News Category: News

​The Governors, Principal, staff and pupils of St. Mary’s Grammar School extend their sincere sympathy and prayers to the families, friends and communities of those who lost loved ones following the tragedy in Cookstown on St. Patrick’s day.  

Our Lady of Sorrows pray for them. 

Two young students from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt have launched an innovative new “CropSafe” app that could help fight crop disease around the world.

The new Chair of the Board of Governors of St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has been introduced to the staff of the school.  

Mrs Anne-Marie Campbell (née Pimley) addressed teaching and teaching support staff to outline the Governors’ vision for the continued success and development of the school in the years ahead.

St. Mary’s hosted its annual Primary School Gaelic Football Tournament on Wednesday 27 February 2019 in Meadowbank Sports Arena

Year 14 students in St. Mary’s have held a raffle and raised £331.65 for the AWARE charity to thank them for delivering the Mood Matters programme in the school last year.  

The programme gives young people the knowledge and skills which they can use to build good mental health and develop resilience to better deal with problems and challenges.  Margaret McCrossan from AWARE attended an assembly during Northern Ireland’s Young People’s Mental Health Week to thank pupils for their fundraising efforts. 

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Nine Year 14 students from St. Mary’s have taken part in the first round of the British Physics Olympiad.  

Veterans of the US Civil Rights Movement, Dr Rip Patton and Dr Sybil Hampton, joined political activist, Eamonn McCann, to speak at a Shared Education History Project hosted by Magherafelt High School.

As part of the Senior School General RE provision, speakers are organised for Year 14 students throughout the year. Recently, the pupils were brought on a virtual tour of the Holy Land by Mr. A. Thomson. 

St. Mary’s is joining schools across the globe in celebrating Catholic Schools Week 2019 from 27 January to 3 February 2019.  

The theme of this year’s Catholic Schools Week is ‘Celebrating the Work of Our Local Catholic Schools’. 

Lauren Toner picks up second place in Chester University Religious Studies Essay Writing Competition.

This year, St. Mary’s launched the Trócaire Gifts of Love initiative. Staff and senior pupils responded with resounding generosity to the campaign by purchasing a range of global gifts. 

On sale were gifts of chicks, solar lamps, soap, school kits, goats, school lunches and bee hives. The money raised from the sale of these gifts will go to the developing world to improve the lives of those who live there. Funds generated through Gifts of Love will also fund critical work in Trócaire’s Justice, Resource Rights and Women’s Empowerment programmes. 

The local Society of St. Vincent de Paul thanked the pupils and staff of St. Mary’s for their continued support of the annual Hamper Appeal.

Sixth Form pupils and teaching support staff participated by donating food and household items for underprivileged families within our local communities.

The Society of SVP guaranteed  that the food hampers would be delivered to those who needed them most before Christmas, bringing the joy of the festive season to

homes that would otherwise have been without.

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Year 14 pupil, Declan Murray, participated in a Cross-Community Carol Service organised by the Magherafelt Independent Methodist Church on Sunday 16 December 2018.

Declan is planning to take part in a humanitarian trip with Habitat for Humanity in 2019 and the proceeds from the Carol Service have been kindly donated by the Independent Methodist Church to the charity in aid of Declan’s work.

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On Sunday 16 December 2018, St. Mary’s, in partnership with local primary schools – Holy Family, New Row, Derrychrin and Anahorish – presented a Community Christmas Carol Service in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Magherafelt. 

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Pupils and staff once again supported the annual St. Vincent de Paul Family Gift appeal.

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Congratulations to Year 11 pupil, Sophie Donnelly, who created a watercolour and pencil study of the Holy Family for our school Christmas Card 2018.

The beautiful image is inspired by the quotation: “May we be in this world a ray of that light which shone forth from Bethlehem, bringing joy and peace to the hearts of all men and women.” (Pope Francis)

Sophie is pictured with Principal, Ms Gillespie and Art Teacher, Mrs Patton.

On Friday 30 November 2018, former St. Mary’s pupil, Sister Catherine Lavery, was installed as Provincial of the Holy Family of Bordeaux in Ireland and Britain. 

Sister Catherine was Head Girl of St. Mary’s in her final year, having attended the school from 1978 - 1986.  She trained in St. Mary’s, Belfast and taught for a number of years prior to taking her Holy Order. 

The Board of Governors, Principal, staff and pupils of St. Mary’s wish Sister Catherine a blessed and happy tenure as Provincial

Congratulations to Terry Devlin (11E) who was selected to play soccer for the Northern Ireland Under 16 International Team in Poland.

