PRINCIPAL’S INTRODUCTION St Mary’s is a place of breadth and brilliance and the academic year 2014-2015 was no different. We were watching with interest the innovations yielded by iPads and embedding further those things which enable our pupil voice to be heard, when we received the news that the school was to be inspected by ETI and the date Monday 23- Friday 27 February. With mixed emotions- having spent nine years as part of Inspection teams, I set about supporting and guiding staff. Initial dread soon subsided, and every member of our committed and talented school community set about the preparations that would ensure that those who came to see the daily practices in St Mary’s would be impressed. We set ourselves high goals, confident that as a staff who give our best because our valued parents and gifted and talented pupils deserve no less, that we would succeed. And succeed we did. It was a humbling and proud experience to hear the daily feedback on ETI’s findings. Before the final outcome was shared, I was confident that the school community would receive the highest accolade. And we did: Outstanding Leadership and Management; Outstanding Achievements and Standards; Outstanding Provision; Outstanding Overall Effectiveness…Simply Outstanding! The Inspection was only one part of this half of the academic year. So many other successes and achievements are recorded. We continued to foster links with our local community, our industrious PTA and our parents and guardians. Sadly, we must also say goodbye to some staff, such as Senior Teacher Mr Paul Campbell, Mr N McShane and Mrs S Fullerton, and members of our invaluable Board of Governors, such as Chairman Mr Paddy Bradley, Vice-Chair Monsignor O’Byrne, Ms Mary Diamond, Mr Seamus McNeill and Teacher Representative, Mrs Maeve Carr. They have also been simply OUTSTANDING in all that they shared for the good of our school community. We thank them sincerely for their service, loyalty and friendship and wish them every blessing in the years ahead. Mrs D. Gillespie Principal INSPECTION REPORT EXCERPTS “The quality of education provided by this school is outstanding. The school is meeting very effectively the educational and pastoral needs of the learners; and has demonstrated its capacity for sustained self-improvement.” “The leadership and management at all levels is outstanding, and is underpinned by a focus on the school’s well formulated key priorities and strategic goals.” “The pupils are mature, courteous, well-motivated and articulate young people with high expectations.” “The teachers have excellent subject knowledge and a very good understanding and expertise in a range of effective teaching strategies which they use consistently and ‘cre‘ atively to ensure that all of the pupils achieve to their full potential.” “The pastoral care is highly effective and is led well at all levels. The programme is reflective of the needs of the pupils, and flexibly takes account of contemporary issues; it is interwoven well with the pupils’ academic progress, and their personal, social, emotional, spiritual and moral development.” “There is a clear focus on meeting the individual needs of every pupil, within a very supportive and inclusive ethos.” “The governors have a wide set of skills which enables them to carry out their roles effectively; they are highly committed and provide high levels of both challenge and support to the work of the leaders and teachers in the school.” ’’ CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE AND THANKSGIVING St Mary’s hosted a very special evening on Tuesday 9 June. It began with a MASS OF CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE AND THANKSGIVING which was celebrated by Monsignor C O’Byrne and concelebrated by Fr J Gates. At the close of the Mass, Principal Mrs D Gillespie, extended her gratitude to both celebrants and the RE and Music departments for organising a very fitting Mass. She then extended her warmest welcome to all invited guests, representatives of pupils, parents, teaching and teaching support staff, Board of Governors, sponsors, educational experts, and other members of the St Mary’s community. She then explained her reasons for hosting the evening: “In February we were recognised, after rigorous inspection, that we were an Outstanding school…we already knew that…but it was still nice to be told it by ETI. As a staff we had a special lunch in April, and while it was great, I felt that it was important to celebrate with others- people like you. Our school is the sum of many parts: when we all work together, the results are incredible.” At this point, Mrs Gillespie reflected on the many cards and words of congratulation received by the school in the days and weeks following the report, and then she read from one card, received from former Principal Mrs Una O’Kane, present on the evening with her husband, a former teacher of Chemistry in St Mary’s. Mrs O'Kane was thanked by Mrs Gillespie for her inestimable friendship and support, before she