We are delighted to say that Year 10 student Ben McFall has won the Northern Ireland Karting Association Championship.
Scores at the top of the points board were very close going into the final race of the season and Ben managed to hold off the competition to win his first championship trophy.
Well done on your success Ben and we look forward to following your progress in this exciting sport.
A huge congratulations to our Year 12 pupil Ellie-Anna McFall who has been selected to represent the UK at the FIA's Girls on Track Karting Challenge at Le Mans on 8-10 March 2019!
Ellie-Anna took part in a challenging selection event at Silverstone in October and, along with two other girls, came out fastest from the 130 competitors.
The girls will compete for the chance to be among six drivers selected for a European Team that will attend FIA Driver Training Camps, where they will be supported by the FIA through a sporting and educational programme.
You can read more about Ellie-Anna’s wonderful achievement at the Motorsport UK Facebook page.
Pupils at Cross and Passion College continue to push barriers in terms of their academic success and have broken the school record for a third successive year upon receiving their ‘A’-Level examination results. The pupil outcomes once again surpassed the averages for both the grammar and non-grammar sectors, with 89.1% of young people achieving 3 A*-C grades or equivalent.
The quality of grades at A*/A/Distinction* level in 2017 was a very impressive 37%, however this figure has also increased in 2018, with 44% of pupils achieving the very top grades in their chosen subjects.
The Principal of Cross and Passion College, Mr Paul McClean, highlighted the delight of staff at the school with the students’ achievements.
“As a school, we have challenged and supported this group of young people to achieve their best in all spheres of their education and the successes celebrated here today are a testament to their commitment to achieving their potential. The pupils in the school have shown determination since beginning their Post-16 studies and their hard work and dedication has paid off today. The many long and late evenings, spent studying in our school library, have contributed to the rewarding set of outcomes our young people are enjoying today.
I would like to pay a great tribute to all of our school staff, teaching and non-teaching, for contributing to the learning community and for playing the key role in ensuring that we continue to be a successful school. In a time of challenge for all schools in terms of workload and finance, I cannot praise highly enough the dedication and commitment shown by our staff. I am sure the young people who celebrate today will echo these sentiments.
We are very proud of the strong relationships which we have with our parental body and the close co-operation between school, pupil and family has allowed all of us to celebrate and share in the success of our young people today.”
“Whilst academic success is important for the young people of today, at the College our goal is to help develop each individual who leaves us to have a caring, committed, values-led attitude to life. I have no doubt that this group of students will use their talents and achievements to enrich their own lives and those of others. They are going on to study in the fields of Veterinary Medicine, Law, Engineering, Computer Science, Nursing, Psychology, the Arts and many more. The diverse range of courses they will follow demonstrates each of their unique talents and skills and, on behalf of the school community, I would like to wish them the very best of luck and let them know we hope to see them again very soon.”
The winning team pictured with their trophy
The year 11 and 12 boys celebrated lifting the Forestors Cup on March 28th, providing themselves and the school community with a lovely send off for the Easter break.
With many of the staff and pupils making their way over to the game directly after school, the crowd were treated to a dynamic, but very controlled display as they saw of a strong challenge from contenders St. Killian's. The match wasn't as close as expected, with the CPC boys demonstrating their commitment and skill by blocking, hooking and winning battles all over the pitch.
Seamus McAuley was man of the match, with an outstanding haul of 2-11 and you can read a full report and see some more excellent pictures, taken by our friends Dylan and Curly McIlwaine, over on their website The Saffron Gael.
https://thesaffrongael.com/2018/03/28/mcauley-magic-guides-holder-to-victory/
Wednesday 28th March was a lovely day for our Year 8 & 9 charity walk.
The pupils left school after lunch time and began the enjoyable, but challenging walk to Marconi's cottage and back again. There were plenty of smiles and chats as the pupils finished off a hard-working term 2 and eased into their Easter break.
During the walk, year 9 pupil Ben Devine took some lovely snaps and created the attached collage. Well done Ben - it looks superb!!
With GCSE programmes increasingly featuring modules and controlled assessments in Year 11, it is important for all pupils to understand the kind of preparation they need to be completing both now and over the next few months. Too little study (or indeed too much) will not lead to pupils being adequately prepared and, in their recent information session, Year 11 pupils and staff discussed some of the best ways to prepare well and to reach their potential. The importance of finding the balance between school work, hobby/family time and study time was discussed and pupils/parents should chat to Mrs Walker or Mrs Magee if they have any more questions or queries.
Click here to access the presentation resources for Year 11 Study Skills.
A group of our Year 12 pupils recently organised and ran two indoor football tournaments as part of their Occupational Studies course. More than one hundred and forty pupils took part in the events over the two days and this clearly required a lot of organising to be done!! The skills the class displayed and developed, over the two days, were those of working in teams and sharing out leadership responsibilities, all designed to make sure the events were a big success!!
Thank you to Mrs Black, Brad and Hannah and all the Occupational Studies group for their support for what was a really successful and enjoyable day!
Year 13 pupil Ciara Mathers recently won the Ballycastle Youth Rotary Leadership Competition. Her prize was a trip to Strasburg where she visited the European Parliament buildings along with 30 other young people from all over Ireland. Ciara participated in several debates relating to equality and human rights issues. Below is Ciara's summary of her wonderful experience. Thank you to Mrs McCallum and Ballycastle Rotary Club for all the support given to Ciara in her preparation and on the trip.
On the 11th February I set off with 30 other young people from all over Northern Ireland to take part in a very memorable trip to Strasburg. Our first stop was Stormont. We met with several MLA’s and caught a glimpse of Teresa May and Leo Varadkar as they were visiting amid the crisis talks which have been taking place.
Next stop was Dublin where we visited the European Parliament office. We listened to several members of the Irish Government tell us about their role and responsibilities. We then flew from Dublin to Frankfurt where we stayed the night. We had the opportunity to sight see and soak up the amazing culture on offer in the city.
From Frankfurt we drove to Strasburg. On Thursday we visited the European Parliament. We were given specific topics to research beforehand and now had the opportunity to debate specific issues with others from 23 countries all over the world. The varying opinions and ideas shared was staggering. We had translators present for English, German, Spanish and French. We also had the opportunity to meet several members of the European Parliament.
This trip has had a very positive impact on my understanding and appreciation of different political systems and views. I now have a much deeper appreciation of what happens in the EU and how it can have an effect on us. It was a particularly interesting time to visit given the Brexit situation. I have also met many new friends and we have all been keeping in touch.
I would like to thank Ballycastle Rotary, Meg Healy, Philip Beggs and Criona O’Reilly for giving me such an amazing opportunity, I am very grateful.
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