Published: Wednesday, 25th August, 2010 5:00pm

Leaving Cert celebrations

Some of St Patrick's College students having just received their results. From left: Philip Cooney, Cathal McCaffrey, Donal McGoldrick, Cian O'Reilly and Conor Hayes who received between 550 and 590 points each. Medicine, dietetics, economics/finance, pharmacy and biomedical science are the courses they are hoping to study at third level.

More than 750 students throughout County Cavan received their Leaving Cert results last Wednesday and this week many of them are considering their options, having received first round college offers from the CAO on Monday. Many achieved top honours across the county with some excellent results and most students achieving their potential; while two students in Loreto College, Cavan - Pru Dason and Deirdre Kelly - received top marks with 600 points each. Meanwhile, here is a roundup from some of the schools in the region...

St. Pat's, Cavan:

The principal of St. Patrick's College, Dr. Liam McNiffe, stated that he was particularly happy with the results this year. The college had introduced Transition Year three years ago. Twenty four students who had done Transition Year were among the hundred students sitting the Leaving Cert in June. Many of those who did exceptionally well had benefited from the extra year of Transition Year. Dr. McNiffe said he was very heartened by the college's results in the sciences despite some talk of the national figures being disappointing. He also complimented those students to whom academics do not come easily, but who worked so hard and were rewarded.

He thanked the Leaving Cert class of 2010 for whom he had great praise concerning their work, behaviour and contribution to extra curricular activities while they were students in St. Pat's. He also thanked the parents for their great co-operation over the last five to six years and the teachers for their hard work.

Virginia College:

There were happy faces in the sunshine at Virginia College when the Leaving Certificate results were released last week. There was an exceptional number of A grades at higher level, across a broad spectrum of subjects. In particular, the college is delighted with the results achieved in English, Irish, Art and Business. In the practical and scientific areas, a large number of A grades were achieved in Biology, Engineering and Construction Studies. Students in general are delighted with their results and many achieved in excess of 400 and 500 points.

The management and staff of the college would like to congratulate all their Leaving Certificate students on their excellent results and to acknowledge their hard work and commitment during their time in Virginia College, which has finally paid dividends. The college would also like to thank teachers and parents for their support, commitment, dedication in encouraging and helping students to perform to the best of their ability and to achieve their desired results. "We wish all our Leaving Certificate students every success in their future lives and careers," said the principal, Karen Fitzpatrick.

St. Bricin's, Belturbet:

The staff and students of St. Bricin's College continue to live up to their mission statement 'Feabhas a chur ar', which translates as striving for excellence or always improving.

While the opening of Leaving Certificate exam results always brings with it an array of mixed emotions it was a case of more joy than sadness in Belturbet as all the hard work and dedication meant that the majority of students achieved or surpassed their goals and expectations.

All partners in the St. Bricin's community can celebrate the success of its students at this time but particular praise must go to the talented, innovative and caring teaching staff who deliver high quality education in non threatening environment that encourages creativity, independent learning and builds self esteem. A local school with small class sizes, St. Bricin's prides its self in providing a broad and varied curriculum that facilitates all students and where every subject can be studied at honours level. A blend of experienced staff combined with an increasing number of younger teachers will ensure this exceptional educational provision continues long into the future.

St. Bricin's has evolved into an Information Technology base with a clear focus on providing high level teaching and learning that nurtures the development of real and transferable life skills. These are the skills that are valued by employers and providers of third level education and the students of 2010 can branch out into their chosen pathways with the confidence and self esteem that comes only with a first rate educational experience.

The entire staff would like to join with parents and all other partners in the St. Bricin's community in congratulating the students on their achievements in the 2010 Leaving Certificate.

Breifne College, Cavan

The principal of Breifne College, Cavan, Jon Crotty, congratulated all its students on their Leaving Cert results. "With the apprehension and concerns now replaced with excitement and relief, I am delighted to report a celebratory and happy atmosphere amongst our Leaving Certificate students as they received their Leaving Certificate results," he said.

Describing the results as "exceptional", Mr. Crotty said that they continued the trend of improvement on previous years. "With our quota of 500+ points and 400+ points easily surpassed, our attention now focuses on third level course placements. Despite the national concerns regarding the 30% failure rate in Mathematics throughout the country, this was not reflected in Breifne College by any means," he said.

"With an abundance of A grades in the language and science areas, our practical subjects such as Engineering, Architectural Technology, Home Economics and Design and Communication Graphics, once again produced a consistent and fruitful number of honours. The Leaving Certificate Applied students also excelled with the majority achieving distinction and merit grades, testimony to their consistent and constructive approach throughout the year," added. Mr. Crotty.

Concluding, he highlighted the dedication of the teaching staff and the hard work and co-operation of the students, as being key to the overall success this year. Mr. Crotty wished all students the best for the future.

Cnoc Mhuire, Granard

The hard work and effort of Cnoc Mhuire's Leaving Cert class was evident when the students collected their results last Wednesday.

Overall the results were of an extremely high standard - a high percentage of students obtained results in excess of 400 points and most students reached their potential. Going against the national trend, the Cnoc Mhuire students performed particularly well in Maths and Science. For the first time in Cnoc Mhuire we had a student who sat the Bulgarian paper and managed to achieve the Maximum A1 grade. We wish all of our students the best of luck in whatever path they choose to follow in the coming year.

Helpline

In all, almost 58,000 students nationwide received their results last Wednesday. Students can access the CAO online at cao.ie to view third-level offers and apply for courses. Submission of appeals: all applications must be submitted (through the school except in the case of external candidates) to arrive in the State Examinations Commission by 5pm on Wednesday, September 8.

Helplines: National Parents Council (Post-Primary) Helpline [1800-265165] and The Irish Times College Helpline [1800-946942] are available to provide advice from professional counsellors from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.