was presented with flowers. Mrs Gillespie then explained that the evening was also to recognise the members of the Board of Governors whose time had ended. In addition, she thanked Mrs Pauline Devlin and Mrs Anne Marie McErlean who were stepping down from their role with the PTA. Everyone was then invited to Café Bordeaux for the Gala Buffet prepared and served by Mr Sean Owens and his team. In Café Bordeaux, speeches were co-ordinated by Master of Ceremonies Mr Thomas Niblock, who before becoming a BBC Sports reporter, walked the corridors of St Mary’s as a pupil. In between courses he invited people to speak: Mr James McKee, the new Chair of the Board of Governors, who paid tribute to the outgoing Chair Mr Paddy Bradley and Monsignor Chris O’Byrne. They received school related paintings by former pupil and renowned artist Adrian Margey, who was also present on the evening. Fr John Gates was next to speak and he thanked Ms M Diamond, Mrs M Carr and Mr S McNeill. Thomas also interviewed these Governors before hearing the views of some staff, pupils, Dr Sam McGuinness and Mrs D Gillespie. At the close of proceedings, Mr Paddy Bradley presented Mrs D Gillespie with flowers in recognition of their friendship and to pay tribute to her for continuing the legacy handed down from her predecessors. Inspiring Excellence, Celebrating Achievement SIOBHAN RECEIVES CCEA'S AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Principal, Mrs D Gillespie, paid tribute to Year 13 student Siobhan Comer on her outstanding success, having gained first place in Northern Ireland in GCSE PE. She attended CCEA’s prestigious Excellence Awards ceremony in the Stormont Hotel, on Wednesday 26 March, with her teacher Ms C Donnelly. The Celebrating Excellence Awards is a key event in CCEA's yearly calendar that recognises the highest achievers in Northern Ireland at GCSE in the previous summer exam series. Richard Hanna, Chief Executive at CCEA, was there to congratulate the students. He commented: For 20 years CCEA's core ethos has been "To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised" . In addition to recognising the amazing achievements of young students, CCEA's Chairman Trevor Carson also paid tribute to the outstanding teaching workforce across Northern Ireland, “a workforce that nurtures, is dedicated to educating and goes that extra mile for our young generation.” PHYSICS OLYMPIAD Well done to seven Year 12 pupils who participated in the GCSE Physics Challenge in March: Conaill Prenter, Sé O’Kane, Ryan Quinn, Ruairí O’Kane, Brendan Kearney, Sarah McNeill and Niamh McKee. Particular congratulations to Brendan Kearney who achieved a Bronze Award. The following Year 13 pupils participated in the AS Physics Challenge in March: Paul McCarron, Connor Devlin, Estella Tohill-Reid, Megan Monaghan, Laura Mockeviciute, Cormac Mackle, Kyle Johnston, James Tennyson, Dermot Donnelly, Eoghan McDonald and Hugh-Roe O’Donnell. Well done to all eleven pupils and congratulations to Megan Monaghan, Cormac Mackle and Eoghan McDonald, who achieved Bronze Awards. PAST PUPIL ‘POWERFUL’ SCHOLARSHIP Northern Ireland Electricity launched their scholarship scheme in 2011 and they normally sponsor at least 4 students on the Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree each year at Queen’s University, Belfast. The scholarship, which is worth up to £25k over the duration of the scholarship, is open to first and second year electrical and electronic engineering students. It includes a bursary and a book allowance every year, payment towards university fees, paid summer training experience, one year training experience, a mentor and student membership of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). We were CHEMICAL REACTION therefore delighted to learn that Past Pupil, Margaret Taggart, a student from Toomebridge, has been awarded one of these scholarship by Northern Ireland Electricity. Between the 13 and 22 March 2015, forty one Year 10 students from took part in the Chemical Reaction Challenge. The Challenge measured participating Margaret is in the first year of her studies at Queen’s University. Margaret will be working with Northern Ireland Electricity students’ speed and accuracy in chemistry topics taught at Key Stage 3 in the this summer. Commenting on the scholarship, Margaret said “I am delighted to have been awarded a scholarship by National Curriculum. 125 schools from across the UK participated and 3729 Northern Ireland Electricity. It is great to not only get financial support during my studies but also to have the opportunity students took the online challenge. With a total of 865 points, Barry McErlean to put the theory I learn in the degree into practice, through work placements with the Company.” came 12th in the UK. With 631 points Cate Bateson came 84th in the UK and Dr David McNeill, Assistant Director of Education for Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Queen’s commented, “I would like with 263 points Caoimhe Mullan came 435th in the UK.