New Down High head honoured to be part of ‘unique’ local school

New Down High head honoured to be part of ‘unique’ local school

2 November 2016

DOWN District’s newest high school principal has described her new school as “unique.”

Maud Perry, who took up the post of principal at Down High School in September, told her first prize day audience it was a great honour to deliver her first report as principal of the school. 

Mrs Perry moved to Down High after 25 years of teaching in England to take over from former headmaster, Paul Logan, who retired after leading the school for the past ten years.

The new principal said after just a short time at the helm it was clear the school motto, ‘nothing is achieved without effort’, was embodied in the students receiving prizes.

“After just nine weeks I can share with you that the school is unique; small enough to enable strong personal relationships yet large enough to offer a broad and balanced curriculum equipping our pupils with the 21st century skills they need to compete globally,” she said.

“At Down High School the development of core values such as respect, kindness and responsibility are given equal importance to attaining high academic outcomes. However, I’m pleased to report that our pupils do also attain the highest academic standards,” added Mrs Perry.

She said the summer exam results again confirmed Down High’s position amongst the top grammar schools in Northern Ireland. 

At GCSE level 17 pupils gained 10 A*or A grades and two of those, Anna Rea and Victoria Clarke, gained 10 A*s. Victoria also achieved joint first across the province in her French, Charlotte Martin achieved joint second in French and William Browne joint third in physics. 

At A-level, the percentage of pupils achieving A* to C was above the Northern Ireland average with 14 pupils attaining three A stars, A or distinction star grades. 

Three-quarters of all BTEC grades were Distinction or Distinction Star level, allowing many pupils to access the high-level university course of their choice.

The principal was also full of praise for the staff at the school who she said set high expectations and ignite a passion for learning that arms pupils with the confidence they need to make these results possible. 

“Through the hard work and commitment of staff, our pupils access a world class education enriched by an extensive range of activities,” she said.

Turning to individual success at the story, Mrs Perry highlighted Nicola Bain and Rebekah Flynn who worked throughout the summer with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, evaluating the success of European agricultural incentive schemes on the biodiversity of local invertebrates. They presented their findings at a ceremony in Whitehall and were successful in their applications for Green Crest.

Three of the chemists, Hannah Nelson, Michael Harper and Daniel Molloy, were highly commended at the UK final of the Royal Society of Chemistry - Schools’ Analysts Competition after taking first place in the Northern Ireland heat. 

Adam Morrison was crowned the All-Ireland 2016 Rotary Young Chef of the Year before going on to represent Ireland in the UK and Ireland National Final in Lincoln. 

The work of the Home Economics and Geography departments gained recognition through the Fair Aware Award during Fair Trade fortnight and geographers also saw the department awarded the Met Mark Award by the Royal Meteorological Society for excellence in weather teaching. 

Technology and Design student William Browne became the first pupil in the history of the school to be awarded the prestigious Arkwright Scholarship for Engineering. Winning the farm safety short story competition enabled Madison Rafferty to treat her entire class to an all-expenses paid trip to the Balmoral Show in addition to having her story published in a children’s book.

On the sports fields Mrs Perry highlighted the girls’ first eleven hockey steam which reached the semi -final of the Ulster Schools Plate; the third eleven reached the quarter final of the Gibson Cup and the under 15 eleven reached the Final of the Gibson Cup. 

Individually D’Arcey Campbell represented the Ulster under 16 hockey team and D’Arcey and Emily Adams were members of the South East under 17 squad.

In athletics George McBratney took home a silver medal for cross country at the Ulster Championships while the junior girls’ team won silver and qualified for the Irish Championships. John McAdam was crowned Northern Ireland Under 19 Indoor Champion in the 400 metres and the school won 12 individual medals at the district championships before going on to pick up a record haul of five medals at the Ulster Championships. 

Rachel Maguire and Tori McCord were then selected for the for the UK school games Northern Ireland squad in the relay and High Jump respectively. 

In netball Philippa Cleave was selected for the under 13 and Sarah Colgan for the under 15 Regional Development Netball Academies. The Girls Tennis team were Ulster Schools Intermediate Cup Finalists and in table tennis Rebecca Finn had numerous successes the most notable becoming Irish under 18 Champion. Also in table tennis Adam Brown gained international umpire status.

A host of strong swimmers enabled Down High to reach no less than 8 finals at the recent Swim Ulster Schools Gala. Individually Adam Colgan won silver in both the 50 metre backstroke and 100m Individual Medley.

In rugby the first fifteen again they reached the final of the subsidiary shield and the second fifteen reached the semi-final of the 2nd Fifteen Cup and for the first time ever in the history of Down High School so did the 3rd fifteen. 

Four players were involved with Ulster Schools and Under 19s sides — Zac Ward, Claytan Milligan, Robin Wilson and Lewis Finlay. Claytan Milligan will attend the Ireland U18 camp this half term.