Flying the Kite for Integrated Education
Pupils at Priory College in Holywood have been flying high after excelling in an art competition judged by George Best Belfast City Airport staff.
Over 60 pupils entered the competition as part of Integrated Education Week, which had a theme of Kites Flying High for Integration.
They were set the challenge of designing and making colourful and original kites with the top artists winning a trip to the airport where they will they will visit air traffic control and other areas the public doesn’t usually see.
Senior managers from the airport judged the competition and the 10 winning entries will soon be on display in the departure lounge.
Principal of Priory Integrated College, Peter McCreadie, said: “We are all very excited about this project. Not only does it allow our school to build a working relationship with George Best Belfast City Airport, a major stakeholder in our local community; it also gives our pupils opportunities to develop their creative, thinking and collaboration skills. In that sense, every participant is a winner.”
Integrated Education Week, a NICIE (Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education) organised event, celebrates the ethos and successes of all integrated schools.
Noreen Campbell, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, explained: “Kites represent hope, they invite us to lift up our eyes, to look for a future free from fear and violence. They represent creativity and freedom and playfulness, characteristics we look for in our schools.”
Young Americans come to Holywood
The Young Americans International Music Outreach Tour 2010 arrived in Priory Integrated College Holywood on Monday 1st February to run three days of creative workshops full of music, dance and theatre fun for 140 Priory pupils and 60 pupils from neighbouring primary schools. The workshops culminated in 2 stunning performances on Wednesday evening when the local children joined the Young Americans on stage in a singing and dancing extravaganza.
Priory Principal Peter McCreadie congratulated all those involved in the workshops. He said, “I would not have believed that three days of workshops could produce such a spectacular product. The audience was moved to tears by the level of the children’s performances. What better learning experiences can we provide for our children?
They have developed their communication skills, learned how to work with others and experienced the joy of meeting targets through hard work. Most importantly their levels of self esteem and self worth are sky high.”
The Young Americans bring music education to children all over the world. The California based group of trained performers, teachers and strong music advocates use philosophies and methods developed during 47 years of delivering workshops to children all over the world. The current tour sees the Young Americans visiting the UK, Ireland, Russia, Germany, The Netherlands and Gibraltar.
Other photos of the event can be views in the Photo Gallery
Priory pupils and City Airport combine to raise funds for Haiti
Pupils at Holywood’s Priory Integrated College, with assistance from George Best Belfast City Airport, have presented a cheque for £6,100 to Concern’s Haiti Appeal. Following the devastating earthquake, the school’s Charity Committee immediately set about raising funds to aid the people of Haiti.
On hearing of the pupils’ fundraising efforts George Best Belfast City Airport donated £5,000 from its Community Fund which was established to benefit community initiatives in the east Belfast and North Down areas.
Principal of Priory Integrated College, Peter McCreadie said:
“Pupils were moved by the scenes from Haiti and quickly organised a range of activities including collections around the school and some individual fundraising efforts. “One senior girl was so determined to make a difference that she invited friends to sponsor her for not wearing make up for a day and raised almost £300! “Another pupil took a collection box to her family’s Holywood restaurant where customers donated generously. “The school was stunned and elated when the City Airport contributed £5000 to their fund raising effort. In total £6100 was donated which we hope will make a real difference to those re-building their lives in Haiti.
Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of George Bet Belfast City Airport said:
“The pupils of Priory College should be commended for their efforts in collecting what is a considerable amount of money in such a short period of time. Some particular fund-raising initiatives were very innovative and more importantly will make a difference to the people of Haiti. “The airport’s Community Fund has helped many projects throughout East Belfast and North Down since its inception last year and we would urge other groups who are seeking funding to contact us.”
