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Students from Our Lady’s Grammar School in Newry are celebrating a very successful year with superb results achieved in their A Level results.
Principal, Mrs Fiona McAlinden, expressed her congratulations to the class of 2018. ‘’Well done to the Our Lady’s A Level class of 2018. The students have achieved outstanding success and their hard work has been justly rewarded.
"I would like to take this opportunity to praise our dedicated teachers and to thank our parents for their support. I wish the girls all the best in their future careers as they move forward to this new and exciting chapter in their lives.’’
Next week it's the turn of GCSE students to receive their results.
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Southern Regional College’s Business Support and Innovation Centre recently held a Higher Level Apprentice (HLA) Employer information session at the Newry campus. The event aimed to provide employers with further information and guidance on the HLA recruitment process and employing an HLA apprentice.
SRC currently has HLA programmes in areas such as Accountancy, Mechatronics, Computing Infrastructure and Applied Industrial Science- Chemical and Life Science pathways.
There are many benefits for employers who engage with the HLA programmes including addressing skills gaps, bringing new ideas to your business and the ability to train a new employee or upskill an existing employee, along with the academic support at SRC to meet the needs of your business.
If you would like more information about employing a Higher Level Apprentice please contact Michelle on Tel: 028 3025 9724.
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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairman, Councillor Mark Murnin, welcomed local schools to Warrenpoint Town Hall for the Chairperson’s annual ‘Green Flag’ reception. The reception recognises the achievement of local schools which have obtained their Green Flags as part of the Eco-Schools Programme.
Cllr Murnin said, “The Green Flag award is internationally recognised and only obtained by schools which have reached the highest of environmental standards. I want to commend all the staff and pupils for their hard work and especially mention members of their school’s Eco Committees. By taking part in your school’s Committee you have taken the lead and shown that you care about the environment. I look forward to seeing the Green Flags flying proudly outside all your schools.”
This year saw four new schools participating, Saint Peter’s Primary School, Cloughreagh, Saint Mary’s Primary School, Mullaghbawn, Saint Patrick’s Primary School Hilltown and Castlewellan Primary School.
Cathy Gorman, Eco-Schools NI Officer, said, “We are very pleased to once again join Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in celebrating with local pupils and schools which have been awarded the prestigious international Green Flag award. Schools in the area are working on some fantastic projects and the support and encouragement from the Council undoubtedly has contributed to their success.”
Fourteen schools also renewed their Green flag status this academic year with Cumran Primary School, Clough, receiving their flag for an impressive eighth time. Downpatrick Nursery School, which was the first school in the world to receive a Green Flag award, repeated their record-breaking achievement for the tenth time.
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Pupils from Bunscoil au Iúir in Newry had a stand at last weeks RDS Primary Science Fair, arguably the region’s largest STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) school exhibition since coming to Belfast in 2017. The stand asked the question 'Do different sources of water conduct electricity', and Primary 6 and 7 pupils were on hand to discuss their findings.
It was just one example of investigations undertaken by entire classes of primary school children, such as “Kids versus adults: Who has the quickest reflexes?” the event seeks to equip students with fundamental science skills in an exciting, creative and hands-on way.
Research shows that science and maths skills really benefit from involvement and it is anticipated it also will help encourage the uptake of STEM subjects throughout students’ education pathways and beyond.
Michael Duffy, Chief Executive of the Royal Dublin Society addressed a breakfast of STEM academics and business leaders: “One of the aims of the RDS Primary Science Fair is to improve science and maths of primary school students and we know from research that the Fair does this. We also aim to give primary school teachers greater confidence in the teaching of science and maths in creative and exciting ways. But it isn’t just about STEM skills. Questioning, resilience, teamwork and creative-thinking are all nourished through participation; and they are all life skills that will be required by the next generation for the rest of their lives.”