Terry travelled with the squad to Poland on 25 November 2018 for five days, during which time he played in two international games against Poland.

The Principal of St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has expressed her delight at the news from CCEA that a number of pupils at the school have been included in the exam board’s 2018 list of top-performing students at GCSE level.

Over the last number of years, GAA Handball has seen huge growth, with an ever-increasing number of schools taking up Handball for the first time.

On Thursday 25 October 2018, students from St. Mary’s Grammar School went to the polls to vote for the pupils they wanted to elect as members of the school’s Student Council.  Working together, the Student Leadership Team planned and organised the event. 

On Wednesday 24 October 2018, former St. Mary’s pupil, Ciara Hampsey, visited the Art and Design Department to deliver a Halloween special effects make-up workshop.  

St. Mary’s Grammar School once again took part in the annual Road of Hope Shoe Box Appeal. Road of Hope is a voluntary charity organisation that relies on the goodwill of local people to help support those underprivileged in countries such as Bosnia, Croatia, Romania and Africa.

On 23 October 2018, GCSE and A Level Drama and Theatre Studies pupils travelled to the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast to watch a performance of The Man Who Fell to Pieces by Tinderbox Theatre Company.  

On Monday 22 October 2018, St. Mary’s was delighted to welcome Mr Billy Brown and Mr Ray Stewart, representatives of Gideons International, to speak to Year Eight during their weekly assembly.  

Students learnt about the work of the Gideons before receiving their own copy of the Bible.  Many thanks to Mr Brown and Mr Stewart for taking the time to visit the school and to Gideons International for providing a bible for each pupil to keep.

On Saturday 20 October 2018, musicians from St. Mary’s Grammar School’s traditional group - Cumann Ceoil Naomh Mhuire - held a morning of music in Meadowlane Shopping Centre, Magherafelt to raise funds for their trip to London to play at the School Proms.

On Friday 19 October 2018, GCSE and A Level Art and Design students, accompanied by Mrs McKernan, Mrs Patton, Miss Kerr and Mr Carleton, travelled to Dublin to visit three art galleries and museums. The main purpose of the visit was to observe the work of historical and contemporary practitioners to enable pupils to develop their practical and written work.

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On Tuesday 16 October 2018, the Drama Department of St. Mary’s Grammar School was pleased to welcome c21 Theatre Company to the school.  As part of its Irish tour, and ahead of its run in The Mac Theatre, Belfast, the company brought its current production of It Only Takes a Minute to St. Mary’s.  The play was performed for Year 10 pupils and GCSE and A Level Drama and Theatre Studies students.  

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Shared Education, the Magherafelt Learning Partnership hosted a public speaking event for Year 9 pupils on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 October 2018.  

On 6 November 2018, the traditional group from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt will take to the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, London.  

They will perform alongside young musicians and singers from across the UK in the renowned Schools Prom organised by the charity, Music for Youth.

St. Mary’s Grammar School will be hosting an Online Safety Information Evening on Wednesday 10^th October 2018 at 7pm, for parents / guardians of pupils in KS3.

Tuesday 2 October 2018 marked the beginning of the Shared Education History Project for Year 10 pupils.

Students in St. Mary’s have been privileged recently to listen to the inspiring words of Sister Rose Devlin, a Holy Family Sister and past pupil of St. Mary’s Grammar School.

Sister Rose was awarded an MBE in Buckingham Palace on 2 March 2017 for her services to improving community relations in schools in  Northern Ireland.

Eight St. Mary’s pupils travelled with twenty-two other young people to Our Lady’s Shrine in Fátima in Summer 2018 with the Armagh Diocese. The students had a jam-packed week beginning with a tour of the Sanctuary in Fatima, the specific place where the Virgin Mary appeared to the three young shepherds in 1917.

As part of the Muiredach Cross and John Paul II Awards, nine pupils from St. Mary’s Grammar School gave up their Saturday morning on 29 September 2018 to lend a hand at New Row Primary School, Castledawson.  

Action MS Chief Executive, Mrs Ann Walker, visited St. Mary’s Grammar School this week for a special Awards Presentation to thank Year 10 pupils for their tremendous efforts on behalf of people with multiple sclerosis.

Organised by Mr Brady (Head of Year 10), pupils took part in a Walk for MS in June at Meadowbank Sports Arena and raised a total of £2,346.98 in aid of Action MS, Northern Ireland’s Multiple Sclerosis Charity.

