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The music department of St Colman’s College held its annual Spring Concert on Thursday evening, March 25 in the school assembly hall. The aura was festive on Violet Hill as the entire College community continued to enjoy the spirit of jubilation following the MacRory Cup team’s victory on St Patrick’s Day.
The concert opened with Forrest Gump Suite performed by the school orchestra. The orchestra, led by Conor Masterson, also played the very melodic Music from Evita featuring tunes from the musical such as Buenos Aires, I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You, You Must Love Me, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
A primary aim of the evening always is promote the younger instrumentalists in the school. For some players in junior string orchestra it was a debut public performance in I Wish I Had the Shepherd’s Lamb from Irish Suite conducted by Mr Mark Doran. Similarly in junior band, beginner saxophonists, flautists, trumpeters and percussionists joined forces with seasoned players in Royal Alpine Fanfare.
The very large, supportive audience was treated to Jimmy Ward's Jig and The Dublin Reel from the traditional group. They offered a warm reception to the string quartets, brass quintet, jazz and big band music as well as hearing music from the flute trio and saxophone ensemble.
Participating students and audience alike were inspired by performances from a number of very talented soloists. Chengrun Shi (guitar), a past-pupil of St Joseph’s High School and currently a sixth year music student at St Colman’s College performed Bourée in E minor. Stephen Murphy performed Andante et Scherzo for trumpet by Busser. Conor Masterson (violin) performed Czardas by Monti. Cahal Masterson, who recently was soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 with SELB South Ulster Youth Orchestra enthralled everyone with his performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No 2.
In keeping with tradition, the final performances of the evening were a celebration of choral work in the school. The boys’ choir once again drew great audience applause for their vibrant rendition of Waltzing Matilda while the famous Cradle Song by Brahms afforded them the opportunity to show their expertise in controlled legato singing. Their exceptional young accompanist was James Murphy, a very talented pianist who was nominated Most Promising Pianist in Warrenpoint Feis 2010. The full choir of St Colman’s College, drew the evening to a close with two a cappella pieces, Molly Malone and Lullaby, both arranged by Phillip Lawson for the King’s Singers.
Speaking during the concert, Head of Music, Miss Sinéad Frame remarked that while we were undoubtedly living in a technological age, it was important to continue to support those involved in the Performing Arts – this was happening in St Colman’s College. Dr Francis Brown thanked the students for having provided such a rich and varied programme of music. St Colman’s College indeed continues to be a centre of excellence.
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Bhain na gasraí seo a leanas scoláireacht / scholarship winners were
J1 – Cormac Clarke Niall Clarke Conal Gordon
J2 – Declan Loye
J3 – Mateusz Jadczak
S1 – Daire Brown Patrick Sweeney Conal Mc Cavanagh Eamon Grant
Bhain na gasraí seo a leanas bonn / medal winners were
J1 - Thomas Carlin
S2 – Martin Ryan
The annual Feis an Dúin Gaeltacht scholarship competition was held on Saturday 20th and a number of St Colmans students were successful. Overall nine students have won scholarships to the Gaeltacht and a further two students were successful in the medal competition. Yet again Coiste na Feise are to be commended for an excellent day which the students enjoyed and benefited from. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí!
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On Friday 12th March a Key Stage 3 Science Quiz took place at St. Patrick’s High School in Keady. Sixteen schools including Secondary and Grammar Schools participated in the annual event.
This event runs during National Science Week. Newry High pupils Mark Irwin, Claire Tilley and Christopher Bagnall were awarded third place. The pupils are pictured with their Teacher Mrs Miriam McPolin. Congratulations to all.
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SRC Catering Students bring home the bacon Returning from IFEX in a haze of glory, the Professional Chef and Food Service students from Southern Regional College are taking a well earned break after producing some of their best work at the large hospitality event held in Belfast.
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St Colman’s College collected their 7th All Ireland Colleges’ Senior Football title with a stylish and convincing win over Munster rivals St Brendan’s Killarney at a sunny Croke Park.
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Pictured are the two latest St Colman’s pupils to join the prestigious MENSA organisation. Matthew Greene and Raymond Cousins both scored highly with an IQ of 150. They are pictured here with their tutor Peter Sloane.
