to return to Art, and enrolled on the Art foundation course as traditional A-levels did not inspire a career choice. Gergana has obtained a lot of practical skills on the course, from Adobe skills to critical thinking.
Gergana’s exhibition piece focus’ on designing a book cover for “Herbalism for the Modern Mind” to attract a younger audience into the practice of plant healing. Jordan prefers to provide a social commentary on current world events using a medium of collage and spraypaint.
The students are keen for everyone to come along and experience the exhibition, so head to the College’s Newry West campus to experience the exhibition.
Tammy Fullerton, Course Coordinator for Art and Design Level 3 Foundation Diploma at Southern Regional College commented “Students at the College are delighted to welcome the public to view their exhibition pieces. Students on the UAL Foundation Diploma and Higher National Diploma have worked all year to produce a wide and varied range of Art & Design outcomes in a variety of media and materials. Our students have responded to a number of themes including global warming, current political world events, plastics pollution, mental illness and plastic pollution to name but a few. Students are progressing to higher level study in SRC, Universities in Northern Ireland and England to study Graphic Design, Fine Art, Animation, Media Production and Illustration.”
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Over a dozen girls from the Construction Department at St Paul's High School, Bessbrook recently got a chance to view several large construction projects in Belfast thanks to an invite from Women's Tech, Northern Ireland's largest quality provider of training for women in non-traditional skills.
The two very large sites were under construction through Mascott Construction. The first was a private project for over £13 million on Bradbury Place for 120 brand new fully equiped student accommodation dwellings - right next to Queens University. Students were taken on a tour of every level and shown aspects of onsite labour, quantity surveying activities, project management and BIM coordinator duties. The second site saw the girls take a tour of a large community project.
Mascott Construction have built a significant portfolio of successful projects over the past 30 years. Students will be invited back to see the student accommodation project fully complete in September.
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Southern Regional College students have won an incredible twelve medals at the SkillBuild NI Finals 2023 held by The Construction Industry Training Board NI (CITB NI). The SkillBuild competition is held annually each spring with top local construction apprentices competing to win titles in the categories; Brickwork, Cabinet Making, Carpentry, Electrical Installation, Joinery, Painting & Decorating, Plastering Dry Wall Systems, Plastering, Plumbing, Wall & Floor Tiling.
Successful construction competitors at the regional qualifiers will move forward to represent Northern Ireland in the SkillBuild UK national final which, for the first time, will take place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on 21, 22 & 23 November 2023. Successful participants in the areas of Plumbing, Electrical and Fire winners may get the opportunity progress on to the UK Finals of SkillPLUMB and SkillELECTRIC also held in November.
The competition is designed to test skills, technique, ability within tight timeframes, and identifies the top performers in 11 different trade areas within construction apprenticeship programmes from across Northern Ireland. It is a showcase of the wealth of talent, professionalism, and the brightest recruits throughout the industry. Competition test pieces are designed to challenge the ability of competitors to follow detailed instructions, produce accurate and neat work outputs, be economical with materials while working to strict timescales – all essential requirements needed for today’s construction industry.
Southern Regional College are delighted with the success of students. Students placing at the competition from the Newry Mourne Down area, picking up the top spot include Niall Rice from Castlewellan (Brickwork); Joshua McBride from Kilkeel (Plastering) and Conor Braniff from Portaferry (Wall and Floor Tiling). Conor is also Northern Ireland Apprentice of the Year, having received this accolade in March.
Other successful students at the competition include Charlie Hutton from Downpatrick who picked up third place in Brickwork and Matthew Connolly from Newry, also receiving a well-deserved third place in Plastering.
Brian Doran, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College commented “I extend my congratulations to the SRC students who excelled at the SkillBuild NI Finals by winning 12 medals and maintaining our position as the best performing College in Northern Ireland. I am immensely proud of all our students, for the commitment and dedication shown to get to this stage and for embracing the challenges of the NI Skill Build competition. I look forward to hearing of their continued success as they move onwards to the National Finals in November”.
Barry Neilson, Chief Executive CITB NI, added “A huge congratulations to all the apprentices who took part in the annual SkillBuild NI 2023 competitions. There was an incredible amount of talent on display. It was great to see the enthusiasm and commitment from a new generation of construction industry leaders – the future of the industry is looking very bright!
