Principals Speech - Prize Day 2006
posted 26 Sept 2006
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The speech has been edited and broken into categories for ease of reading
Please select a heading from the list below:
Exams
Staff Changes
Bereavement
Head pupils & Deputies
School Mini-Company
Special Achievements
Curriculum Leaders and Year Heads
Citizenship
Drama / Music
Charity
Library
Schools Council
SPORT
Tribute to Mr Freestone
There is much for us all to celebrate at GCSE and Advanced Level.
The Advanced level pass rate was an excellent 99.7% and there were outstanding performances by students across all subjects with 90.5% of the passes at the top three grades.Of the 58 pupils who took 3 or more A Levels, 57 are progressing to Further Education.
Moreover, they are embarking on a wide range of academic disciplines, including Medicine, Engineering, Primary Education, Accountancy, Finance, Law, Dentistry, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics Computer Science, Sports Science, to name but a few.
Although inevitably we are very proud that two of our students who have gained places at Cambridge we are equally proud of the achievements of all of our departing students. We wish all of them well in their forthcoming studies and look forward to reading of their future success.
Our Lower Sixth have excelled at AS level with an A Grade pass rate of 54 %.
In GCSE we have once again outstanding GCSE performances with an overall pass rate of 99.5% with no less than 79% of all Grades at A to C which is excellent for the wide range of pupils sitting the examination and is indeed higher than last year.
It is also very appropriate on this occasion to register our thanks to you the parents for your encouragement and support and of course to all the teaching staff who as always played a major role in this success.
We sadly said goodbye this year to a number of long serving, valued members of staff. Mr Barry Freestone our Headmaster who I shall speak about later. Mr Wesley Hutton, Maths teacher and school examinations officer who has served the school since 1971, Mr Tom Spencer who retired due to ill health after 26 years on the staff, Mr Alan Ferguson, Head of PE, a staff member from 1975, Mrs Mary Barr, a member of staff from 1987, Mrs Sandra Evans, a Geography teacher in the school for 33 years, Mr Davy Junk, caretaker for 34 years, Mrs Moira Allen, senior canteen supervisor for almost 20 years and Mr Euan Butler who assisted in the P E Dept for the past year. May we wish all of these colleagues and their families a very happy and healthy future and proffer our thanks for the significant contributions they have made to our school; it is very much valued and appreciated.
Ms Anne Marie Fleming has accepted a seconded appointment to the Northern Ireland Assembly as Education Officer and the school is very pleased to be able to release her for the next two to three years to pursue this post. Ms Fleming will be replaced by Mrs Dunlop and Mrs Allen has taken over as Head of Languages. Mr Haycock is now Head of the PE Dept.
Miss McAdam joins the staff as a teacher of Art and Design. Miss McAdam is a ceramics specialist and we look forward to her contribution to an already vibrant Art and Design department. On behalf of the school may I welcome both Mrs Dunlop and Miss McAdam. We very much hope that you will be happy here.
All school communities suffer their share of sadness from time to time and last year this school was very upset by the deaths of two of our pupils, Philip Wilkinson and Gareth Cheevers.
Philip died in late August as the result of a tragic accident.
Gareth died quite suddenly last January and both deaths were a great shock to all of us.
Both boys were full of spirit and fun; they were popular pupils with lots of friends.
We can only hope that time will heal the sadness their family and so many people felt at their passing.
Both boys are sorely missed by their classmates and teachers.
Our thanks go to last year’s head boy and head girl Ryan Kinney and Tanya Wilson as well as their deputies Elaine Hopper, Grace Watters, Robbie Moffett and Daniel Prekop for a job very well done.
We extend our best wishes to their successors, head girl Gillian Abernethy, head boy Matthew Hanna and their deputies Emma Carson, Laura Gillespie, Jeremy McKeown and Steven Knox.
The school mini company ‘Glow’ had a successful year. They sold a range of products and novelty items, however they had a spectacular success with the creation of a calendar called ‘Farmyard fun’ with drawings by Holly Jameson from 10 DA. The sale of the calendar meant that Glow was financially the most successful mini company ever.