Accepting the cheque for £6,100 and thanking the pupils of Priory Integrated College, Mariclare Gallagher, Educational and Community Officer at Concern said:
“Concern has been on the ground in Haiti since 1994 and has been able to combine local knowledge with over 40 years of expertise to mount an effective relief operation. “The funds raised by Priory Integrated College will help provide access to clean water and toilet facilitates to over 50,000 people each day and give food and shelter supplies to families in 10 camps. “We’re working with local partners to plan a long term strategy, to prevent a bad situation getting worse. Haiti was extremely poor before the earthquake and the damage was profound. “Concern is determined to stand by the people of Haiti and stay for the long term, to help rebuild lives and livelihoods stronger than before – the donation by the pupils of Priory Integrated College will help us do that, and will save lives.”
People can donate directly to Concern by calling 0800 410 510 or at www.concern.net. Concern is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) an umbrella group of leading overseas agencies. Donations can be made to 0370 60 60 900 or at www.DEC.org.uk
Priory Integrated College Celebrates Pupil Success
Mr Eddie McArdle, Registrar for the General Teaching Council (Northern Ireland) joined pupils, parents, staff and governors of Priory Integrated College Holywood to celebrate pupil success at their annual Celebration of Achievement on Thursday 22nd October.
Principal, Peter McCreadie, thanked Lady Silvia Hermon, Mr Stanton Sloan, Chief Executive of the South Eastern Education and Library Board, parents, and guests for joining pupils, staff and governors to celebrate the many achievements of members of the Priory school community.
Prior to the presentation of prizes Mr McCreadie commented upon the success stories of school year 2008/2009. He praised staff for offering a wide ranging curriculum choice designed to meet pupil needs and put them on a path that will equip them to live successfully in the 21st Century.
Mr McCreadie described how collaborations with other local schools are designed to give pupils access to a wider choice of educational pathways.
Pupils from Priory who have decided they want to explore a more vocational pathway can attend South Eastern Regional College for one day each week with pupils from St Columbanus’ College, Glastry College and Strangford Integrated College to study the CCEA Occupational Studies qualification. This 4 school collaboration gives pupils the opportunity to sample a wide range of occupational areas in, for example, Retail, Catering, Construction, Hairdressing and Beauty, and Engineering – and to gain a double award qualification that is the equivalent to two C grades at GCSE.
He described a partnership with The North Down Training organisation that offers a small number of key Stage 4 pupils a two year, one day placement in the work place where pupils can attain a NVQ qualification.
 Mr McCreadie went on to describe Priory’s collaboration with Sullivan Upper School as their “most significant collaboration in terms of local geography”. From a small beginning, involving 23 AS pupils three years ago, 62 pupils from both schools now literally cross the road and join each other for GCE, AS and A2 classes.
Mr McCreadie congratulated Priory Assistant Vice Principal Miss Deirdre Scarlett for her award as Post Primary Teacher of Year in Northern Ireland 2009. He stated that the award was in recognition of the work of a teacher who regularly goes well beyond the call of duty and who makes use of a wide range of innovative and appropriate teaching strategies.
The strong link between pupil success and staff commitment was emphasised by Mr McCreadie. He particularly commended staff for embracing active learning strategies and Accelerated Learning throughout Key Stage 3. It was no coincidence, he said, that this year pupils achieved the best ever Key Stage 3 examination results in English, Mathematics and Science. Mr McCreadie thanked staff on behalf of pupils and parents for their commitment, care and dedication. This commitment, he stated, allowed pupils to achieve excellent examination results at
GCSE and GCE AS and A2 level. Evidence of this success, he stated, is the 90% of post 16 leavers now studying at university. However he also stated that not all young people should be judged as success or failures by the benchmark of how many GCSE or A Level passes they attain. Priory Integrated College is made up of a diverse group of young people and members of staff are proud to guide these young people to appropriate pathways that will lead them eventually to the world of work and to contribute successfully to society.