"Apprentices at all levels are a vital component to helping the construction industry develop and grow. Offering young people apprenticeships gives businesses the chance to play an active role in developing their future workforce as well as creating the future skills that they need to help their businesses develop.”
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An EU funded peace project has launched a wellbeing app for kids at Dromintee Primary School this week as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. The school's P7 pupils got a chance to try out the app produced by OUR Generation. The app aims to educate children & young people about mental health and wellbeing. It is designed as a game, featuring 5 levels with activities relating to mental health and well-being, coping and problem-solving skills, perspective taking, empathy and intergroup contact & trust.
David Babington, CEO of Action Mental Health, speaking at the launch event, said “We’re delighted to be launching the OUR Generation app at Dromintee Primary school. It was important to us that children and young people were involved in the co-design of this app, and pupils from Dromintee were involved in our initial research workshops that helped us get a sense of what types of apps they like to play, and the kind of content they enjoy.”
OUR Generation is an EU PEACE IV-funded project managed by the Special EU Programmes body and led by Action Mental Health. Match funded by The Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland. The project aims to build positive relations and emotional resilience in children and young people.
Ulster University is one of a number of partners involved in the project, and the OUR Generation app was developed in collaboration with researchers at the University’s School of Psychology along with Prof. Maurice Mulvenna of the AI Research Centre in the University’s School of Computing.
Children and young people were also involved in app co-design by participating in 7 cross-border workshops which gathered their views on the types of games they play and the types of characters they like.
The app is divided into two age categories, 11 years old and under, and 12 years old and above. Activities include simple drag-and-drop games as well as videos and links to other sources of help and support.
Players can select from four buddies who guide them through the app - Stripey, Roby, Hoofy or Bulby. Users earn stars as they complete their journey through the levels and climb the leader board from expert, ambassador, champion to genius.
Prof. Maurice Mulvenna, who was involved in the app’s design and development, said “The OUR Generation App will provide a fun, free, safe, and engaging way for children, young people, and emerging adults to tackle their worries on mental health and well-being, so they can build resilience, gain confidence, and thrive.”
He added: “The OUR Generation App aims to demonstrate an improvement in the emotional resilience of children and young people. The anonymous usage data collected will help us answer the question of whether using the App can improve the knowledge, skills and behaviours of users and improve users’ resilience.
David Babington added: “We hope the OUR Generation app will be used as a digital learning tool by children, young people and their key contacts to help develop awareness around resilience, mental health and wellbeing. For many years, Action Mental Health has been working to give children and young people the skills they need to look after their mental health through traditional programmes, so I am delighted to see this support develop digitally also.”
The objective of the OUR Generation project is ‘Growing Up Better, Together’. It is currently being delivered on both sides of the border in education, youth and community settings across the Five Urban Village Areas of Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its aim is to build positive relations and emotional resilience in communities impacted by four decades of the Troubles, to help tackle the legacy of the conflict across the island of Ireland.
Seven organisations have partnered with lead partner Action Mental Health, including Donegal Youth Service, Co-Operation Ireland, Youth Action NI, YouthWork Ireland, PlayBoard NI and Ulster University.
Together, the organisations have utilised EU PEACE IV funding to support communities to tackle post-conflict peace building and mental health. The project will run until September 2023. The Executive Office in Northern Ireland, and the Government of Ireland have provided match funding for the project.
OUR Generation will reach over 36,000 children and young people who will engage in programme design and delivery, including provision of peer support, developing skills and confidence to improve well-being within their communities. They will also act as agents of change, building peace for future generations.
The OUR Generation app is free and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
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Isaac Bingham, a former student of Southern Regional College has been selected to represent the UK at Europe’s largest skills event, Euroskills, in September this year.
Speaking after the announcement Bingham said “I am thrilled to represent Team UK at the EuroSkills competitions in Poland in September. This will be a life changing experience which will enable me to develop my skills and increase my knowledge. I would like to thank SRC for giving me the support to be successful in my chosen field”.
Isaac will travel to Gdańsk in Poland where he will compete with 600 other skilled young professionals, under the age of 25, from 32 member countries including Germany, Switzerland, and France. Over 100,000 spectators from across Europe are expected to attend.
To secure a place in Team UK, Isaac had to go through an exhaustive selection process, taking part in the prestigious WorldSkills UK National Competitions where he was awarded a gold medal in the Cabinet Making category. Isaac studied Level 3 Furniture and Cabinet Making at the Greenbank campus of Southern Regional College.
