Pictured Above: Head of Technology & Design, Mr Sean O’Neill, students Shannon Rice & Shannon Sexton along with Mrs Orla Coulter, Health & Social Care teacher  

Recently Health and Social Care students Shannon Rice and Shannon Sexton demonstrated the value of shared work and a collaborative departmental approach to completing assignments.

Tasked with the shared responsibility of completing a practical based Health and Social Care activity within the confines of an academic classroom, the two dedicated individuals went to the Technology and Design Department where they used their designing and manufacturing skills to create an exceptional A-Level assignment. Shannon Rice is currently studying A Level Technology & Design whilst Shannon Sexton took it to GCSE Level.

The module Child Development requires students to plan, design and create a functional toy which can be purposefully used on a child of a relevant age to stimulate development.

To meet the academic needs of these students, Health and Social Care department teamed up with Technology, integrating departments and ultimately reinforcing the competence and confidence of the students to complete their projects.

Subject collaboration in this instance has produced significant benefits for the students in question as well as for the teachers and future collaborative tasks.  The accomplishments of these two particular individuals must be recognized and celebrated on the production of a wonderful piece.

We’re very excited about our new iPhone app which was officially launched on 1st March.

The app, which is a free download from the iPhone App Store, will provide users with up-to-date news, photos, videos and events from St Paul’s, presented in a user-friendly, accessible and elegant way.

You can download the app from the iPhone App Store by clicking on the link below.

We’d love to hear your feedback.  Leave a comment on the App Store, or in the comment box below if you like it, or if you have any other feedback to make.

William McNally, St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook with Mr Charlie Byrne receiving award for 2nd place in GCSE construction from Barry Neilson, Chief Executive, CITB-ConstructionSkills NI

CITB-ConstructionSkills NI has acknowledged the academic success of the top four local students who achieved the highest grades in GCSE construction in NI for 2010.

This subject has been developed by CCEA to give students a realistic understanding and experience of Construction that will enable them to develop an authentic working relationship with the real world-of-work. In light of the interest into the built environment GCSE construction has grown in popularity over the past six years growing from 100 candidates in 2005  to total of 780 candidates in 2010.

First place with the highest grade was awarded to Thomas Toner from Cullybackey High School with joint second awarded to Stephen Shaw, Ballymena Academy and William McNally, St Pauls High School, Bessbrook and Jack Grugan, St Patricks High School, Keady gaining third place.

By way of recognition the students were invited to the annual Skillbuild NI event to receive their school bursaries sponsored by CITB-ConstructionSkills NI.  The event was followed by a tour of the annual skills competition, which was recently held at South Eastern Regional College, Newtownards Campus.

On presenting the awards, Barry Neilson, Chief Executive, CITB-ConstructionSkills NI, said, “It is a pleasure to acknowledge the outstanding results that these young people have achieved. Construction is a really vital and rewarding career that leaves a lasting legacy for communities and future generations.  I think its fitting to make these presentations to three people who could be future captains of the construction industry at the Skillbuild NI National finals..  Here, our current crop of apprentices are showing us what can be achieved and demonstrating that they are operating at the highest level. During these difficult times, we need to encourage young people to enter our industry so as to prevent skills gaps in the future.  We not only congratulate these student on their achievements we also wish them every success in their future career.”

Pictured with Willy Stewart, Co-ordinator of the STEM Module for Technology are Niamh McGovern, Maire-Claire Crilly, Peter Davis and Nathan Toothill

^{On Tuesday the 3rd November the STEM MODULE bus was in St Paul’s to facilitate technology activities. Mr Geoghegans year 11s and 12s pupils participated in a selection of activities using advanced CNC Routers to design and manufacture ‘Name Plates’ and import designs.}