St Louis successes continue to bolster catholic confidence

That was the message from the school’s acting principal, Miss Claire Kelly to the packed gathering of students, parents, teachers and governors at last Thursday’s annual prize-giving.

Miss Kelly said that the celebration of the achievements of students at the school brought into sharp focus their deep concerns about the future of Catholic academic education in Northern Ireland.

She said: “The consistent quality of the outcomes of this school has created a high degree of confidence in the community.

“Parents send their children to St Louis with an expectation of successful results and the highest standard of pastoral care and pupil experience and it is this style of education which people clearly continue to value and seek.

“It is a real concern, that even the suggestion in the Press that Catholic schools are contemplating change, caused prospective parents to switch allegiance to other sectors to secure a grammar school education,” said Miss Kelly.

She continued: “Change is coming to all schools in Northern Ireland as we build new learning communities of schools and widen access to a greater number of types of courses and career opportunities.

“Here in Ballymena the success of Ballymena Learning Together has not only fostered better community relations but it has strengthened the quality and range of experiences for all pupils.

“Our particular links with our partner Catholic High School, St Patrick’s College have allowed us to offer a broader A Level curriculum to students in both schools and we are very proud indeed of this development”.

Miss Kelly said that the gradual evolution of school partnerships had proven successful and had retained the confidence of parents.

“This approach must characterise any plans for the future which the Catholic Commission might have,” she said.

“Dramatic change to our current configuration is not we feel, the best way forward while political paralysis continues to block any resolution to the academic selection stalemate. Catholic parents must not be deprived of the opportunity to send their children to a Catholic grammar school.

“Testing remains, therefore, a reality for pupils seeking entrance to this and other grammar schools. Those who argued that our testing provision would not be robust, child centred, fair and would be legally challenged were proved wrong.

“This year again we will use the GL Assessment and have in place the same pastorally sensitive conditions as last year. The school is indebted to the staff, both teaching and administrative who worked hard to make it a success.

“In truth testing is and needs to be a constant tool for educators to evaluate children’s progress and end of Key Stage Two outcomes must conform to the same rigour as every other stage in a child’s career,” she said.

Turning to the academic role of St Louis Grammar, Miss Kelly said the school is very proud of its position among the highest achieving grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

She said: “This year both our Sixth Form and Year 12 students surpassed the highest standards set by pupils in recent years.

“At A2 level, 84% of the U6 candidates gained passes at Grades A*-C in 3 or more subjects with 93.2% of all A2 entries being A*, A, B or C grades.

22 of the U6 students achieved a combination of A* or A grades in at least 3 subjects with 9 of them achieving A* or A grades in 4 subjects.

“Worthy of special mention is Connor Purdy who gained a superb 5 A grades 2 of which were A*. Connor will continue his studies at St. John’s College, Cambridge.

“At AS level 82% of the entries achieved A, B or C grades with 21 of the L6 students achieving 3 A grades or better. Indeed 11 of the students achieved at least 4 A grades with both Aaron Brown and Niall O’Neill gaining an outstanding 5 A grades”.

At GCSE, the results were equally pleasing with 98% of the Year 12 students achieved 5 or more passes at A*-C and 94.5% of them gained passes at A*-C in 7 or more subjects.

32 pupils achieved a combination of A* and A grades in at least 9 subjects with 20 of them achieving these grades in all 10 of their GCSE subjects.

And Miss Kelly made special mention of Thomas Fyfe, Shannon McKee and Aidan McKinley who each gained 10 A* grades.

She pointed out that the successes and achievements would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of the teaching staff both in the classroom and also after school.