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Autoline’s ‘Respect the Road’ Initiative Driving Safety at Our Lady’s Grammar School
As part of the Autoline Insurance ‘Respect the Road’ initiative Year 14 students from Our Lady’s Grammar School were introduced to the powerful programme which highlighted the devasting consequences of dangerous or careless driving.
To fully relay the reality of damage that road accidents can bring, in both a realistic yet empathetic way, the workshop at Our Lady’s Grammar School was also facilitated by Tracey Doherty, sharing her insight into visiting family homes to communicate the tragic news of fatalities to parents.
The Autoline ‘Respect the Road’ programme has visited a significant number of schools and universities in NI over the past five years, with many more educational visits planned over the coming months.
For further information about how your school can participate in the ‘Respect The Road’ programme please contact Evanna Kieran at Autoline Insurance Group on 028 3025 9011 or visit www.autoline.co.uk
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One hundred local schoolchildren have been provided with Fit-Bit styled digital pedometer as part of an innovative health development project, encouraging youngsters to be more aware of their levels of physical activity,
The devices have been funded by the Shared Areas initiative which is based at St Joseph’s Boys’ HS.
The children will be able to track and record their daily step count, physical activity, sleep duration and other important health information and have a greater awareness of the benefits of healthy activity in their lives in a fun and motivational way.
Project coordinator, Mr Brendan Fearon, explained that the project is aimed at developing greater independent awareness of healthy activity in a fun and enjoyably competitive way, as well as incorporating cross curricular numeracy activities in a personalized approach to data analysis and target setting. Mr Fearon further added that the investment in the stylish devices would give added longevity to the health benefits of the project for many years to come for all involved.
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Art students at Southern Regional College’s Newry Campus will be launching their annual Art Exhibition during the College’s Open Day next Thursday 7 March.
This student-led and organised event will feature a wide variety of pieces created by the College’s Level 3 Art and Design students, ranging from traditional art to new age art and will include fine art, textiles, 3D art and graphic design, photography and animation.
The art exhibition is free and is open to the public to attend during the College’s Open Day event on Thursday 7 March from 3pm-8pm. The exhibition will be formally opened on the evening by a guest speaker at 6:00pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Fidelma Logan, Art and Design lecturer at Southern Regional College said “The students have worked incredibly hard in the preparation and organisation of this exhibition. It has been a fabulous opportunity for them from creating the pieces, designing the promotional materials, organising the exhibition space and actively promoting the event within the local community. We are very proud of their efforts and the professional approach they have demonstrated and we are confident that their efforts will be very well received by the public on the evening.”
This exhibition will also be an excellent opportunity for students considering a career within the art and design field and there will be experienced and enthusiastic lecturing staff and students at the exhibition who will be happy to answer any queries from potential students, their parents and/or art enthusiasts.
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The Southern Regional College have launched a new seven week pre-employment Welding Academy, supported by the Department for the Economy under the Assured Skills Programme. The successful participants will spend 5 weeks in college acquiring the skills and knowledge to pursue a career in the engineering sector as welders, while achieving a City & Guilds Level 2 qualification in Welding. The participants will then spend the final two weeks of the programme on work placement at one of two local manufacturing companies – Annard Ltd or Walter Watson.
The Welding Academy was set up in response to the skills shortage of local skilled welders in the area. On successful completion of the Academy, participants will be interviewed for a position with one of the companies.
Welcoming the trainees to SRC, Lindsay Bronte, Head of School for Construction and Engineering said: “SRC is committed to working with companies across the region to help them attract and develop new talent in preparation for future employment and to address the current skills shortages employers are facing.”
If you are interested in speaking to a member of the Business Support team to see how we can help your business, please contact Denise Cornett on 028 3839 7778 or email cornettd@src.ac.uk
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SRC students have taken part in Southern Regional College’s annual Inter-Campus Skillbuild Competition. There were over 30 separate competitions held showcasing the skills of SRC students.