Mr McArdle then presented pupils from every class in the college with prizes for attainment and for effort. Pupils attaining top marks in GCSE and GCE AS and A Level subjects received awards to mark their success. In addition a large number of pupils received trophies to mark their contribution to the extra curricular life of the school and to the wider community
Mr McArdle commended the pupils upon their achievements and praised Priory staff for creating a learning environment that allowed pupils to reach their full potential. Mr McArdle reflected upon the diverse and rapidly changing world facing young people today and complimented the school for an ethos and a wide ranging of curriculum that would, he believed, prepare young people for success in the 21st Century.
Miss Scarlett wins Prestigious Teaching Award
Congratulations to Miss Deirdre Scarlett who on Monday 15th June at a glamorous event in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast won the award of Northern Ireland Secondary School Teacher of the Year.
Judges at the event gave the following statement:
Deirdre has worked at Priory College for nearly 20 years, and has risen to be a member of the senior leadership team. She demonstrates excellence in all aspects of her work and regularly goes well beyond the call of duty.
She makes use of a wide range of teaching strategies, ranging from the use of ICT, to group investigations, role play and guest speakers. A common term for her among pupils is “awesome”. They understand her commitment to their learning. One said: “She is a wonderful teacher as well as a wonderful person. She will do anything for her pupils. There is no other teacher quite like her.”
As Teacher Tutor and member of the Senior Leadership Team, Deirdre has led a team of staff designing and rolling out individual learning programmes for pupils, initially in Year 8. Its aim was to ensure that all pupils at key stage 3 were exposed to a wide range of learning experiences.
As head of sixth form she regularly meets students and parents, to advise on course options, and runs extra business classes offering students additional qualifications. Deirdre also helps students set up mini-companies and organises trips to local businesses so they can gain valuable experience.
She constantly looks for relevant and stimulating programmes of study for her students, and introduced Applied Business and Applied ICT, rather than Business Studies and ICT, because she believed these subjects were more suited to her students, and offered better pathways to further education and the world of work.
Beyond the classroom Deirdre regularly participates in the Year 9 three-day residential at Killyleigh Outdoor Pursuits Centre, and organises the parents' association evening trips to the theatre.
A colleague said: “Deirdre is the most dedicated teacher I have come across in my 32 years in the teaching profession. She is an expert teacher, a supportive colleague, a leader and mentor and completely committed, reliable and dependable.”
Judges said she “thoroughly deserved” recognition by the Teaching Awards.
All the staff, pupils, parents and governors are very proud of Deirdre's achievement.
Julian Hosts Fabulous Night of Fashion at Priory Integrated College
Staff and parents at Priory Integrated College, Holywood were thrilled when UTV presenter Julian Simmons hosted a fashion show at the college on Tuesday evening.
Julian, in his own inimitable way, introduced pupils, parents, staff and models from the Alison Campbell Agency, including reigning Miss Northern Ireland Judith Wilson, as they modelled a range of clothes from local outlets.
 
The beautiful evening was a perfect backdrop for the young models who showed off this season’s fabulous range of Summer clothes from Surf Mountain, Bangor and Next and Streetlife, Ards Shopping Centre.
 
A touch of glamour was added to the evening when models showed a range of formal and evening and wear that can be bought or hired from Absolute Glamour, Bangor. Elegance and style were the order of the day when former Miss Northern Ireland Catherine Milligan, current Miss Northern Ireland Judith Wilson and ACA model Judy Wilson showed a bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses from The Bridal Suite, Holywood.
School Principal Peter McCreadie paid tribute to all those who worked so hard to make this such a successful evening, particularly the Parents 4 Priory group and members of the school staff. He also particularly thanked students from Newtownards Abbey School of Irish Dancing whose sparkling performance got the evening off to a wonderful start.
ECO WARRIORS CLEAN UP THE COAST
On Monday 1st June the 19 members of the Eco Warrior Club left school to help Tidy Northern Ireland ‘Clean up the Coast’.
