St Mary's High is ready to 'embrace change'

Speaking at the school's annual prizegiving she said: "In this time of change and the move towards a provision which takes account of the vocational as well as the academic which will be truly inclusive I am honoured to lead a team which supports a dedicated and professional staff who are fully prepared, confident and ready to embrace any changes in the future.

"We will continue to face these challenges and to provide a high quality Catholic Education based on gospel values to the next generation of the young people in Lurgan."

In her opening address Ms McNally had a warm welcome for those pupils who had returned to receive their awards. She reminded them that this special night was in their honour. “It is,” she said “a special occasion to pay tribute to your hard work, commitment and dedication and to celebrate your success and achievements.”

In the area of academic performance this year's exam results are not only excellent, they are the best results ever in the history of St Mary’s with some superb individual performances and a significant increase in the percentage of pupils achieving top GCSE grades.

Over 60% of pupils achieved 5+ A* - C grades and over 92% of pupils achieved 5+ A* - G grades. These results are above the Northern Ireland average for similar types of schools.

Ms McNally had a special word of praise and thanks for the parents. She commended the support and loyalty they had shown to St Mary’s and their commitment to their daughters’ education. “You too,” she said “have also travelled the hard road to success, always there in the background encouraging, supporting, helping and never failing.”

Ms McNally then paid tribute to the dedication of the teaching staff and emphasised their pride and satisfaction in their pupils’ achievements. It was, she told them, very exciting and fulfilling for a teacher to see the results of their endeavour reflected in their pupils’ achievements, confident that you will go on to make wonderful progress in the future. “Your success is our success and makes our job worthwhile.”

She went on to thank the Board of Governors who work tirelessly for the school throughout the year giving generously of their time, expertise and energy in a totally voluntary capacity

Ms McNally made special reference to the success of "our Polish students who worked and studied hard, participating in all the activities St Mary’s had to offer and who have reaped a great reward. They are the first group of Polish students to achieve at GCSE level in St Mary’s. Well done".