Sharing Vision, Sharing Effort,Sharing Success

On Thursday 13 September 2018, St. Mary’s Grammar School held its Annual Awards Ceremony to acknowledge the achievements and successes of pupils throughout the last academic year. 

The theme for the evening was: “Sharing Vision, Sharing Effort, Sharing Success”.

St Mary’s has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.

The Principal of St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has described this year’s GCSE examination results as “outstanding”.

A Level students in St. Mary’s Grammar School had cause for celebration following the publication of this year’s examination results. Ms Gillespie, Principal, reported that an outstanding 95% of all examinations taken by students resulted in A*-C grades.  81% of all entries resulted in A*-B grades while 44% of all entries resulted in A*-A grades.

A team of Year 9 and Year 10 pupils from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt recently participated in the UK Final of the National Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial, organised by the Citizenship Foundation, and hosted in Birmingham’s Victoria Law Courts.

A Year 13 student from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has been awarded a place on the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Programme (HOPP) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.  

St. Mary’s Grammar invites P6 pupils to register for the 2018 Summer Camp.

Limited Number of Places Available

Following the passing of Mrs Hynds, Assistant Principal, a Book of Condolence will be open in the Main Reception area of St. Mary’s from Tuesday 17 April 2018 – Friday 27 April 2018 between 10am and 3pm each week day.

Members of the St. Mary’s community, including past pupils, former colleagues, parents and friends of the school, who wish to remember Mrs Hynds are invited to visit St. Mary’s to sign the Book of Condolence. May she rest in peace.

It is with deep regret and sadness that we learned today of the passing of our esteemed Assistant Principal, Mrs Irene Hynds (RIP). Please remember Mrs Hynds and her family in your prayers.

Following the passing of Mrs Hynds, St. Mary’s will close all day on Wednesday 18 April 2018.  Mrs Hynds’s Requiem Mass will be held in the Church of the Assumption, Magherafelt on Wednesday at 11am.

Ulster University would like to invite parents and guardians of Year 12 and 13 students to their Parents’ Information Event. Students are welcome to attend.

Saturday,14th April

9.30am - 1.00pm

Belfast Campus.

The Life Advocate Award Essay Competition is a prestigious award which receives a tremendous response from students all across Ireland. The annual essay-writing competition was set up to encourage research and critical thinking on right-to-life issues.

Heather Miller, Community Fundraiser for Marie Curie Cancer Care, accepts a cheque from pupils and staff in St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt.  The money was raised through a raffle on the Gala Evening of the school’s production, Guys and Dolls.  Included in the picture are: Mr G. Quinn (Senior Teacher), Miss U. Donnelly (Head of Music), Heather Miller (Marie Curie), Mr F. Dunlop (Vice-Principal), Tiarnach Donaghy, Odhran Lynch, Roise Pelan, Daniel McNamee, Anna McCloskey, Oisin Duffin and Adam Connolly.

St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt hosted its annual Primary School Gaelic Football Tournament on Wednesday 28^th February 2018 in Meadowbank Sports Arena.  It was a bitterly cold and wintry day, but that did not stop 12 primary schools competing. 

Year 14 students were invited to attend a workshop, facilitated by Aware NI, on Mental Health Awareness. The workshop, entitled ‘Mood Matters’, aimed to give young people knowledge and skills which they can use to maintain good mental health and build resilience in order to better deal with problems and challenges.

Congratulations and thanks to all the students involved in the recent Ulster Secondary Schools’ XC Championships Finals Held in Mallusk Playing Fields.

On Friday 23 February 2018, Year 9 and Year 10 pupils from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt attended an e-safety presentation in the school.

Delivered by Wayne Denner and facilitated by the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), the presentation explored issues around internet safety, online reputation and responsible use of social media.

We are delighted to be able to introduce you to another new development in our communications - our new St Mary’s Grammar School Magherafelt, school-app.

More than ever, communications with parents is of vital importance and the school-app is another creative step in our efforts to provide the best and most convenient ways of reaching out to you and the wider school community.

Year 13 pupil, Ciara Malcolm, has been selected to represent Ulster at the Irish Schools Interprovincial Championships to be held in Dublin on Sunday 15 April 2018.

On Saturday 3 February 2018, Year 13 student, Cate Bateson, was placed 2nd in the Northern Ireland Final of Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland’s Public Speaking competition.

Year 13 pupil Cate Bateson will travel to Hillsborough to take part in the Northern Ireland Final of the Soroptimist Public Speaking Competition on Saturday 3 February. Cate has worked very hard to prepare for both the local heats and the Northern Ireland Final. We wish Cate the best of the luck for Saturday.

