Cheers to sweet success at St Ciaran’s prizegiving…

There were cheers, celebrations and smiles of success at St Ciaran’s College as the school hosted its annual prizegiving ceremony – the first face-to-face event of its kind since the pandemic.

Past and present pupils, their parents and esteemed guests were treated to the wonderful musical talents of both the school choir and traditional musical group, while hearing some thoughtful reflections from speakers and watching the prizewinners proudly receive their various accolades.

The initial welcome and introduction to the night was delivered by the recently appointed Head Boy and Head Girl, Conor Kerr and Katie-Rois McCann.

They were followed by the school principal, Paul Lavery. Mr Lavery expressed his thoughts on the previous school year.

“I am delighted that we can come together publicly to celebrate the success of our pupils,” he said. “To achieve such fantastic results in unprecedented times of adversity, demonstrates the quality of our young people.

“Of course, great credit needs to go also to the school staff and their parents for supporting them through the pandemic.”

The guest of honour at the event was Professor Peter Finn KSG, who was appointed the principal of St Mary’s University College, Belfast in April 2008.

“Upon arrival, I was immediately aware of the friendly and welcoming environment of the College,” he said.

“At St Ciaran’s, I experienced a positive and supportive learning environment where it is obvious that pupils come first and are very successful.

“I believe St Ciaran’s is successful not because it is neutral on its ethos or identity but because it fully embraces a guiding Christian lens on learning.

“Such a lens places inherent value on each individual in the school community an approach which is practised all over the world and benefits millions of young people.”

Throughout the night, staff and guests presented awards to the Year 12 and Year 14 students of the academic year 2021/22, with everything from sporting achievements to students’ contributions towards the ethos of the school being celebrated.

Master of ceremonies, Brendan McKenna, announced the achievement and special awards categories, while Professor Finn was on hand to present the accolades to the worthy winners. The school was delighted to see the return of the previous year’s Post-16 students to collect their prizes.

This is only a snippet of the awards handed out to the pupils of St Ciaran’s, with every student being acknowledged throughout the night with presentations from their relevant pastoral staff, Majella Donnelly (senior teacher KS4), Nick Halligan (Year Head KS4), Mairead Owens (senior teacher at Post-16) and Roisin Mallon (year head of Post-16).

The inclusivity of the prizegiving ceremony perfectly reflected the school motto of, ‘Including Everyone, Inspiring All to Succeed’.