Brian Doran, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College said “Southern Regional College are incredibly proud of Isaac for his success to date through the WorldSkills Competition series and on his selection to Team UK at Euroskills. Isaac has consistently demonstrated that he has the skills and commitment to compete against the very best at a global stage. His success is also a clear reflection of the tremendous support provided by his lecturers at Southern Regional College.
"I wish Isaac and Team UK every success and look forward to seeing Isaac claim another medal of excellence while representing Southern Regional College.”
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Internationally renowned County Armagh bluegrass band Cup O’Joe recently played an intimate VIP gig at the Armagh campus’ incredible new facilities, entertaining the audience with a truly remarkable performance.
Siblings Tabitha, Benjamin and Reuben are former SRC students, with Tabitha and Reuben previously studying music at the College. The band’s fourth member is Tabitha’s husband David Benedict, who is also a world class musician.
When invited to play a gig, the band jumped at the chance to return to where it all began, admittedly in slightly different surroundings, being the state of art Armagh campus. The music studios in the College are amongst the largest and best equipped in the UK. With equipment any aspiring musician or sound producer would be eager to get their hands on.
The band have racked up multiple accomplishments, achieving recognition such as the BBC folk awards and International Bluegrass Music Association awards. The band have also appeared in multiple BBC television documentaries and TV series. The band are currently touring the USA and generously agreed to interrupt their tour to visit SRC.
During a professional workshop the band shared insights with current music students at SRC, sharing their global experience and industry understanding. Being a musician is more than just playing music, you need a sound business head to continuously promote the band, get gigs, manage a website and be on top of social media. To keep the momentum, Tabitha was keen to point out that aspiring musicians need to keep releasing new content, be creative and learn from the best educators in the industry.
Southern Regional College have launched the first Level 6 top-up degree in Creative Music and Audio Production.* Tabitha and Reuben enthused about their former lecturers, Paddy Craig and Matt Duke, as being the best of the best. Prospective students won’t be disappointed by the degree, as it will allow students to build up industry experience, contacts and bid for funding. All essential aspects to being a musician!
To make it in today’s industry the band explained you need “Personality, drive, energy and perseverance.” Something of which Cup O’Joe have in abundance.
To find out more about the degree, visit: https://bit.ly/41DntL
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Surefreight Ltd is one of Newry's sucess stories. In business for over 34 years it is now a multi-million pound logistics company. The company focuses on cross channel distributions, road haulage, customs, groupage (goods shipped in containers with other shipments to save businesses money) and warehousing. Operating from the Head Office at Carnbane in Newry the business has bases across the UK mainly in the locations of Cardiff, Heysham and Bradford.
With multiple lorries and trailers on the road, the business has a real need for Heavy Goods Vehicles apprenticeships. Each lorry must be serviced every 6 weeks and trailers every 8 weeks. So, there is high demand for apprentices in the area, meaning plenty of job opportunities!
Amongst the cost-of-living crises the business has big plans for growth. Plans for 10% growth by helping people save money means this business is continuously on the lookout for new opportunities. The business is not afraid of a challenge either. Martin McGoldrick, Commercial Director at Surefreight Ltd counts one of the business’ greatest accomplishments was overcoming Brexit challenges and forming a customs team at the last minute.
Martin commented; “We originally had an external organisation arranged to manage our customs however this fell through in the December prior to Brexit so the whole team worked tirelessly to set up a department to ensure a smooth transition for our customers.”
With ambitious growth plans comes big responsibilities which the business is keen to be part of. Martin further commented; “Every business has a responsibility to bring on the next generation of workers. Without training up new generations, work will grind to a halt. With a large fleet requiring constant checks and servicing, we are presently seeking four new Heavy Goods Vehicle apprentices.”
Kevina Burns, a current Level 3 Heavy Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Principles apprentice at Southern Regional College’s Greenbank campus in Newry has always had an interest in lorries and is keen to be a lorry driver in the future. Kevina chose to undertake the Heavy Vehicle apprenticeship as “It’s important to know the basics in lorry repairs as there is no point sitting on the side of the road when you breakdown not knowing what to do.”
