St. Ciaran’s College, Ballygawley, like all schools, faces the challenge of preparing our young people for a knowledge intensive economy. We were delighted when Diane Morrow asked us to take part in a holistic Mtech Academy programme which would provide a project-based, technology-centric curriculum that addresses the specific requirements of students and teachers thus preparing them for new opportunities in the digital world.

A group of Year 10 students worked on a problem based learning activity investigating the power of mobile technology in creating smart towns and cities. Throughout the year these students engaged with industry and investigated some of the leading technological advances in 5G, AI, Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Technology. Pupils worked collectively to create ideas for the future and got the opportunity to pitch their findings on the stage in Barcelona.

Top Score for Carrick Primary School

Congratulations to the boys from Carrick Primary School, Warrenpoint who participated in the Boys’ Co Down Indoor Football Competition on Friday 1st March 2019 in An Riocht.

The match results were as follows:

Match 1: Carrick Primary School 3-5 v Grange Primary School 1-1

               Carrick Primary School 2-2 v Aughlisnafin Primary School 0-1

               Carrick Primary School 2-5 v Millennium Primary School 1-0

               Carrick Primary School 2-2 v Meadow Primary School 0-0

Final:    Carrick Primary School 3-1 v St Patrick’s, Hilltown 3-0                                   

The boys played some great football and were a credit to themselves, their school and their families.  In the final the boys were up against a very feisty Hilltown team and were 5 points down with 2 minutes to go.  However, the boys were determined to win “6 in a row” and managed to score 2 goals to win the County title. 

The Diocese of Derry, very keen that faith and Church are a meaningful part of young people’s lives, held its first meeting of young diocesan ambassadors on Wednesday 13th February in the conference room of Saint Eugene’s Cathedral. To enable the diocese to better hear the voice of the young, 40 young people from Catholic Post Primary Schools, who were commissioned recently at the Annual Catholic Schools Week Mass, met with Bishop Donal McKeown to begin to share the views of young people in their school and parish communities. Meeting once a term, the forum gives young people a valuable opportunity to talk directly with the Bishop and the Diocesan Youth Ministry team and to highlight issues which are important to young people today. The young people present bring a range of different religious experiences to this forum.

Steelstown Primary School Derry have won the ‘Northern Ireland Primary School Road Safety Quiz’ after coming out on top at the final which was held at the NI Fire and Rescue Training Centre, Belfast on Monday 3 March.

They were followed by St Colmcille's Primary School, Ballymena in second place and Fairview Primary School, Ballyclare in third place.

The quiz is open to teams of 4 P7 pupils and covers road safety, road signs and general knowledge. It has been running for over 20 years and this year over 220 schools entered across the 11 regional heats based on council areas. A total of 22 teams contested the final in front of an audience of over 150.

The boys and girls from Primary 4 to Primary 7 in Holy Cross Primary School, Attical had a visit from the NI Water Bus on Wednesday 20 March.  They learned all about how our water is supplied and the ways we can help to ensure water is not wasted.  Holy Cross Primary School has pledged to become a ‘refill’ school and were supplied with drinking bottles to reuse to help us reduce our plastic waste.  It was a very educational and fun visit.