Dromore High marks Sixth-Form success

presentation event.

Principal, Mr John Wilkinson, said the Year 14 Recognition of Achievement was held in addition to the traditional school speech nightfor a number of reasons.

“Firstly,” he said, “we believed it was appropriate to highlight the first set of student results.

“Secondly, our annual speech night would simply not accommodate everyone and thirdly, we needed to have this presentation as early as possible since the vast majority of our sixth-form students would be moving on to university by the beginning of October.

“Moreover, as a community school, we wanted to celebrate achievements with our students and their families.”

Guest speaker at the event was past pupil Janet Toal.

Janet’s work includes the Acumen Programme, an All-Ireland Sales and Marketing Programme helping small businesses develop export markers under the auspices of I nter Trade Ireland.

Other guests included Lagan Valley MLAs Edwin Poots, Jonathan Craig and Basil McCrea, SELB representatives and councillors.

Mr. Wilkinson said that having entered the sixth-form arena much later than other post-primary schools, Dromore High School, he believed, had not only done so for the right reasons, but had achieved the “exemplary” sixth-form experience, “of the highest quality”, it had set out to provide.

“More to the point,” he said, “the sixth-form’s evaluation of their experiences confirmed our hopes.”

The school, said Mr Wilkinson, was delighted with the results achieved by its A2 students, the vast majority of whom had not managed to gain a grammar school place at age 11.

“They have made a suitable, robust, reply by achieving results which secured university and other Higher Education places,” he said.

“These results confirm our decision to develop sixth-form.”

The principal said some 85% of those Dromore High Students seeking university places,achieved their target; the rest were in the main attending foundation degree programmes.

Mr Wilkinson recognised the hard work of staff, especially the sixth-form project team, and, while noting the high percentage of courses taught on site by Dromore High School staff themselves, expressed his appreciation of help received from the Southern Regional College and South Eastern Regional College.