The RDS Primary Science Fair is already well-established in Dublin and Limerick and between the three venues will host a total of over 7,000 primary school students and their STEM projects in 2018. With an underlying ethos of encouragement through whole-class participation, all of the schools chosen to exhibit will be presented with trophies and individual certificates for students in recognition of their hard work. Constructive feedback from judges who work across science, education and STEM industries will also give students the opportunity to engage with STEM professionals.
For more information visit the RDS Primary Science Fair website: www.primarysciencefair.com
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Southern Regional College students from a range of creative and technical disciplines from across all campuses took part in a STEM competition on the College’s Newry campus.
The STEM (Science, Technology, and Engineering & Mathematics) competition is an internal SRC competition which promotes student work through projects and aids in the development of transferrable skills to enhance their employability skills. The competition showcased the innovative and entrepreneurial talents of the College’s students as they presented their product, design and business ideas.
Judges who gave their time and expertise to speak the students and decide upon the overall winners of each category judged them on their ability to communicate and discuss their project and explain their employer engagement and feedback. The Judges included Joe Barron, Veterinary Extras; Tom Kinney, Invest NI; and Ally McKenzie, Sidelines Video & Film Production.
Presenting at the awards ceremony, Sharon McCone, Deputy Head of School for Creative Design & Computing at SRC commented: “This competition has run for over 6 years and is a pinnacle point for end of year work and recognition of students’ hard work. It is a pleasure to watch the talent and skills our students have and it’s a privilege to work alongside them”.
The winners included:
Overall STEM Award & Innovation Award - ‘Slieve Gullion Games’ by Dylan Hughes and Connor Tully (Level 3 Extended Diploma in Games, Animation and VFX Skills)
Engineering Award - George Hadnet (Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering)
Entrepreneurial Award - William Hadnet (Level 3 Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma in IT)
Team Award - Automatic Cable Reel’ (Level 3 Engineering)
Communication Award - Cara McAleenan (Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design)
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Novosco, in partnership with Ulster University are holding an innovative IT summer camp (for students aged between 16 and 17 on 30 July) between 30 July and 3 August 2018
The Novosco Cloud Camp will run at the university’s Jordanstown Campus , and it's free of charge. It will provide hands-on IT infrastructure experience, as well as a fun learning environment.
Part of the camp will take place in Ulster University’s smart environment labs, which include some of the latest smart technologies, as well as a state-of-the-art robot called Sandy.
Professional IT engineers and Ulster University lecturers will facilitate the camp, which will also involve a tour of Novosco’s Catalyst Inc headquarters to allow students to see a world-class managed cloud company in action.
In addition to free registration, all participants will be provided with a free Raspberry Pi computer to keep, as well as a lunch voucher each day. There will also be complementary transport provided from Belfast city centre to the university.
The camp will help students develop their skills in areas including hardware and operating systems, creating a virtual server, machine learning / artificial intelligence, machine vision and sensor technologies, cloud technologies and consider the ‘Internet of Things’.
To mark its third year, the number of places on the camp this year has been increased by one-third.
Novosco Managing Director, Patrick McAliskey, said: “Novosco Cloud Camp has grown and got better each year that it has taken place and we are delighted to expand the camp again this year in conjunction with Ulster University, with 40 places available. We were overwhelmed with the interest in last year’s Novosco Cloud Camp, and we anticipate even stronger interest this year. We are delighted to be working with Ulster University to help deliver the camp, which we see as an invaluable initiative for skills development in Northern Ireland. As a fast-growing managed cloud company, we are very aware of the need to encourage more of our young people to choose IT, and we believe that there is no better career than IT infrastructure.”
Ulster University School of Computing Associate Head of School, Dr Nicola Ayre said: “As Northern Ireland continues to attract global tech companies and local tech companies continue to compete on a global stage, it is imperative that we have a steady stream of qualified graduates with strong technology skills to fill the well paid positions available. The Novosco Cloud Camp in association with Ulster University aims to develop skills, raise ambitions and prepare future IT leaders by presenting the opportunity for participants to engage with our state-of-the-art robot, experiment with some of the very latest technology in our research labs and fully immerse themselves in the world of IT outside of a classroom setting.”