The Inter-Campus competition, held at SRC’s Greenbank Campus, was the first stage of the renowned SkillBuild Competition, and drew together students from all campuses of SRC. The SkillBuild competition is the largest multi-trade competition in the UK for young students and apprentices. It covers crafts including carpentry, joinery, beauty, bricklaying, hairdressing and plastering. Over thirty skills competitions took place on the day with industry experts judging the work and skills of the students.
Christopher Doyle from Whitecross won Gold in the Brickwork competition with Deividas Bacenas from Newry finishing second and Odhran McEvoy from Kilcoo in third. Adam McCullough from Newry won the Electrical Installation competition. Joshua Byrne from Newry won the Plastering competition. Other results include Isaac Bingham and Shea Rooney from Newry finishing second and third in Cabinet Making, Jamie O’Hagan from Hilltown getting Silver in Electrical Installation and Tony Kane from Newry finishing third in Tiling.
There was also an event for students from the local high schools. Over 100 students from over 20 schools took part in 16 events in crafts such as carpentry, joinery, bricklaying, hairdressing and catering. The competitors came from schools across the Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon and Newry Area Learning Communities. The students attend the College as part of the School Partnership’s Programme where pupils from local schools attend SRC to study a range of vocational and academic programmes.
In the schools competition, Tristan Zubecha from Newry High School was third in Plumbing, Sean Thorne from St Pauls High School was third in Joinery and Thomas Maughan from St Joseph’s Crossmaglen was third in Painting and Decorating.
To find out more about Southern Regional College courses, please come along to one of our Open Days taking place in early March, for more information visit www.src.ac.uk
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Young athletes from St. Patrick’s PS, Crossmaglen were racing to the finish line at the second round of the 2018/2019 Flahavan’s Porridge Primary School Cross Country League, which took place at Palace Stables in Armagh.Keelin Bellew finished first in the boys’ fun run and Lyndsey Kelly finished third in the girls’ race.
The league was launched in October by Olympian, and 2018 European Championships athlete, Kerry O’Flaherty. As the official 2018 ambassador, Kerry will help inspire and educate the young runners taking part in the competition this year - from passing on expert training tips to sharing the importance of a healthy diet and visiting participating primary schools.
With a new format for 2018/19, runners competed in one of two regional rounds – each taking place over a week in October and November – with a grand final, for runners with a qualifying time, set to be held in early 2019 at the Billy Neil Centre of Excellence in Belfast.
Following the final, the top 20 girls and top 20 boys will be invited to join the Flahavan’s Porridge Athletics Northern Ireland Junior Endurance Squad, which will include participating in 9 training sessions over the next 12 months to support the personal development of the talented young athletes.
The final will take place on Wednesday 30th January 2019.
Fore more information visit www.flahavans.co.uk
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Southern Regional College students have secured a winning six-medal haul at Birmingham’s WorldSkills UK Live helping the college secure it's top three leader board ranking at this year’s WorldSkills UK Live event held in Birmingham.
Honouring the achievements of more than 200 of the UK’s most highly skilled apprentices and tradespeople, SRC’s six medals also saw it retain its number one place in Northern Ireland on the strength of its stellar performance.
Facing tough competition, SRC’s team of students from across the Newry & Mourne, Down, Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon areas secured two gold medals, one silver and three bronze medals across a wide variety of disciplines, including butchery, tiling, plumbing and beauty – in addition to two commendations.
More than 85,000 people visited the show at Birmingham’s NEC over the three full days of competition.
Commenting on the successes Brian Doran, Chief Executive at SRC said “This is a fantastic achievement by our students and places Southern Regional College once again in the top 3 Colleges in the UK and the leading college in NI for the strength of our skills development programmes.
“Attending the event alongside officials from the Department for the Economy, it was very inspiring to observe our hardworking students both competing and excelling in what was an extremely high-pressure environment.”
SRC’s outstanding medal performance put the college firmly inside the UK’s best-performing colleges and organisations – including Toyota, BAE Systems and QinetiQ – with only the City of Glasgow College and New College Lanarkshire scoring higher.