They were able to donate £1500 to Heartbeat, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Sperrin View Special School. The school is as ever indebted to the First trust bank for their support.
The mini company then went on to compete in a business competition organised by Dungannon and Cookstown Business Education Partnership. Our team won the Prize for the best use of I.T. and the plaque for best overall performance as a team. This is the second time in two years that our school has won the best overall performance prize.
Rebecca Nicholl, Donna Chambers and Esther Johnson won 3 of the 20 places in a N Ireland wide competition for creative thinkers run by a company called Nesta. The prize was two weekends developing their skills in animation and other creative pursuits and a four figure money prize each.
In Home Economics year 11 pupils received their food HygieneTraining OptionsCertificate, awarded by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.
Andrea Davidson achieved the highest marks in NI in her module 6 of A level H E and was awarded the Michael Cole award presented by the NI Food Standards Agency. Her teacher, Mrs Gregg, also received a trophy on behalf of the school.
Lorraine Sproule came second in AS Art in Northern Ireland, her AS Art sculpture was selected for exhibition at the Ulster Arts Society. CCEA have since purchased the piece for permanent display.
Curriculum Leaders & Year Heads
At this point I would like to pay tribute to the Curriculum Leaders. During the past academic year a number of colleagues dare I use the term volunteers have undertaken some outstanding work in the realm of teaching and learning. The genesis of the group was Together towards Improvement a self evaluation document produced by The Education and Training Inspectorate. Our whole school focus became teaching and learning techniques. The group prepared and delivered a very enjoyable conference last November and at Easter we asked the consumer that is the pupils, what they thought. The resulting booklet makes for interesting reading. The project will continue and with the revised curriculum and the emphasis on skills development as its focus I believe we have made an excellent start in preparation for this new venture.
Also congratulations to our heads of Year. Every year the pastoral team attends the annual conference of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education. Following this years conference we were featured in the NAPCE journal and in recognition of our contribution to the well being of the pupils of this school and ongoing commitment to Pastoral Care we were asked to write an article about some of the initiatives we have implemented in this school This was published in June.
A new subject to appear on our timetable this year was Citizenship as part of the new curriculum, 80 Year 8 pupils attended a residential at Crawfordsburn Scout Centre. Pupils considered issues such as Diversity and Inclusion through the medium of games, debates, caving, wall climbing, a hunger banquet and other physical and mental challenges including making shoes and becoming market traders in a third world country. Our thanks to Mrs Major and her Citizenship team on this new venture.
On the 7th & 8th of December the school will perform Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy ‘She stoops to conquer’ in the Burnavon.
Last year’s school musical ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ was a resounding success. The story line was funny, the songs by Irving Berlin so very memorable and the talented cast were outstanding with too many impressive performances to single any out for special comment. In our judgement this show was one of the best High School productions of all time.
Later in the year two of the stars of the show namely Naomi Black and Matthew Hanna successfully auditioned for the Ulster Youth Choir and have been attending training in the summer prior to a series of performances, including the recent BBC’s Proms in the Park.
A newly formed Chamber Choir made up of 12 senior pupils will perform today.
This year’s Pupil musical recital evening was the biggest yet with even more parents and friends turning out to support our GCSE and A level Music students as they played their examination pieces. It is always daunting to perform for family and friends but everyone did extremely well and they were a great credit to themselves and their families. Although this event has been running for only a few years, it is now I think a well-established High School tradition.
Owen Lucas in Year 8 took part in local auditions to perform on Blue Peter and was highly commended. Andrew Boyd in Year 10 won the SELB MS Cup,/ Lorraine Sproule achieved a merit in Grade 8 Flute and Cindy Yung passed Grade 6 and 7 in one academic year, scoring an excellent 85 out of 100 in her grade 7.
The school takes its social responsibilities very seriously to try to help those less well off than ourselves through charitable giving.
