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Southern Regional College student Joseph McKeown is set to travel to Pennsylvania, USA for 3 months study as part of the Erasmus+ programme. Joseph is from Silverbridge and study’s the Foundation Degree in Medical and Life Science at Newry campus.
As part of the Erasmus+ programme SRC was awarded an International Credit Mobility partnership programme between SRC and Messiah College Pennsylvania, USA. This programme allows students from SRC’s Foundation Degree in Medical Sciences to study at Messiah College whilst at the same time work with Almac Pharmaceuticals, Pennsylvania. The aim of the programme is to boost skills and employability of students as well as modernising STEM education at the two institutions.
SRC recently welcomed two visiting professors from Messiah College, Dr. Anne Reeve Ph.D. a professor in Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry and Dr. Rosann Sachs, Professor in Organic Chemistry and Chair of Department.
Commenting on the visit David Vint SRC Assistant Director, said “This is great opportunity to experience important international work practices in a major pharmaceutical industry like Almac. A student’s early adult work life is an important stage in their development. During this time they receive not only a broad based medical education but this work experience with the Company and Messiah College will develop their academic and other important life skills that they will need to succeed in life”.
The award of the ICM programme to Southern Regional College is evidence of SRC’s high standing in delivering Erasmus+ programmes.
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Pupils from St Joseph's Boys High School have been busy planting trees around the school grounds this week as part of a 'Green teens' initiative.
Gillian Fitzpatrick, Chairperson, Newry, Mourne and Down Council helped plant the 50th tree in the extensive ‘Green Teens’ project around St Joseph’s HS as part of the Shared Areas environmental project.
One pupil from each form class helped plant a range of semi-mature trees around the grounds of the school, as well as under-utilized grassy areas within the local community to help enhance the green footprint and environmental well-being of the area. Senior Leader, Mrs E. Fitzpatrick, helped plant a flowering Cherry Blossom on behalf of the teachers – past and present – who've been so influential in the life of St Joseph's.
Funding for the project was secured through Newry, Mourne & Down District Council’s Live Here, Love Here programme and the tree planting initiative was the latest in a wide ranging series of environmental improvement activities involving over 60 pupils. Project coordinator, Mr Brendan Fearon thanked all those who took part in the very enjoyable work, as well as past pupil Sean O’Hare at Carrive Grove Garden Centre for assisting in the preparation and procurement of the plants.
For more images, please see www.stjosephsnewry.com
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A lecturer at the Southern Regional College has been awarded a coveted Medal of Excellence by City and Guilds.
The award was presented to Eileen Canavan in recognition of her outstanding knowledge and professionalism as lecturer on the City and Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Eileen, from Armagh, was presented with her award at a ceremony in the SRC Newry Model Campus attended by Suzi Gray, Health and Social Care Advisor for City and Guilds and Maggie Grant Assistant Director for Further Education and Training at SRC.
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The annual Chapter 4 Credit Union Quiz was held in the Canal Court Hotel earlier this year with winners qualifying for the All Ireland Final in Dublin this month. Unfortunately none of the local schools took home the silverware this time with the winners being Donard National School, Clonroche, Co. Wexford and Kilmacrennan National School, Co Donegal.
Speaking at the event, ILCU President Brian McCrory said “Every school child who participated in all rounds of the Credit Union Schools Quiz this year should be hugely proud of their achievement. I would like to congratulate each and every one of them, along with their teachers and parents, for the time they dedicated and the effort they demonstrated. A special word of congratulations must be given to all of the 100 finalist teams today. Making it to the national final takes a huge amount of effort and they should all be extremely proud. The competition was fiercely fought in the end and our two winning teams are extremely deserving of the title. I hope all of the children here today enjoyed the event as much as those of us spectating did.”
The hotly contested event is run by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) each year and attracts more than 25,000 participants. The local and regional knockout rounds are organised by volunteers from 400 ILCU affiliated credit unions, and took place in over 300 venues throughout the 32 counties over the winter months.
Chapter 4 Competition A winners
1st: St Ronan's PS, Newry
2nd: Abercorn PS, Banbridge
Chapter 4 Competition B winners
1st: Armstrong PS, Armagh
2nd: St Mary's PS, Slieve Gullion
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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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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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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 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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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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