Skills learnt to date on the apprenticeship include braking systems, public service vehicles and engine rebuilds which is physically demanding. Kevina is an unexpected sight in the lorry yard, but a very welcome addition and an employee Surefreight is keen to retain. Business owner Vincent Waddell is keen to find more apprentices like Kevina as she has shown a real interest and commitment to the job. Surefreight is eager to recruit and retain more Heavy Goods Vehicle apprentices.
Kevina’s advice for anyone considering an HGV apprenticeship is: “Take it seriously and don’t mess around. The course is tough, but any new course is tough as you don’t know what you are getting into. You just need to put your head down, work hard and you will get through it. In the end, it comes down to how bad you want it.”
For information on Heavy Goods Vehicle apprenticeships and traineeships at Southern Regional College, visit: https://bit.ly
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An announcement by the Education Authority yesterday that Kingsmills Primary School will close has been met with fear and disappointment by Slieve Gullion Councillor David Taylor. The school had 32 pupils in 2021/2022.
The Education Authority announced yesterday 25 April that "Kingsmills Primary School will discontinue with effect from 31 August 2023, or as soon as possible thereafter."
A consultation in 2022 saw 123 out of 127 respondents disagree with a proposal to close the school, with respondants saying things like "The quality of education statements in the consultation document does not reflect the quality of education at Kingsmills PS. Scores achieved by Kingsmills PS pupils are above the national average." and "The strong support Kingsmills PS gives to pupils with Special Educational Needs – many pupils have transferred to the school after struggling in larger schools and thrive at Kingsmills PS." and "The closure will have a detrimental impact on the rural community. It will impact on the controlled primary provision in the South Armagh area."
Ulster Unionist Councillor David Taylor expressed his bitter disappointment at the decision. Councillor Taylor said “I am bitterly disappointed at the announcement by the Department of Education that it will proceed with the closure of Kingsmills Primary School at the end of this academic year.
“The decision taken by the Department of Education can only be described as ill-conceived and will serve to rip the heart out of the local community. It is all the more frustrating that this decision has been taken by officials with no accountability who have shown no empathy or understanding of the unique circumstances and importance attached to retaining small rural schools such as Kingsmills. It is surely no coincidence that this decision has been taken at a time of political paralysis."
Cllr Taylor who serves on the Board of Governors added “I have been proud to serve as a member of the Board of Governors of Kingsmills Primary School in recent years and I am acutely aware of how much Kingsmills means to the staff, parents and pupils associated with the school. This is a severe blow to them all and my main focus of concern is with them in particular as the processes of redeploying staff and the transfer of children to alternative schools now proceeds.
“Kingsmills Primary School has been an integral part of the local area for many generations. The school has provided local children with an excellent standard of education throughout this time and has always been held in the highest regard by the community. To see the Department of Education proceed with the decision to close a school of this quality is hard to comprehend."
The Slieve Gullion Councillor believes that rural schools are seen as an easy target within the education sector as a means of making cost savings but that in reality their closure leads to little or no cost efficiencies.
Cll Taylor continued “There is also a significant issue regarding the subject of rural proofing – including considerations such as the impact which a school closure would have on the wider rural community in the area. This has obviously not been given any consideration by the Department of Education in respect of their decision pertaining to Kingsmills Primary School.
“Everyone associated with Kingsmills Primary School has fought so hard in recent months to save the school and the outcome announced will be devastating for all who contributed to the campaign.
“I genuinely fear about the impact this decision will have on the local minority Protestant community where the effect of this decision will be felt most. Unfortunately, the Department of Education does not appear to have reflected on this at all when proceeding with the closure of Kingsmills Primary School.”
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St Paul's High School Year 11 Politics in Action students had a very exciting day in Queen’s University Belfast yesterday, as part of the Agreement25 celebrations.
The three-day conference included a programme for schools throughout the province and was hosted by Queen's University Belfast in partnership with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, the Council on Competitiveness, Women in Business, Politics in Action, Commission for Victims and Survivors, the Lyric Theatre as well as Hillsborough Castle, where supporting events also took place.
The students got a chance to discuss their concerns around the cost of living crisis with key politicians.
In the afternoon, students attended two panel discussions. One was on women in leadership and heard from Monica McWilliams about her role in the Good Friday Agreement. Another panel, consisting of the youngest MLAs of the five main parties, spoke to the school's students and answered their questions.
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