Fame at last…
‘Learning from Each Other’ – since 1994
Shimna has always appreciated the support of our local press, the Mourne Observer, the Down Recorder, the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News and the Newsletter. There must be hundreds and hundreds of lovely photos, warm tributes and celebratory articles out there. Here are just a few:
The local press celebrated anniversaries with us. Our 10th and our 20th were each celebrated with a glamorous ball in the Slieve Donard Hotel. Our 25th was celebrated with creativity: a wonderful song written specially by OldScholar and staff member Ria Maguire and performed by a choir of Shimna and All Children’s staff, students, parents and governors; an anthology of student poetry, edited by founder parent and former head of English Gráinne Tobin; in art with a ceramics project building an installation to bring to the new school building.
Our academic success and careers provision has featured strongly, right from that wonderful day when Shimna reached the top of the results table, and results have only got better ever since. The year that CCEA’s Gerry Garvey came to celebrate our results with us, we were also celebrating our first PhD! Our students featured regularly out at careers events, planning ahead to follow in those successful footsteps.
Sporting success always reaches the press. Of course there are so many of our successful sports teams and individual Down, Ulster and All Ireland champions, right since the early days of Martin Sherry. But there are also marathon runners, rock climbers, hill walkers and those who pass on their skills by coaching others.
Integration is at the heart of the school, and an annual event was our Irish Medium St Parick’s Day service in Newcastle Methodist Church, where we were joined by the pupils of Bunscoil Bheanna Boirche. Languages always played a central role in Integration, and the press gave great coverage when Shimna became a PASCH Schule, presented by the Goethe Institute in the presence of First Minister Arlene Foster.
Success beyond the classroom was celebrated too, for example the wonderful article about Ross Kelly’s coffee business, and our wonderful activists across every aspect of school life.
We even made it into the Ulster Tatler with great coverage of academics, political involvement, sport, music, creativity and of course, Integration.
