Collaborative Partnership with St Joseph’s Crossmaglen
St Paul’s High School Bessbrook is a partner in the Newry and Mourne Area Learning Community (ALC).
As such our school is committed to the aims and objectives of our ALC. We aim to:
- Promote a culture of collaboration and respect for cultural diversity
- Enhance the breadth of subject choice available to pupils in line with the Entitlement Framework
- Provide equality of opportunity for achievement and progression
- Encourage an agreed framework of holistic education
- Embrace diversity and establishe an environment of inclusivity
- Prepare students for third level education and the world of work
Currently we have two main partners with whom we have established school-to-school collaborations at GCSE and A Level.
Over the past two years we have worked closely with St Joseph’s High School in Crossmaglen to create opportunities for shared courses at KS4 and Post 16. We have developed common time-tabling blocks in order to facilitate this provision.
Post 16 Collaborations
Students from St Joseph’s High School in Crossmaglen are undertaking A Level Courses with students in St Paul’s High School in the Following subject areas:
Maths, Irish, Music, Drama, Sociology and Construction.
These students travel to St Paul’s four days a week to attend lessons. A common time-tabling block has been agreed by both schools in order to facilitate these curricular collaborations at both AS and A2 level. Classes are time-tabled on:
Monday afternoon (2pm-3.20pm)
Tuesday morning (10.40pm- 12pm)
Wednesday afternoon (2pm-3.20pm)
Thursday afternoon (2pm-3.20pm)
St Joseph’s students receive a hot “brunch” at 10.30am in St Paul’s each Tuesday prior to class and return to their parent school by bus at mid-day.
Key stage 4 Collaborations
Three Year 12 students from St Joseph’s H.S are currently completing the second year of their BTEC First Sport studies in St Paul’s. This group of students spend all day on Thursday in St Paul’s and have been allocated a form tutor with whom they register each morning on arrival.
Details of our collaborative partnerships with Rathore School for Children with Special Educational Needs
A student from Rathore has been attending lessons in St Paul’s over the past three years. Last year he completed his GCSE Music exam and achieved a grade “A”. He is currently completing the second year of a GCSE Drama course in St Paul’s H.S.
St Paul’s and Rathore School also enjoy further collaborative partnerships at KS3 in the areas of: Science, Music and Drama.
These partnerships are funded through the Sharing Education Programme.
In Tune Magazine
Garry Carroll from Rathore was interviewed by In Tune Magazine, below is a copy of the article and a statement from Garry talking about his achievement.
“In August 2010, Gary Carroll, a student at Rathore School, received an A grade in his GCSE Music exam. This was a fantastic achievement for Garry as he is the first pupil from Rathore School to sit a GCSE exam. Everyone at Rathore School is extremely proud of him!
After working with Gary on a Music Technology project in Rathore School, Mr Alan Monteith, SELB Music Service tutor suggested to Mr. Pat Mathers (Music co-ordinator, Rathore School) that it could be possible that Gary could study GCSE music. With the support of Mr. Cassidy, Principal of Rathore School, Mr. Mathers explored a number of avenues to see if this could be achieved.
As part of the collaboration with St. Paul’s High School Bessbrook, Mr. Peter Slane (Music teacher in St. Paul’s High School) assessed Gary and felt that he would be very capable of undertaking this. Mr. Slane worked with him on a one to one basis for a year and then Gary continued his studies at St. Paul’s High School Bessbrook.
Below, Gary tells us in his own personal statement what this achievement meant to him.
Music has been a way of expressing myself for most of my life it was what I use when I’m happy and when I’m sad. When I first heard I was going to study it I thought this was going to be fun. And I was right! I enjoyed learning about the different elements of music such as dynamics and music terminology and the different genres of music. I began my compositions with arranging my own version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Any Dream Will Do” I enjoyed this very much as I have a passion for musical theatre. I hope to play Joseph one day in the future. My second composition was a piece I wrote myself. What I enjoyed most about it was writing it and picking the different instruments to play along with it. The theory was hard but I enjoyed it greatly as I learned about different areas such as music for celebration, musical traditions in Ireland and musical arrangements. The piece I enjoyed studying the most was “Mack the Knife” because I enjoy at times listening to some swing songs and jazz upbeat songs. My favourite part about music for me is the practical side. I enjoyed learning songs for my exam I got to do a solo and a duet. I performed the man of La Mancha title song and for my duet I performed “You raise me up”. I would like to thank Mr Slane, Mr Mathers and Mr Monteith.”
Garry is pictured with Principal Mr Oliver Mooney, Music Teacher Mr Peter Slane and SEP Co Ordinator Noella Murray