We started at the Coastguard Avenue entrance of Helen’s Bay and slowly made our way past Greys Point through Helen’s Bay and around the coast to Crawfordsburn. With litter pickers and black bin bags we made a great job of clearing up the litter after a busy weekend of beach goers.
The most common litter was:
cigarette butts, cotton buds, glass bottles, straws, plastic bags and crisp packets.
Lunch was enjoyed at the Visitors Centre and after an explore of the beach where we found star and jellyfish the bus took us home. We made sure we took all our litter with us.
PRIORY SINGERS TRAVEL TO CORK
The Cork International Choral Festival is well known in singing circles for its very high standards of singing in a very beautiful location. It was for this reason that Ms Ferguson, Mrs Stronge, Mrs Bennett and Mr McCreadie endured a very long train journey to the other end of Ireland with 24 very talkative young ladies. Never before in the history of Translink travel have so many girls chattered incessantly for five hours! The primary purpose of our Bank Holiday weekend jaunt was singing but we also had a little bit of fun in the process.
An uncharacteristically quiet Katherine and Jade
When we arrived in Cork we made our way to our accommodation in Kinlay House Hostel. The girls beautified themselves for their night out in Cork which started with delicious Pizza in Café Bar Deli and was rounded off at the cinema to watch Hanna Montana. (Mr McCreadie particularly enjoyed it!!) We had the pleasure of singing for the other patrons in the restaurant – a very surreal experience!
 
Singing for our supper in the restaurant!!
The Festival was on the following morning. Cork City Hall is an imposing sight and is a beautiful place to sing. The main hall is massive and from the stage you can’t see a thing but that does not make it any less scary! We were in the Youth Choir Competition against much older choirs so we were just really glad to hold our own against these much more experienced singers. We were delighted to be joined by some familiar faces from the former Coláiste Eoin School in Youghal who came along to rally the troops and support us.
Outside Cork City Hall before the competition
A busy week came to a conclusion the following Thursday when we came runner up in the Carrickfergus Music Festival in the under 19 section.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH 2009
On the 6th May a dedicated group of 11 pupils and 2 teachers set out on their Duke of Edinburgh practice walk. The walk began at the Lead mines at Conlig and finished at the Scout Centre in Crawfordsburn Country Park, where the pupils would pitch up their tents and cook their meals.
All pupils were very keen and eager to complete the walk through some lovely parts of the countryside. Each group had their own route plan and map to follow and although it took us a few hours (and a slight detour) we made it to our base camp in Crawfordsburn.
The pitching of the tents was not so easy, however, in the now very muddy conditions, especially for Mrs. Stronge and Mr. Moffett who required the expert help of Max Harrison.
The girls’ group worked really well as a team and had their tent up in no time with their bags unpacked and outfits picked for the next day!
It was back to nature for dinner, cooking on trangia stoves so naturally the chef’s special for the night was ‘Super Noodles’.
The craic was great and not even a downpour could dampen the spirits of the kids who really enjoyed themselves sitting by the roaring fire. A special mention to Ms. Watterson, Mr. McCreadie and especially Mr. Swann for turning up to the mud bath that was our campsite!
It was an early start the next day after a surprisingly comfortable sleep in the Vango tents. Mrs. Black turned up early doors to make pancakes! Magic.
After a spot of bacon and sausage sandwiches it was time to pack up and head back to Priory. Everyone was keen to get back to school and a long shower! The sun was shining and again everyone was in high spirits, although there were a few blisters.
When we all got back to school there was a definite sense of achievement amongst the pupils, many of whom had never done anything like this before.
Well done on a very successful practice and we look forward to the real assessed walk on the 24th June.
SINGING SUCCESS IN SLIGO AND HOLYWOOD CHORAL FESTIVALS
The Priory Singers have enjoyed two recent successes in local and national choral festivals. At the end of October the girls travelled to Sligo to compete in their internationally reknowned choral festival. The girls were entered for a competition for 3 and 4 part choirs. There were choirs from top Northern Ireland Grammar schools, leading private schools in Dublin and national schools from all over the island of Ireland. The standard was very high, the girls sang their hearts out and managed to come runner up - a really significant achievement given the competition.
