St Patrick's High School, Keady

St Patrick's High School, Keady
Address
Middletown Road Keady , Co. Armagh , BT60 3TH Northern Ireland
Information
Motto	Signum Fidei (Sign of Faith)
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholic
Chairman	Mr B. Hughes
Principal	Ms Pat. McGukian
Staff	70
Gender	Male and Female
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	1015
Colour(s)	Maroon and Blue
Website	http://www.stpatrickskeady.com

St Patrick's High School is a Roman Catholic non-selective, all ability and all inclusive secondary school situated outside Armagh City. The school teaches boys and girls of all abilities, from the high academic achiever to the child with learning difficulties. The school recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The school was established in 1970 to teach pupils from Derrynoose, Keady, Madden, Ballymacnab, Granemore, Clady and Middletown. St Patrick's now also has students from Armagh and Monaghan.

The school has grown dramatically since 1970: when it had 450 pupils and 22 teachers to the present enrolment of 1015 pupils, which includes 240 Sixth Form pupils and 70 teachers. In September 1999 St. Patrick's moved into a new purpose-built school which include a 500 square assembly hall and sports hall, sixth form suite, pavilions for Careers, Music and Drama, Lecture Theatre, Oratory and purpose-built accommodation for all areas of study and outdoor facilities. These have been further enhanced with the completion of the Keady Recreation Centre. As part of this innovative ‘Dual Use Scheme’ with Armagh City and District Council, the school now has use of a synthetic pitch with floodlighting, a new four changing room pavilion with meeting room, a new grass pitch and a two floor fitness suite. The school has celebrated excellent examination results and has been included as one of the top non-selective secondary schools in Northern Ireland, for example in 2010/2011 88% of students achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE.

Principals

Mr Patrick McAleavey retired in September 2010 after over forty years at St Patrick's. Ten of those years Mr McAleavy was a teacher and for the further thirty years he was principal, transforming it from a small rural secondary school to one of the top five all-ability secondary schools in Northern Ireland. Mr McAleavy was there when the school was first formed in 1970.

The current principal is Ms Pat McGuckian. She was appointed as new principal in April 2011. Ms McGuckian was previously the vice-principal of St Malachy's College Belfast.

Sports

St Patrick's has always been active in the sporting field from all sports and from all different age ranges, including;

• Football
• Athelics
• Cross Country
• GAA
• Hurling
• Camogie
• Golf
• Netball
• Swimming
• Basketball
• Competitive Mud Wrestling
• Superior Mathematics
• Slave training
• Knock door run
• Extreme Thumb Wrestling

Sporting Achievements

• Ulster Senior Hurling Champions in 2011/2012, 2007/2008 (Casement Cup)
• Ulster Senior Camogie Champions in 2011/2012
• Two hurling all-stars in 2011/2012
• One Gaelic football all-star in 2011/2012
• Under 14 camogie finalists in 2010/2011
• Third place in Cross Country in Ulster in 2012
• Year 8 Gaelic Football winners in 2010/2011 (McQuillan Cup)
• Irish News, sporting school of the year in 2010
• U14 Gaelic and U14 Camogie Teams were crowned "TEAM OF THE YEAR" of Armagh
• Ulster Year 9 Gaelic football winners in 2010/2011 (Corn Colmcille Cup)

Subjects

Students at Key Stage Three in St Patrick's are offered a wide range of subjects including, English, Maths, Science, Religion, Geography, History, Irish, French, Technology and Design, Art and Design, Physical Education (P.E.), I.C.T., Music, Drama, Citizenship, Employability, Home Economics, Personal Health and Social Education (PSHE). In addition to the subjects above students in Key Stage Four are also offered, English Language and English Literature, Road Traffic Studies (R.T.S.), Learning for Work and Life (L.L.W.), Double Award Art and Design, Single and Double Award Science, Health and Social Care, Child Development, Business Stuides, Exam P.E., Construction, Business and Communication Systems, Sociology and Occupational Studies (VEP). Finally at A-level St Patrick's also offers on top of the above subjects; Applied Business Studies, Double Award Applied Business Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Travel and Tourism, Moving Image Art, Economics, Key Skills (Communication, Application of Number and ICT) and Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (COPE).

School Aid Romania

School Aid Romania was set up in 1990 with two main aims: to assist children in need in Romania and to bring together pupils from different schools and different communities in Northern Ireland. In pursuit of its aims, School Aid Romania's objectives are to contribute to the development of community relations and mutual understanding between young people in Northern Ireland and to secure, by joint ventures, material assistance to relieve poverty and improve the well-being of young people in Romania.

St. Patrick's take great interest in helping those in need and the first ever SAR from Keady took place in February in 2012. Over 20 students and three teachers took part.

References

• "St Patrick's High School Keady – Prospectus 2013" (PDF). 25 January 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
• "Contact". stpatrickskeady.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "Policies". stpatrickskeady.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "News". stpatrickskeady.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "St Patrick`s High School Armagh Middletown Road, Keady". educationbase.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "22 September - Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the Retirement of Mr Patrick McAleavey as Principal of St Patrick's High School, Keady". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "News & Pictures". darrenclarkesgl.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
• "2014". darrenclarkesgl.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.

External links

• Official Website of St Patrick's High School