For 14 years now Year 9 has been supporting the families of children in a village in Uganda through Action Aid. Lily Grace is about 11 years old and the money sent gives her the opportunity to go to school by supporting her family.
The school was also very pleased to be able to support Gary Gilmore and Mr Hutton. Gary and Mr Hutton have just returned from Brazil were they undertook work under the auspices of the South American Mission Society to help the underprivileged. In order to help fund this project the Geography department held a pancake and bun sale. We also had, what has become our annual silly socks and tie day, and an unforgettable ‘Stars in your Eyes’ competition.
Once again sixth form donated the profits from their annual formal and pupils of this school raised a substantial amount of money by taking part in the MS sponsored walk.
Finally, in June pupils from the Junior Choir performed at a Fashion show for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children organised by a past pupil Steven Graham.
The Library Resource Centre enjoyed a busy and successful year, with many pupils and staff making regular and constructive use of the resources available.
The year commenced with a Scholastic Book Fair – a promotional venture which was enthusiastically supported by the whole school. Pupil Librarians were also appointed during the year. These pupils have responsibility for helping with the day-to-day running of the LRC. They have the opportunity to visit the library exhibition mobile when it visits the school, organise competitions and generally assist library users.
The Library Resource Centre has undergone something of a makeover, having been extensively refurbished. Pupils and staff now have access to a contemporary and pleasant study area.
As part of our wish to give pupils a more effective voice in the life of the school we decided to establish a Student Schools Council.
In the first term of last year a working party consisting of staff and pupils was set up and a Constitution was drawn and agreed. Class representatives were elected in early March and then there was an election week when class representatives from Years 11 to 13 could put themselves forward to be on Council. Each candidate had to have a manifesto and to present this to other pupils at special assemblies before voting took place.
Once elected, the 14 Council members were trained by staff from the Northern Ireland Commission for Children and Young People at their headquarters.
The Council elected its executive committee with Jeremy McKeown as chairperson, Gillian Abernethy vice chairperson, Chee Yan Shek secretary, Steven Knox treasurer and Emma Wilson as publicity officer.
Regular meetings were held until the end of the school year and a suggestion box made available for pupils.
Issues raised by pupils included healthier food in the canteen and mirrors in the girls toilets. These have been dealt with as well as a request for outdoor seating. Through fundraising and local sponsorship from: W J Kee and son, Mac Engineering , Grampian Pork, The Glenavon Hotel, Lafarge Cement, and the Otter Lodge the schools Council raised enough money for 8 Ecoplastic seats made from recycled plastic.
I am delighted to say these have been installed and are being put to good use on sunny days and even not so sunny days.
Thanks must go to Mrs Prekop for all her hard work to date with this new venture. We look forward to further projects, which will be of benefit to the pupils of this school.
Girls Hockey
Netball
Rugby
Soccer
Cross Country
Boys Hockey
Badminton
Athletics
Once again Cookstown High School has had a very successful sporting year.
In Girls hockey, the U13 hockey team were semi finalists in the Bann Trophy. The U14 girls reached the 3 rd round of the Junior Schools Cup and were joint winners of the West of Ulster League.
The girls U15 hockey team were joint winners of the Barriskill Trophy and the girls 2 nd XI were runners up in the West of Ulster League.
As holders of the NI Senior Schools Plate, the 1 st XI suffered an early defeat in the Senior Schools Cup. Following a good run in the schools plate they were narrowly defeated by Regent House. They were also runners up in the West of Ulster League.
In February the girls1stXI went on tour to Amsterdam where they played two matches. One match was played at the well renowned Rotterdam Hockey Club, which has no less than 11 Astroturf pitches. The tour was very successful and I am delighted to report that the girls won both their matches. Once again thanks must go to Lafarge and Mr J McAllister for sponsoring the Girls 1 st XI Kit and thanks to Mrs Henderson, Mr Graham and Miss McKillop for helping out every Saturday.
During the season three girls were selected for the SELB U15 Hockey squad and four for the U17 squad.
