Members of the Nun's Chorus at the St Paul's production of The Sound of Music. Photograph: Columba O'Hare
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Twenty five schools from the Newry, Mourne and Down area took part in the local heat of the Northern Ireland Primary School Road Safety Quiz, which was held at the Canal Court Hotel on Tuesday 17th January 2017.
St.Patrick’s PS from Hilltown came out on top by the narrowest of margins. Team members included Aiofe Quinn, Shay Fegan, Meabh McPolin and Blaithin Shields. They were followed by Holycross PS from Kilkeel in second place and St.Bronagh’s Rostrevor who came third.
The top two schools will now compete against 20 other teams in the final which will take place at the NI Fire & Rescue Training Centre, Belfast on Monday 20th February.
The annual event, which is for P7 pupils, received a major boost this year by being awarded a Department for Infrastructure Road Safety Grant. The grant means that the quiz will run across all 11 council areas for the first time, including the full Newry, Mourne and Down council area.
The quiz is organised by Road Safe NI through their Newry & Mourne Road Safety committee to promote awareness with primary school children, who are a vulnerable road user group. The table quiz covers road safety, road signs and general knowledge.
The quiz was very much a team effort as the PSNI provided a quiz master and the PCSP provided high visibility jackets to all participants. All children signed the Department of Infrastructure Share the Road to Zero pledge, took home a certificate and a road safety booklet. Following all heats, the questions will be made available to all Primary schools to conduct the quiz in their classrooms.
Una Lawless, Principal of the winning team from St.Patrick’s PS, Hilltown said "We are delighted to win the Newry, Mourne and Down heat of the NI Road Safety quiz. It is extremely important that all of our children keep receiving the message about the importance of Road Safety in their lives. The School's Road Safety Quiz is a very welcome initiative and all involved should be congratulated. It also lends itself very well to implementation within schools and will provide a novel and interesting approach to reinforce and consolidate the important message of safety on our Roads."
Tony McKeown from event sponsors CRASH Services added, “As a local business we are delighted to be able to support the NI Primary School Quiz. We are involved in accident management and breakdown recovery services, so we have a close connection with road users and we are pleased to get involved with road safety projects like this.
"I would commend the local road safety committee for their efforts in staging the event and look forward to other initiatives in the future."
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Lauren McMahon a Southern Regional College student from Burren has won Silver in Media Make up at UK WorldSkills.
The event which was held in the NEC in Birmingham showcases talent from students all over the UK. Lauren had to go through a passive photographic stage in April, a Semi Final in Burton Upon Trent in July, in which she achieved 2nd place and then the final in the NEC, Birmingham in which she won her Silver medal.
For the final she had to paint full bodies and put at least two prosthetic pieces on, at each stage she was given a theme to adhere to.
Lauren studies Level 3 Media Make Up at Newry Campus of SRC and previously studied Level 2 Beauty and also Art and Design at SRC, which has helped to build up her artistic talents.
Having only painted her first full body in March a UK Silver medal is a fantastic achievement!
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St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook has raised over £40000 last year for a wide range of charities.
Speaking at the school, the co-ordinator of charity work and International projects Mrs. Bridget McConville said ‘St Paul’s High school, Bessbrook has always prided itself in the ability of the pupils and staff when working together to achieve great things. One of our strengths is our commitment as a collective to raise funds for charities’.
Principal Jarlath Burns added ‘We have worked together using schemes such as Spinathons, ice cream selling and non-uniform days to raise money for a whole range of charities. These included All in for Ann Cancer Charity, CHS, Head Injury Support, Childhood Liver Disease, Macmillan Nurses, organ donation charity and The Alzheimer’s Society’.
A total of £15,704.53 was raised for eleven local charities for that academic year and approximately £25,000 was raised for our International Projects.
Mr. Burns and Mrs. McConville wished to thank everyone who contributed to or helped us to organise events throughout the year and concluded by emphasising the difference this makes to so many lives at home and in countries less well off than our own.
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Year 9 pupils at St Joseph’s High School, Newry, have taken part in an environmental improvement campaign, focusing on lifting and disposing of litter that had accumulated around the boundary of the school.
Under the stewardship of Mr Pat McParland (RE HOD) and Mr Brendan Fearon (Citizenship HOD), pupils took part in a cross-curricular initiative using resources that had been provided through the ‘Down Your Street’ environmental campaign, by the Newry, Mourne & Down District Council.
Mr Patrick McShane (Environmental Co-ordinator of NMDDC) commended the enthusiasm of pupils and congratulated them on their endeavours as part of their Eco-School status for helping to improve the environment around St Joseph’s as well as in the local community.