Putting SRC out in front was Armagh’s Salius Repecka and Odhran Connolly from Gilford who faced down the competition in butchery and tiling respectively to take home gold medals, after Elizabeth McAleavey from Laurencetown demonstrated her winning forensic science skills to claim silver.
Three bronze medals were also secured, with Mayobridge’s Sorcha Downey scoring well in health and social care, Armagh’s Shannon Mallon in beauty and Tandragee’s Joshua McKee in forensic science.
Kirsty Frazer from Newtownhamilton was commended in beauty, while Keady’s Shane Murray won his commendation in plumbing.
Additional medals were also secured in the ‘inclusive skills’ competitions where Thomas Neagle, Bronagh Boothman and Dalton McCoy picked up a respective gold, silver and bronze recognition for their winning achievements in catering and restaurant service.
“I want to thank most sincerely the staff members who gave of their time to support the students and without whom this success would not have been possible. I am sure everyone across the College would wish to join me in congratulating Team SRC,” Brian Doran added.
Following their success, some of the winning students are already vying to be chosen by WorldSkills UK to join the training programme for WorldSkills Shanghai 2021, where they could be selected to represent the UK in their chosen skills area on a global stage.
SRC has seen significant success in previous years, including at WorldSkills Sau Paulo, where local student Gary Doyle was crowned Best Plumber in 2015. Armondus Tamulis also reached the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi final earlier this year, delivering a sterling performance representing both SRC and the UK in wall and floor tiling.
WorldSkills UK Competitions are run in over 60 skill areas and are proven to help young people go further, faster, in their training and chosen career.
Dr Neil Bentley, CEO of WorldSkills UK said: “This has been the biggest and best skills event that the UK has ever seen.”
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Pupils from St Colman’s Primary School and All Saints Nursery Unit, Annaclone have received many donations for their Christmas Appeal. For the last three weeks the school have been collecting goods and bringing them into school as part of the appeal. The Milestone Rathfriland donated a trolley of food and recently handed it over to primary six pupil Leo O'Neill.
A school spokesperson commented "All of our children gave generously - with Primary 6 being the class that won a night off homework! Very proud of our community. Thank you all for your support and for making Christmas a better time for the lives of many, many others less fortunate than ourselves."
On Friday past children from the school helped load up a van with their collected items. Their appeal will see their donations head to Romania in a truck convoy on behalf of the CrossCause charity.
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The winners have been announced in the Schools’ Environmental Calendar poster competition. The 13 winners will feature in a 2019 Calendar produced by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.
Council Chairman, Councillor Mark Murnin, recently hosted a reception for primary and secondary school pupils from across the district to reveal the winning posters in this year’s competition. All schools in the district will receive a free supply of calendars to give out to school staff and families whose children attend the school.
Presenting the lucky winners with their prizes, Chairman Murnin said, “It never ceases to amaze me how talented the young people are in our district. Your artwork will be seen throughout this Council and beyond, when the calendar is produced in December.
“I know that the competition was fierce with hundreds of entries from the 65 schools throughout the district which took part and I want to give my congratulations to everyone who was selected to feature on the calendar.”
Three hundred pupils, whose posters were shortlisted but did not make the final calendar, will also receive Certificates of Achievement as part of the competition.
All winning pupils received a specially framed copy of their winning poster as part of their prize.
The Winners
Front cover: Charlotte Doyle, The High School, Ballynahinch
January: Katie O’Hare, St Colman’s Primary School, Saval
February: Don Farrell, St Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Newry
March:
Larissa Gaffney, Carrick Primary School, Burren
April: Holly Black, Kilkeel High School
May: Eimíle Egan, Assumption Grammar School, Ballynahinch
June:Ella McCartney (absent from group photo) St Patrick’s Primary School, Crossmaglen
July: Saoirse Byard, Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry
August: Yasmin Muldrew, Newry High School
September: Maria Loughlin, St Ronan’s Primary School, Newry
October: Katie Fitzpatrick, Holy Cross Primary School, Kilkeel
November: Anna Whewell, Down High School, Downpatrick
December: Leah Lennon, St Patrick’s Primary School, Cullyhanna
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