From their performances on these squads, Paula Black and Louise Donaghy were selected to attend Ulster U18 and U16 training camps this summer.
Rachael Campbell was selected to play for the Ulster U16 B team and for the SELB U17 squad.
Rebecca Dallas was selected to play for the Ulster and Irish Teams U16 Teams. Unfortunately knee surgery meant that Rebecca was unable to fulfil all her commitments before Christmas. However Rebecca did recover in time to be selected for the Irish Under 16 Squad who played in July in Spain in the European Championships. This was a very successful tournament for the Irish Squad winning the Bronze Medal.
Grace Watters was selected to play for Ulster U21s. This was Graces’ final session with the school and she has had an outstanding hockey career. Captain of the 1 st XI, captain of Ulster U18s, vice captain of Irish U18s, she has represented Ulster and Ireland at all junior age groups. We wish her well in her future Hockey career.
The standard of netball played in the school improves year on year thanks to the tireless dedication of Mrs Campbell. Lisa Bowman, Hannah Ferson and Rebecca Nelson were selected for the Northern Ireland U19 squad. Lisa Bowman went on to make the full NI senior team for the European Championships where they finished 3 rd overall. She also played in the World Championships qualifiers (in Fiji of all places). At just 17 years of age this was quite an achievement.
One of our most recent past pupils Chloe Boden was awarded a sports scholarship to Jordanstown as an ‘elite athlete’ due to her many netball achievements while a pupil at this school.
Altogether nine pupils were selected for SELB netball squads at U15 and U17 age groups to compete in the Youth Games at the NI ViSport tournament.
The senior team reached the quarter finals of the schools cup and won the Southern League for the first time ever.
Last October the school hosted the ViSport cross-border tournament, a competition between three top NI schools and three top schools from Southern Ireland. I am delighted to say that not only were we complimented on being such good hosts but we also clinched the trophy for the third successive year.
The junior netball team had a tremendous season. As holders of last year’s Minor’s School Plate they went one step further by reaching the finals of the Northern Ireland Junior Schools Cup.
The school continues to be indebted to Intersport Superstore, Cookstown and Mr John McConnell for their continued sponsorship of our senior netball team.
Our Rugby 1 st XV entered the Northern Bank Schools Cup for the first time, our U16 team reached the semi finals of the Pollock Cup and the U13 squad won the Coleraine and Districts League. Staff and pupils enjoyed a trip to Lansdowne Road to see Ireland play Scotland in the Six Nations Competition.
Congratulations to Ryan Glasgow who has been selected for the Ulster under 18 squad and to Graeme Eastwood and Craig Glasgow who played for the Ulster under 17 development squad.
Last season was very successful for our U12 and U13 boys’ soccer teams, as they became Champions in the Coleraine and District league. Mr Hogg’s direct coaching style ‘inspired’ the boys throughout the season.
Marc Harkness was selected for the Tyrone Milk Cup Team along with Stuart Dallas who also played for the Northern Ireland Schoolboy Squad.
The boys had better watch out, however, because not to be outdone 21 of our girls at U13 and U15 levels, for the very first time, entered for the Irish Football Associations Carnegie Schools’ Cup.
In the qualifying heats our U13s came top of their group and reached the Regional Finals and the U15s came an excellent second after a very difficult set of matches
Pupils competed in the Craigavon and District Lakeside Cross Country Championships. Our star performer was Viola Henry from the LSC who finished 5 th overall. Viola then went on the finish 10 th in the District Championships and qualified for the Ulster Schools Championships.
In Boy’s Hockey our very young 1st X1 squad played some good hockey last season, very narrowly losing out to more experienced sides in both the McCullough and the Burney Cups. Once more the team qualified for the all Ireland schools’ tournament held in Cork where they gained valuable experience.
Although the 1st X1 team did not achieve team success there was tremendous individual success by 8 of the players who all received international Honours.
Mark Crooks, Stephen Sloan, Stuart Smyth and Alaistair Thom were selected for the Ulster Under 16s and then the Irish Under 16 Team who played in the European Championships in July. The Team finished fourth, the highest ranking to date for that age group.