For more information and images – please see the school web-site at: www.stjosephsnewry.com
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Southern Regional College recently hosted an Inglot Cosmetics Make-Up Masterclass in Newry Campus.
The event was hosted by the talented Inglot Ireland Pro Team member Keilidh Cashell and the Inglot Team from Dundalk: Aimee Conroy, Kathleen Rice, Chloe Downey with their manager Bronagh McCoy.
The girls carried out demonstrations to a packed theatre full of Hairdressing & Beauty Therapy students & lecturers, with so many tips on skincare, foundations and on achieving flawless eye make-up for every type of client. It was an extremely successful day with the students and staff learning new techniques.
Founded over 30 years ago in Przemyśl, Poland, INGLOT Cosmetics is now one of the world’s leading manufacturers in colour cosmetics. INGLOT currently has a presence at all major beauty happenings and events around the globe, from the runways of Fashion Week to the stages and sets of TV and Broadway musicals.
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St Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Newry has launched an innovative and multi-functional school app, designed to further enhance the holistic educational experience of pupils and parents alike.
Working in conjunction with EdTap Limited, a specialist in the provision of Educational Communications Software, the new multi-functional software allows users an interactive and intuitive experience, from which regular school updates, notifications and good practice is shared using state-of-the-art digital media.
School Website and App coordinator, Mr Brendan Fearon, explained that one unique and pioneering function of the app permits pupils to get in direct contact with a designated member of staff should the need arise after school hours, adding: ‘St Joseph’s prides itself on a positive and proactive pastoral care policy in which the needs of pupils are paramount. Through this child-safety feature we are extending the support network for our pupils and their families in order to ensure that the most rewarding and beneficial educational experiences are made possible.’
It is anticipated that the app will be used as a primary contact between school and home in providing notifications, news updates and monthly news-letters and the school warmly welcomes as many people as possible to download it and keep connected with the on-going experiences, successes, achievements at St Joseph’s.
This app is free to download for Android devices at the Play Store as well as at the App Store for iPhones and searching for: ‘St Joseph’s Newry’ (or scanning the QR codes provided). Further information and links to the app itself are available at the school web-site: www.stjosephsnewry.com
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St. Paul’s High School, Bessbrook has certainly been a busy place this past few months as the pupils prepared for the stage to tell the story of the ‘The Sound of Music’.
The school are staging the show this week as part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations, with the final production tonight.
All the nights of the production were sold out, a true endorsement of the incredible amount of work put in by all involved.
The main actors created their characters through drama and music classes and have formulated their own unique Salzburg in Austria, where the story is set.
Aimee McAllister who plays Maria and Luke Mallon who plays Captain Von Trapp became totally immersed in their characters. Their seven children lighten up the stage with their acting skills and the other characters and choruses work together to celebrate the Golden Jubilee performance.
Commenting on the event St Paul's Principal Mr Jarlath Burns said "The amazing talent in our school is something that we can be proud of and while this type of achievement will never be seen in an inspection report or appear in a school league table, it still remains a crucial element of what a school should be and do for its pupils. The whole school community is delighted and very proud of everyone who has put so much effort into making this a show to remember."
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Year 11 pupils at St Jospeh's Boys High School recently took part in a series of Mood Matters workshops involving Hilary Knight from AWARE NI, on the topic of depression and mental anxiety..
It's part of their Personal Development programme of study, and PD coordinator Brendan Fearon explained that these interactive sessions reflect the proactive approach to mental health improvement at St Joseph’s, something which is positively reinforced through an enriching pastoral care support at school.
He further added that, ‘the holistic approach to pupil welfare and wellbeing is paramount in our duties as teachers at St Joseph’s. With the forthcoming release of an intuitive and interactive school app in the next few weeks – we will significantly develop the capacity we possess as educators to respond to the needs of our pupils and provide them with even greater levels of support and guidance.’
For more information, please see: www.stjosephsnewry.com
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St Mary’s High School in Newry was among 52 organisations celebrating Investors in People (IIP) accreditation at a presentation ceremony held at Belfast Castle recently.
Commenting on the presentation Paul Devoy, Investors in People said "People’s strengths, ambitions and ideas are the engine of success. IIP accreditation signals St Mary’s commitment to good business and people management excellence”.
Mark Huddleston, Northern Ireland Commissioner (IIP)
The event allows the businesses being recognised to celebrate the achievement of the IIP Standard and recognise the benefits to be gained through the continued investment in the skills and effectiveness of the people within an organisation, whether large or small.
Principal Mrs Margo Cosgrove added “The IIP Gold Award recognises and values the commitment by staff to ensure high quality professional development which is a catalyst for excellent learning and teaching and pupil progress”
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