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The STEM Module visited St Colman’s College on Tuesday 1st June to do forensic work with the Year 8 pupils.
This work involved hands on experience of crime scene investigation such as blood analysis, foot print analysis, fibre analysis, urine tests and flame tests.
A number of J1 pupils attended the STEM Truck module throughout the day and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Thanks to William McKeown, Kyle Crooks and technical staff from the NEELB who delivered this module.
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A group of young people on The Prince’s Trust Team Programme at Southern Regional College Newry have upgraded and restyled a local area that had become run down and unattended over several years. 14 students aged 16-23 undertook the Community Project element of their course over a 3 week period at the Women’s Resource Centre at Downshire Place, Newry.
The project consisted of a major clean up operation, gardening, construction work, painting and decorating. For this project the students raised funds for resources needed to complete the project by carrying out a bag pack in Sainsbury’s, Newry.
When the team had restored the garden to a beautiful and peaceful setting, the project focused on the completion of wall murals that depict the journey women and children take when they decide to leave behind a life of domestic violence. The murals helped keep the project in line with the ethos of Women’s Aid and created a colourful and attractive environment.
Along with the help of artist Louise Donnan and the inspiration of Assistant Team Leader Kathy McComb, the team painted each of the four seasons and nature images which represented the home and family. The students also wrote inspirational and motivational quotes on another wall, each young person confirming their chosen quote with a hand print.
The Women's Resource Centre provides support, information, advice and training to women who have suffered domestic violence, therefore it is hoped that these women will use this area; The Garden of New Beginnings, as a place to relax, find peace, and gain inspiration. All staff at the Women’s Resource Centre were extremely pleased with the transformation of this area and the Prince’s Trust students gained great satisfaction from the level of praise and appreciation their project attracted.
Lisa McAnulty, a team leader for the Prince’s Trust Programme commented “These young people have created something that will have a positive impact in a woman’s life, their combined effort on this project could pave the way for new beginnings”.
The Garden of New Beginnings was officially opened at Prince’s Trust Team 11’s Final Presentation by the students and Women’s Resource Centre alongside representatives from the Southern Regional College. Special thanks to Paintz for donating products that enabled successful completion of this project, Sainsbury’s Newry for allowing the Team to fundraise and in particular to the staff at Women’s Resource Centre for their co-operation throughout this project. For further details and info on registering for the Prince’s Trust programme, please contact Stephen Ferris on 07841468934 or email ferriss@src.ac.uk
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Southern Regional College were among a number of high-profile organisations which scooped gongs at the Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards in Belfast.
A capacity crowd packed into the Ramada Hotel for the gala black-tie dinner, at which the Minister for Employment & Learning Sir Reg Empey congratulated all the winners for their success in placing a firm emphasis on individuals and their positive contribution to the Northern Ireland workplace.
The prestigious event, hosted by award-winning BBC journalist Karen Patterson and guest speaker on the night Sarah Newman - RTE’s Dragon’s Den, saw 17 main awards being presented alongside 14 commendations.
Southern Regional College were delighted to pick up the prestigious award for Workplace Excellence in the Education Sector. The judging panel described the College as “the winning organisation in this category has garnered a glowing reputation for outstanding quality in teaching, learning and business support not just in Northern Ireland, but nationally and internationally. Embracing a number of campuses spread over a wide geographical area, it has transformed lives through meaningful and enjoyable learning experiences.”
Chief Executive Brian Doran commented, “With the merger of six large campuses in 2007, it is due to the hard work and dedication of the staff and students over the last three years that SRC has gone from strength to strength. I am very pleased to say the College has made significant business improvements and will continue to achieve excellence and empower people through learning.
Speaking at the awards, the Minister welcomed the initiative, which aims to promote and reward our key resource people. He said: “These awards recognise excellence in the workplace and reinforce the message that our people are our most important asset. It’s great to see that more and more businesses and organisations are recognising this and the need to upskill their existing workforce so that they can make the most of new opportunities. Unfortunately we live in times of economic uncertainly but as research has shown, companies that invest in the skills of their staff are two and a half times more likely to survive. The aims of The Irish News Workplace and Employment Awards go hand in hand with much of skills work being taken forward through my department.”
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