Two gifted Year 13 pupils from St. Mary’s and their friend impressed judges in the TIMON Open Data Hackathon at Queen’s Computer Science Building last weekend. 

St. Mary’s pupils enjoyed success in the District C Cross Country event on Thursday 25 January 2018.  The top 15 individuals and top 3 teams in each race qualified for the Ulster competition which takes place on 21 February 2018. 

Year 10 pupils from St. Mary’s represented the school in the recent Northern Ireland Final of the Gael Linn competition in the Ashburn Hotel, Lurgan

On Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 January 2018, St. Mary’s held its annual Open Evenings. We were excited to open our school to prospective pupils, their parents and the local community. 

The St. Mary’s team look forward to welcoming you to one of our Open Evenings next week.

​Due to adverse weather conditions and in the interest of safety for all, St. Mary’s will be closed today - 17 January. 

Three free sessions of SEN Training, provided by Empower will take place in St Mary’s in the upcoming weeks.

On Friday 17 December 2017, Year 12 pupil, Mark Comer, visited BBC Headquarters in Belfast to complete his participation in BBC Radio 4’s Pen Pals programme.

In St. Mary’s, the Shoebox Appeal is an annual event and every year, students, parents and staff show their outstanding generosity by contributing to this appeal.  In conjunction with the charity, Road of Hope, the St. Mary’s Shoebox Appeal will help to bring festive cheer to some of the poorest communities across Eastern Europe.

It was with immense pride and joy that we learned that St. Mary’s students were among the highest performing candidates in Northern Ireland in various subjects in the 2017 GCSE and A Level examinations.

Students in St. Mary’s staged the Broadway classic, ‘Guys and Dolls’. The Colourful characters, hilarious comedy and memorable music combined to make Guys and Dolls a real crowd-pleaser.

In November, St. Mary’s students and staff stood in solidarity with schools and dioceses all over the world to remember Christian martyrs and those who have suffered or died for their faith

The group stage of this year’s Casement Cup was a very mixed one for St. Mary’s.

Going in to the final group game, the boys travelled to an impressive set-up in Dungannon to take on St. Patrick’s, Armagh.

On 16 November 2017, six pupils represented St. Mary’s in the regional heat of the Soroptimist International Public Speaking Competition in Ballymoney.

During the week beginning Monday 13 November 2017, 55 pupils across all Key Stages took part in the annual UK Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge.

On 7 November 2017, six pupils took part in the regional heat of the Poetry Aloud competition in the Linenhall Library, Belfast. The competition required pupils to perform from memory a prescribed poem by Patrick Kavanagh and a poem of their own choice.

In October, former pupil of St. Mary’s, Ciara Hampsey, visited the Art Department to deliver a Halloween special effects make-up workshop. More than 60 pupils from Year 10 - Year 14 enthusiastically took part in the exciting event which included a demonstration by Ciara as well as the opportunity to experiment with the shocking special effects techniques themselves.

On Thursday 26 October 2017, pupils from six local primary schools got into the Halloween spirit as artist and past pupil, Ciara Hampsey, demonstrated special effects techniques and led a special effects workshop

Universities from throughout Ireland and England attended a University Roadshow organised by Head of Careers, Miss Donoghue.

In its 90^th anniversary year, St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt is proud to present the musical comedy, Guys and Dolls.

​School closed tomorrow (Tuesday 17 October) as precautionary measure in light of weather warnings.

On Tuesday 10^th October A Level and GCSE Drama pupils attend the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin to see the thrilling, soaring and spectacular, Miss Saigon

On 26th September A Level and GCSE Drama pupils took a trip to the MAC theatre Belfast to see a production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.  

On Saturday 30 September 2017, cast members from St. Mary’s Grammar School’s forthcoming production of Guys and Dolls held a bag pack in Tesco, Magherafelt to raise funds for the show.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this fundraising activity.  Pictured with Anne-Marie Hegarty, Community Champion for Tesco, Magherafelt are members of the cast who were involved in the bag pack. 

We are delighted that Liverpool University will be here on Monday 16 October delivering a talk about their University. Liverpool is a very popular university choice with our students particularly those hoping to study Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary and the Health Therapies. Y14 students who have applied to Liverpool and any Y13 & Y12 students who are considering Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary/ health therapies as a possibility next year should come along as this is their opportunity to ask directly about the interview process, how UKCAT is used, what work experience they expect and the GCSE/AS profile they require.