The girls also managed to win the Robinson Cup again in the Holywood Music Festival this month, competing with choirs from Victoria College, Lagan College and Glastry College. They were judged "An excellent choir both technically and artistically". The adjudicator was so impressed he even invited them to sing again.!
The Priory Singers have a very busy schedule in and around Holywood over Christmas. Look out for them carol singing in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Bloomfield Shopping Centre and Holywood High Street.
 
CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT AT PRIORY INTEGRATED COLLEGE
Pupils, staff, parents and guests joined together to celebrate pupil achievement at the school’s annual Celebration of Achievement Ceremony on Friday 24th of October. Acting Principal Peter McCreadie congratulated all those in attendance for successes attained throughout the school year. He congratulated pupils from every class in the school who attained awards for attainment and academic progress. He particularly commended pupils in Years 12, 13 and 14 for their excellent achievements at GCSE, and GCE AS and A Level.
Mr McCreadie also highlighted the large number of pupils taking part in extra curricular activities and thanked members of staff for giving so freely of their time to make these opportunities possible.
Guest speaker Mr Charlie Irvine, Managing Director of London based consultancy group Questions of Difference, congratulated pupils, staff and parents on their achievements. He particularly congratulated all those who had played such an active and positive role the campaign for the new build of the school. The Minister for Education’s decision that the new build should go ahead this school year was a proper reward for their efforts said Mr Irvine.
Mr McCreadie confirmed that the new build will commence in the Spring of 2009 and looked forward to the challenge of being part of a team that will design an educational facility that, in addition to meeting the needs of a 21st Century learners, will be a resource that can develop the capacity of the whole community.
ELECTORAL REGISTRATION WEEK LAUNCHED AT PRIORY INTEGRATED COLLEGE
Caitríona Ruane MLA, Minister of Education, helped launch the annual awareness week at Priory Integrated College in Holywood. The event was attended by young people of registration age from the college and by pupils from neighbouring Sullivan Upper School in Holywood and St Columbanus’ College in Bangor.
Speaking at the launch Douglas Bain said: “Electoral registering is one of the most important things that a young person can do. “As well as securing a voice on how we are governed and how we decide such issues as education, employment and healthcare, being on the register helps with other things such as opening a bank account and credit rating. “I am very pleased that the Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane was able to join us today and give us her support to help encourage all young people to – Get on the List.”
The Electoral Office aims to help around 15,000 young people to get on the Electoral Register by the end of March 2009. That was just one of the targets highlighted by Douglas Bain, the Chief Electoral Officer at the beginning of the 2008 Electoral Registration Week. The awareness week runs from 10-16 September and is focused on encouraging registration amongst young people, particularly those at school.
MINISTER ANNOUNCES NEW BUILD FOR PRIORY
Today, 27th February 2008, Education Minister Caitriona Ruane gave the go-ahead for a new school build for Priory Integrated College, Holywood.
Acting Principal Peter McCreadie stated “We are absolutely delighted that the Minister has announced the new build for our school. This will give our pupils and teachers access to the 21st Century educational facility they deserve. Our learning environment will match the quality of teaching and learning on offer to our pupils.
I would like to pay tribute to my Governors, staff and pupils who have all worked together to ensure the Minister, her officials at the Department of Education and members of the public, understand the high quality of educational experience offered to all those attending Priory Integrated College.”
The decision was warmly welcomed by the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. Chief Executive Michael Wardlow commented “NICIE welcomes this decision, which is long overdue. As well as endorsing Priory’s success and securing its long term future, this decision sends a strong message of support to the thousands of parents throughout Northern Ireland who have chosen integrated education for their children. It confirms that integrated schools remain a central building block of our shared and better future.”
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