Over 160 students have joined the Sixth Form at St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook. Pictured is the entire Year 13 group on their first day back at school,with their Year Head, Ms Christine Fearon.

Students returning to school as members of the Sixth Form at St Paul’s High School join the largest ever group of students studying Post-16 courses at the Bessbrook school.

The new Year 13 group has over 160 students, joining with their 120 counterparts in Year 14 to make the largest ever Post 16 intake.  The larger than expected intake is a result of outstanding GCSE results which were achieved in recent public examinations.

The new Sixth Form students have a wider than ever choice as St Paul’s boasts nearly thirty subjects in the Post 16 curriculum, including the full range of academic and vocational options, including BTEC Construction, BTEC Sport and Performance, Drama & Theatre Studies, Music and CACHE (Certificate Course in Children’s Care and Education)

Students in Sixth Form at St Paul’s will be offered a specially designed pastoral programme to complement their academic studies, including a peer mentoring programme, a ten-week drugs and alcohol awareness programme, Young Enterprise training and experience and a Success Skills Programme for young women.  This will augment the well established St Vincent de Paul Society and the St Paul’s International Aid Projects to Romania and Kenya which Year 13 students will be involved in during the coming school year.

Head of Year 13, Ms Christine Fearon welcomed all of the new students and wished them well in their studies.  Speaking to students on their first day back to school, Ms Fearon congratulated students on the excellent GCSE grades achieved and pointed to the immense potential within each student, adding that she hoped that this would be maximised over the coming years at St Paul’s.

Principal, Mr Oliver Mooney, in welcoming the new Sixth Form to St Paul’s, said that he looked forward to working with the new intake and hoped that the students obtained the full benefit of the St Paul’s experience, including the wide breath of diverse extra-curricular activities currently on offer, including Sport, Dance, Art & Design and Drama.

The launch of an exciting new multimedia local heritage project was celebrated at St Paul’s High School recently.  ‘Living in the View of Slieve Gullion’ is a collaborative project between the Bessbrook post-primary school, and six of its partner primary schools which showcases the many aspects of the shared local history between the younger and older pupils.

The project was funded as an Extended Schools initiative and involved close collaboration between the seven schools, St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook, Ballymoyer Primary School, St Malachy’s Primary School, Camlough, Drumilly Primary School, St Joseph’s Primary School, Bessbrook, St Peter’s Primary School, Cloughreagh and St Joseph’s Primary School, Meigh.

Speaking at the launch of the project, recently retired Principal of St Joseph’s Primary School, Meigh, Mr Brian McKinley said, “This was a project based on cultural heritage, that combined the best of the Revised Curriculum, involved generations working together within our communities and involved recording the heritage of each area to be presented in an accessible format for future generations.”

“The main aim was to draw together information from several communities into a single resource which would promote and nurture awareness of the past.  We hope that this pack will be viewed as a showcase of places of interest in the area and will hopefully motivate people to come and visit these sites, looking at them from a fresh perspective.”

Principal of St Paul’s High School, Mr Oliver Mooney, congratulated the pupils and their teachers for their effort and commitment in producing such a valuable resource.  Mr Mooney said, “Our cultural heritage defines who we are, and it is our responsibility to maintain and to pass it on.  This multimedia project will assist in that responsibility and educate and inform generations to come”.

Chairman of Governors of St Paul’s High School, and Principal of St Peter’s Primary School, Cloughreagh, Mr John Campbell, paid tribute to the hard work of the team involved in the production of the multimedia project and added that he hoped the material would be widely available in the local community.

The project was co-ordinated by Bursar at St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook, Mrs Sharon Cowan and designed and edited by Mrs Siobhán O’Hare, assisted by Mr Conor Starrs.

The project was launched in the presence of the pupils from the primary schools involved, as well as their parents, teachers, and members of local history and heritage groups, and the Mayor of Newry & Mourne District Council, Councillor Mick Murphy, as well as local councillors.

Read the interactive online version of ‘Living in the View of Slieve Gullion’ by turning the pages below left or right.

If you’d like to receive a copy of ‘Living in the View of Slieve Gullion’ please contact St Paul’s on (028) 3083 0309 or emailing us by clicking here.