Principal of St Paul’s High School, Mr Jarlath Burns and Minister for Education, Mr John O’Dowd congratulate students who received their A Level results at St Paul’s High School.

Minister for Education, John O’Dowd, was warmly greeted by staff and students of St Paul’s High School on ‘Results Day 2014.’ There was great excitement as students received their A Level results, the best the school has ever attained, with an increase in the number of A*/A Grades achieved across traditional academic, applied and vocational subject areas.

St Paul’s prides itself on being a non-selective school, where each student is equally valued, regardless of ability. Minister O’Dowd spoke to a large number of students, from a broad range of subject areas, all of whom had received offers for their first choice courses at third level education. Students were delighted to have the opportunity to talk about their offers, some of which included medicine, law, social work, teaching, sports studies, construction, drama and nursing.

This was the first ‘Results Day’ for Principal Jarlath Burns. He congratulated the students, their families and the entire staff of the school in the role they all played in the exceptional performance of this year’s cohort of A Level students.

‘On behalf of the Board of Governors and staff of St Paul’s, I congratulate all our students who have done themselves, their families and our school proud. We celebrate, as always, all their achievements and efforts they made towards the life of this school. We are proud of their academic, sporting, musical and personal successes and wish them continued success as they take the next step.’

‘I’m particularly proud as this group is my first A Level group as Principal. This group has added much to the life of our school. They were the first group for whom ‘Sunday Study’ was available and I feel this initiative assisted students in focused revision, ultimately adding to A Level success. Through this I personally saw how committed so many of them were to achieving their full potential, as is evident in the results we see in front of us today.’

‘While today is a day of celebration for our A Level students, we are mindful of the recent loss of our Year 8 pupil James Babe. James was a much loved pupil here at St Paul’s who, in just one year, had participated so much in the life of our school through extra-curricular activities like African Drumming and the Boys’ Choir. We shall miss James greatly and continue to think about his family at this difficult time.’

Principal of St Paul’s High School, Mr Jarlath Burns and Minister for Education, Mr John O’Dowd chat to students who received their A Level results at St Paul’s High School.

Principal of St Paul’s High School, Mr Jarlath Burns welcomes Minister for Education, Mr John O’Dowd to St Paul’s High School.