Prizegiving
The Annual Prizegiving and Award of Certificates 2009 was held in St Brigid’s High School, Armagh last Thursday 22nd October, attended by special guests, cup sponsors, proud parents, past and present students. Miss Mary Kelly, Acting Vice Principal, opened the proceedings with a warm welcome to all present, followed by a short blessing by Father Dooley.
Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr Pat Brannigan stated how proud he was to be associated with this great school. He quoted “The Principal and teachers of St Brigid’s should be congratulated because they identify each boy’s personal capabilities and encourage them to make the most of them and at the same time encouraging the boys to take responsibility for themselves and those around them”.
He ended his speech saying “This evening we celebrate the successes of Year twelve’s. We are proud of you. Carry with you all through life all you have learned here and always be proud to say that you were educated at St Brigid’s.”
Mr O’Hagan congratulated his students past and present on their wonderful achievements in both internal and external examinations. He spoke of the wonderful teaching staff in the school and quoted “A lot of the teachers don’t understand and appreciate the impact they have on their students and how this impact stays with them in the future”. He talked about the ceremony being a celebration of spending 5 years in St Brigid’s High School, the pupils achievements and knowledge and the overall contribution the pupils have made to the school.
Mr O’Hagan ended his speech by saying “Five years have passed, you are now past pupils, and we take great pleasure in your achievements and want to wish you well in the future. Remember the school motto “Do your best” and shoot for the stars in the future”. Mr O’Hagan then invited guest speaker and past pupil Mr Liam Boyle to the podium.
Mr Liam Boyle addressed the audience with a brief account of his life from leaving St Brigid’s High school at the age of 15 to now owing six companies with 100 staff at the age of 29. He explained that he started at the bottom of the ladder in his father’s business and didn’t take this opportunity seriously enough and wasted five years of his life making wrong decisions and hanging around with the wrong crowd. He give a very strong message to the audience in front of him “It was the lowest stage in my life, I felt very weak, there was no happiness or enjoyment in my life. Things went from bad to worse and I knew I needed help; I eventually turned to my family and they helped me in every way possible. I got an opportunity to manage a business and I decided this was my chance to make a success of my life. I worked long days and hours and a few years later seized the opportunity to buy the business.”
He continued to say “I am in total control of my life now and I set myself very high standards, goals and targets. I expect the same from my staff and pride myself in being a very fair and honest boss. In my spare time I like to give something back in thanks for my life and work as a volunteer in Lourdes every year for one week”.
His final message was “to the boys here today, you are already one step ahead of me as I have no certificates. I live by my motto of working hard, being fair and most of all being honest. I believe in myself, I believe I can do it and I want you to believe in yourself too, take every opportunity and seize them with both hands.” The audience gave Liam an exploding round of applause for his very honest and emotional speech and the pupils really felt that his message was one they would take on board.
Mr O’Hagan then invited Mr Jack Bratton (a member of the winning 1949 Armagh minor team) to the podium where he showed his medal that he won 60 years ago to the audience. Mr Bratton then presented Mr O’Hagan with a framed signed jersey of the current Armagh Minor team, which will be displayed in the school reception area.
Mr O’Hagan went on to talk about a recent school collaboration trip where five pupils and a teacher from the four Armagh schools (St Brigid’s, City of Armagh High School, St Patrick’s Grammar and The Royal School) travelled on an all expenses paid trip to San Francisco to play in a hurling competition. He quoted that the 20 pupils were “ambassadors for each of the schools, their county and most of all their country. I feel that this is a fertile area for further collaboration especially in this climate of competition with in schools”.
Mr O’Hagan thanked the local businesses community for their support in sponsoring cups for the best subject awards and offering financial assistance towards the new school website. The website now has a “Friend’s of St Brigid’s” page where sponsors can display their business logo and show their support for the school. The school web address is www.stbrigids.co.uk.
Liam Boyle then presented GCSE Certificates to the successful candidates. A number of additional awards were then made to students who were Best in Subject in GCSE last year:
Subject Pupil Name Cup Sponsor
GCSE Art & Design Conor Conlon John Gribben
GCSE Applied Art & Design Ryan Kieran John Gribben
GCSE ICT Aidan Black
GCSE Irish Peter Moir
GCSE Mathematics Aidan Black
GCSE Physical Education Francis McBride
GCSE Religious Studies Peter Moir Mulla Construction
GCSE Motor Vehicle & Road User Studies Aidan Black
GCSE Learning for Life & Work Aidan Black
GCSE English Language Peter Moir
GCSE Geography Aidan Black Oriel Mortgages
GCSE History Sean McCaffery M&M Contractors
GCSE Double Award Science Ronan McShane Armatile
GCSE Single Award Science Simon Arthurs Armatile
VEP Student of the Year Caoimhin Barra McKeown
Work Experience Student of the Year James Devlin
Mr P Brannigan presented The Governor’s Cup for Academic Achievement to Aidan Black in recognition of his tremendous work in GCSE exams this year.
Sports Person of the Year was presented to Connor McCague by Mr Jack Bratton (member of Armagh Minor team 1949)
Star Student Awards were made to Robert Karwecki, Eoghan Black, Thomas McGleenan, Nathan McCann, Connor Kelly, Robert McQuaid, Cormac Kelly, Mark McCrilly, Ryan Trainor, Darren Cush, James Kelly and Ryan Kelly. These pupils all received a letter of commendation, certificate and a sports voucher for Armagh Sports.
Miss Mary Kelly, Head of Science, presented the awards for Science Students of the Year 2008/2009. Year 8 Student of the Year was Caolan Smith with runners up Darren Mone and Fintan Heaney. In Year 9 the winner was Ryan Shields followed by Conn Toal and Eoin Fox. In Year 10 Student of the Year was Mark Murphy; in 2nd place was Gary Hart with Conall Connolly 3rd.
Pupils who achieved GCSE success early were presented with their CCEA certificates:
Year 8 Conor McClelland GCSE Irish Grade B
Year 10 Kacper Machinski GCSE Polish Grade A*
Year 11 Marek Machinski GCSE Polish Grade A*
Year 11 Bradley Collins GCSE Irish Grade C
Top Student Aidan Black presented Liam Boyle with a gift on behalf of the school to thank him for his visit to St Brigid’s High School.
Mr Eamonn O’Hagan would like to thank everyone for making the evening such a wonderful event.
Previous page: Progress Files
Next page: Promoting Positive Behaviour