St. Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt

News

ICT Becta Mark

St Mary's obtains recognition for excellence in ICT on the 11th December 2007.

St. Mary's Celebrate their 80th Anniversary

On Friday, 7th December, a Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated in St. Mary's to mark the anniversary of the school's foundation.  Bishop Gerard Clifford, Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh concelebrated with Monsignor O'Byrne,  Fr. P. Murphy, Fr. J. McKeever and Fr. H. McCann, the latter two priests being past pupils. Master of Ceremonies was Fr. D. Moore,  our School Chaplain.  St. Mary's welcomed guests from the Holy Family Sisters, past staff,  local Principals and our education and business  partners. Mrs Pauline McGurk and the staff of Cafe Bordeaux  provided a celebratory meal which was much enjoyed by all.  Afterwards, the Music Department presented a short programme of musical entertainment.

Science Fair

St Mary's Grammar School hosted a Science Fair on Thursday 28th February for local Primary and Post-primary Schools in the Magherafelt area. St. Mary's is a Specialist School in Science so this event was aimed to 'Promote Science within the community' and was a huge success.

The schools who participated included Holy Family Primary School, Magherafelt, St Patrick's Primary School, The Loup, New Row  Primary School, Castledawson, St Pius X College, Magherafelt and St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt. The pupils presented projects to the Judges, watched a Science Magic Show hosted by W5 and received prizes for their efforts. Fun was had by all!

Year 9 Ski Trip - New Hampshire

Sixty nine students and eight staff travelled to the United States at the end of February 2008 for the annual Year 9 ski trip. They flew to Boston, Massachusetts and then travelled by coach to Lincoln in New Hampshire where they stayed in the Beacon Resort for six nights.

The conditions for skiing this year were fantastic, with loads of snow and lots of bright sunny days.  The group skied in Bretton Wood for the first two days and then went to Loon for the last three days of the trip.

The Group also found time to do some outlet shopping in North Conway and visit a large shopping mall in Rockingham on the way to Boston.  Suitcases were bulging on the homeward bound journey!

A Level Visit to Houses of Parliament

Government and Politics students at St Mary's took a trip to the British Houses of Parliament recently.  The visit gave AS and A2 students a closer insight into the workings of the British Political system. During the tour students participated in the 'Talking Politics' workshop, held a mock debate and had a question and answer session.  Students watched debates in the Lords and Commons and finished the tour with a visit to Westminster Hall. After the tour students took a flight on the London Eye and then visited sights in central London.