David Ames, David Best, Colin Donaldson and Timothy Smyth all represented Ireland at Under 18 Level.
The 1 st X1 have recently received sponsorship to purchase new kit and with all their individual talent we can only hope they live up to their new sponsor’s slogan ‘Simply the Best’(Stanley Best Estate Agents).
The U15 Boys Hockey Team had an excellent season reaching the final of the Richardson Cup.
Congratulations must also go to the U13s who reached the semi finals of the Bannister Bowl.
As yet there is no formal schools competition for Year 8 boys. However enthusiasm was high with large numbers training regularly after school. The U12 squad had some outstanding successes during the year in 7 aside tournaments, and in winning the Northern Ireland Mercian Club Cup. In fact two Cookstown teams reached the semi finals having to play one another for a place in the final. The A team went through and then defeated Banbridge U12s 3-0 in the final. As a result of this they were invited to take part in an all Ireland 6 aside competition at the National Hockey Stadium, Dublin. They played and won all seven of their games therefore placing them as the top Under 12 Team in Ireland.
Once again we thank the parents and past pupils who give so much of their time to assist with the coaching.
The Badminton club continues to flourish with high attendance throughout the season. Meeting every Thursday after school in the Leisure Centre, there are opportunities to play for fun and socialise with friends or enter for the school league. Nine teams were entered for Ulster Schools’ League and Cup competitions throughout the year at four age groups with all teams competing well in competitions played at the very highest standards. The highlight of the season was the Annual Tournament Finals, which took place before Easter after a very busy fortnight of torment, joy, tears and tantrums - and that was just the staff. Our thanks go to Miss McKillop and Mrs Allen for their patience and dedication.
Our athletes had another busy season. No less than 80 of our pupils competed in the ‘E’ District schools athletics championships at the Antrim Forum were 38 schools were present. 32 of our pupils qualified for the Ulster Schools Championships. Following this 14 of our athletes were placed in the top eight in Ulster in their events and there were four Ulster medal winners and an Ulster champion.
Laura Richardson won Bronze in the Intermediate High Jump, Rebecca Dallas won silver in the Intermediate Javelin, Karen Lees won silver in the Junior Discus and David Atkinson won Gold to become the Ulster Junior Boys Javelin champion.
These pupils then went on to compete in the Irish Schools Championships at Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Laura was placed 8 th in her high jump, Karen was placed 4 th in the discus and David won an all Ireland Gold Medal for the Javelin. Rebecca, in spite of a knee injury, gained 5 th place in her javelin event.
Rebecca Dallas and Ryan Hill were selected to represent Ulster in the Nestle Irish Schools Interprovincial Championships and Laura Richardson was named first reserve for the high jump. David Atkinson was selected to represent Ulster in the Celtic Games held in Waterford.
Ladies and gentlemen I think you will agree when I say how proud we should be of the young people of this school.
Mr Mitchell has already paid tribute to Mr Freestone but I would like to say a few words, if I may.
Mr Freestone has always taken great delight on hearing of the successes of both present and past pupils.
He is first and foremost a family man and over the years he has had good reason, as a parent, to be very proud of his own children. It was my experience that when Mr Freestone engaged with the pupils of this school he did so as if they were his own. He treated them fairly, equally and with respect. At all times he tried to balance both the pupils and the schools best interests.
Boys and girls, I have no doubt that Mr Freestone will continue to monitor your progress and he will speak with pride of both your and the schools achievements.
Mr Freestone, you can be assured that the staff of this school will continue to work in the best interests of the pupils, the school and this community. Can we publicly thank you for your significant contribution to the life of this school.
Ladies and gentlemen can I ask that you applaud the achievements of our pupils and could I ask that you along with the pupils, applaud all that Mr Freestone has achieved in his time at Cookstown High School and indeed all the hard work of the staff particularly those who are retiring as we wish them all happy, long and healthy retirements.
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