Novosco is a managed cloud provider with clients in the public, private and voluntary sectors across the UK and Ireland, including Premiership football teams, police forces, some of the UK’s largest health trusts and many of Northern Ireland’s top companies. Novosco employs over 180 people, mainly in Belfast.
Ulster University’s smart environments include a smart kitchen, smart bedroom and smart living room, used to support investigations into the area of assistive technologies and activity recognition.
In addition, a newly refurbished robotics laboratory is being used to investigate the development of autonomous robotics which could be used within home-based settings.
To complement this, a set of 400 sensing nodes is currently available to be deployed in a smart environment covering a footprint of over 6,800 square feet.
The university also has a multitude of mobile platforms and a recently installed mobile laboratory.
Apply on their website at WWW.NOVOSCOCLOUDCAMP.COM
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Students from across the six campuses of Southern Regional College (SRC) came together to celebrate their achievements at the annual Student Recognition and Further Education Awards Ceremony held recently at the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh.
The event was an opportunity for the College and senior staff to recognise and pay tribute to all SRC students who received external recognition or awards during the 2017-18 academic year.
The award winners spanned various disciplines including Sport, Business, Construction, Hairdressing and Health & Social Care. Student of the Year and Special Achievement Awards were also presented at the event.
Brian Doran, Chief Executive of SRC said: “One could not help but be impressed by the range of awards presented here today for sporting excellence, for success at regional, national and international skills competitions and for those who have represented the college in a range of external events.
The awards you have received were not easily obtained and you should feel very proud of your achievements. It is no exaggeration to say that you have been wonderful ambassadors for this college and I wish each of you every success for the future.”
If you would like further information on any of the courses offered at Southern Regional College please contact the College on 0300 123 1223, email info@src.ac.uk or visit www.src.ac.uk
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A recent awards ceremony for students participating on the School Partnerships’ Programme (SPP) at Southern Regional College, Newry Campus saw over 150 Students from local high schools receiving presentations.
Southern Regional College welcomed Year 12 students from Kilkeel High School, Newry High School, Newtownhamilton High School, Rathore School Newry, St Joseph’s High School Crossmaglen, St Joseph’s Boys High School Newry, St Mark’s High School Warrenpoint and St Paul’s High School Bessbrook to celebrate their achievements at this special awards ceremony.
The School Partnership Programme enables Year 11 and 12 students in the school sector to sample areas including, digital imaging, joinery, beauty, hospitality, hairdressing and motor mechanics, in order to make a more informed career decision. The students on the SPP programme attend SRC one day per week for two years and achieve recognised qualifications on completion of their studies.
Guest Speaker at the event was Kelly-Anne Smyth from Newtownhamilton High School who kindly outlined her experience of the SPP programme at SRC.
SPP top student of the year went to William McBride from Newtownhamilton High School and the Endeavour award went to Sheridan Brady from St Mark’s High School, Warrenpoint.
Brian Doran, Chief Executive, Southern Regional College, commenting on the close partnership working between local schools and SRC said “The partnership between Southern Regional College and the schools in the Newry and Mourne Area Learning Community provides opportunities to pupils to benefit from a wider curriculum by undertaking a range of courses not available to them in school. The various courses lead to nationally-recognised qualifications that will not only help pupils make better career choices but will also help them get employment in the continuing challenging economic environment.”
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St Paul’s High School Netball team are the NI Premier League and Shield champions for 2018.
The Year 9 girls were victorious at the NI Cup and League Finals day in Lisburn Racquets in March beating Glenola Collegiate, Bangor 17-13 in a close fought final quarter.
This makes them double champions for 2018 which is a great achievement for the team and coach Paula O’Hare-Armstrong.
Year 12 pupil Hannah Quinn and Year 14 pupil Rose Duffy have also been selected on to the U21 Netball Northern Ireland National and Development Squads respectfully for the 2018-2019 season.
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