St Paul's High School, Bessbrook
Coordinates: 54°11′06″N 6°23′24″W / 54.185°N 6.390°W
Motto | In caritate radicati ("In charity rooted") |
---|---|
Established | 1967 |
Type | Secondary school |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Principal | Mr Jarlath Burns |
Chaplain | Very Rev Father Dermot Maloney, PP |
Chairman of Governors | Mr John Campbell |
Location |
Bessbrook Co. Armagh Northern Ireland |
Local authority | SELB |
Students | 1505 |
Ages | 11–18 |
Colours | Maroon, grey |
Website |
www |
St. Paul's High School, Bessbrook (Irish: Ardscoil Naomh Pól, An Sruthán) is an all-ability, co-educational secondary school located on the outskirts of Bessbrook near Newry, County Armagh. It is a Catholic-maintained day school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18, with a pupil population of over 420 (including a Learning Support Centre for the gamesphere). It is within the Southern Education and Library Board area.
Location
The school is situated on the main Newry to Camlough road (A25). The school was extensively re-built and refurbished with a £17 million grant from the Department of Education. The new school was officially opened on 25 January 2007 by Archbishop Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland, on the feast day of The Conversion of St. Paul. The renovation of St. Paul's won the Construction of Excellence Award.
Armagh GAA footballer Jarlath Burns was appointed new principal of St Paul's, effective 1 January 2014. The school was designated a Specialist College for Science, by Department of Education in 2008, and was awarded the BECTA ICT Mark and became a Centre of Excellence for ICT in 2009. The Education and Training Inspectorate of the Department of Education carried out a Standard Inspection at St Paul's High School in October 2008.[1]
The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, visited St Paul's on 9 November 2006 to mark the completion of the extensive renovation of the school. Former Principal Oliver Mooney, was named Northern Ireland Headteacher of the Year in the 2010 Teaching Awards.[2][3] His last day at St. Paul's was 18 December 2013.
Notable former pupils and staff
- Dominic Bradley, SDLP politician and MLA for Newry and Armagh; formerly the school's Head of Year and Acting Head of Irish.
- Dáithí Murray, former broadcaster with RTÉ. Currently contributor to Irish-language programme, Blas, and Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster; Teacher in Irish Department and Director of ICT.
- John Toal, Irish-language broadcaster for, amongst others BBC Radio Ulster.
- John Rafferty, former Armagh GAA Senior Assistant Manager, former Armagh senior player; currently Head of PE and Sport.
- Conor McGinn, elected Labour MP for St Helens North.
External links
- St Paul's High School Virtual Learning Environment, 'Oscail 24/7'
- St Paul's High School on Facebook
- St Paul's High School on Twitter (@stpaulsbbrook)
- St Paul's High School Videos on Vimeo