Social Work Information Evening Wednesday 15 November 2017, 6.30pm-8.00pm. Whitla Hall, Queen’s University.

The Children’s Texaco Art Competition has an annual entry of up to 50,000+ entries throughout Ireland each year.

Blanche Cases, Year 9, has been awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ Certificate which means she has been placed in the top 18 in each category for her artistic entry.  The judges of the competition commented on the exceptional standard of this year’s entries in each age category and we are so proud of Blanche for rising to the top as one of the best entries.  For this we would warmly congratulate her on this truly superb achievement. Well done, Blanche.

On 18 September 2017, Mid-Ulster Council recognised the sporting achievements of St. Mary’s pupils at a Civic Reception in the Seamus Heaney Home Place in Bellaghy

Celebrating the successes and achievements of the academic year 2016-17, the annual awards took place in the school on Tuesday 12 September. As well as celebrating the outstanding attainment of pupils in recent GCSE and A Level examinations, the evening also provided an opportunity to recognise the accomplishments of pupils in a range of extra-curricular activities, ranging from sport to public speaking.

Year 13 prefects received professional training with Brian Moore, Geraldine Stinton and Lydia Startin from Belfast YMCA. 

The training was interactive, informative and it introduced the prefects to the idea of ‘coaching’.

Principal Ms Gillespie has described the 2017 GCSE examination results as “simply superb”. Ms Gillespie reported that a remarkable 100% of students achieved 7 grades at A*-C, including English and Mathematics. Impressively, 63% of all grades were A*/A

A Level students in St Mary’s Grammar School had cause for celebration following the publication of this year’s examination results.

Ms Gillespie reported that an outstanding 95.2% of all examinations taken by students resulted in A* to C grades. 43% of all results were an A or A*.

​On Friday 9^th June more than 100 inspirational students, teachers and Athlete Mentors attended the Sky Sports Living for Sport Awards at Twickenham.

The day was held at the home of rugby, where Sky  Sports Pundit and World Champion boxer, Johnny Nelson kicked off the day’s events and led a full day of activities and celebrations alongside twenty amazing Athlete Mentors. 

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Year 12 student Catriona McCoy, has been awarded second place in a national essay-writing competition for senior cycle students. 

The Life Advocate Awards were set up to encourage  research and critical-thinking on human rights and right to life issues.

Students were asked to discuss the words of  Martin Luther King who said: ‘Our lives begin to end, the moment we become silent about the things which matter’.

The Gaelbhratach has finally arrived in St. Mary’s!

St. Mary’s Grammar students received the prestigious Purple Flag award at a ceremony held in Leopardstown recently. The Gaelbhratach is awarded to schools who not only incorporate the Irish Language into the school community in a planned, structured and fun way but also those who carry this through outside of the classroom. 

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St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt, has been awarded a prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag by the environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.  

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A Sixth Form pupil from St. Mary’s Grammar School has won the Concern Worldwide Fundraising Newcomer Award. 

St. Mary’s students enjoyed great success at the Salters’ Festival of Chemistry held at Queen’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

Congratulations to fourteen of our Year 12 pupils and eight of our Year 13 pupils who recently took part in the British Physics Olympiad competitions. Year 12 pupils completed the GCSE Physics Challenge while the Year 13 pupils completed the AS Physics Challenge. 

​Year 10 pupils from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt have won first prize in Quiz 5 of the Children in Crossfire Maths Challenge which was held recently. 

​A Year 13 student from St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has attended the CCEA Celebrating Excellence ceremony at Titanic Belfast. 

Caoimhe McKay has recently reached the final of the prestigious, ‘Richmond Centre Miss Earth NI’ competition. Miss Earth, which is one of the top four beauty pageants in the world, is unique because it uses the beauty pageant platform to promote environmental issues. This meant, in addition to questions about hobbies and interests, Caoimhe had to outline how she would utilize such a platform, as part of her application

St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt has recently become a Fairtrade School and has been awarded ‘FairAware’ status from theFairtrade Foundation. The ‘FairAware’ award represents the first of three tiers; the School aims to work towards the highest of these and win ‘FairAchiever’ status as part of its ongoing commitment to the charity.

Our Year 14 pupils attended a prayerful Faith Awards Ceremony in Armagh Cathedral to collect their John Paul II Award. Archbishop Eamon Martin presided over the ceremony which recognises and celebrates the participation of youth in the faith life of Armagh Diocese.