Markethill High School is a ‘school of very good practice’, ETI claims | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Markethill High School is a ‘school of very good practice’, ETI claims

Markethill High School has been identified by the Educational and Training Inspectorate for Northern Ireland as a school of “very good practice” in literacy and numeracy.

Principal James Maxwell made the announcement at this year’s Open Night which attracted approximately 200 prospective pupils and their parents.

Mr Maxwell told the audience how Markethill High School, a school where pupils live by the motto, Believe to Achieve, will be visited in the next month by inspectors who will examine how the school has developed literacy and numeracy initiatives in the past three years.

Speaking to parents and pupils, he said, “This is a fantastic achievement for Markethill High School’s staff and pupils. It is a school which, in all ways, has delivered on its aims. This is, quite simply, a school which achieves.

“This also puts the school into the top 6 per cent of non-selective schools in Northern Ireland.

“Moreover, at Key Stage 3, in Year 10, 85 per cent of our pupils achieve the benchmark Level 5 or above in English, and 83 per cent in Maths. This places the school into the top 20 per cent of non-selective schools in Northern Ireland for both these subjects.

“The number of pupils leaving us with five or more A*- C GCSE grades or more is currently 89 per cent, our highest results ever, a full 25 per cent above the Northern Ireland average and making us the top performing non-selective, co-educational 11-16 school in the SELB.

“The last inspection for the school referred to the ‘excellent’ standard achieved by the pupils and this is no accident.”

The school’s Board of Governors and the school’s staff welcomed parents and their children to the Open Night at a time when the school is at an exciting crossroads.

Mr Maxwell spoke about the school’s ongoing campaign for a new build school and sixth form provision – a campaign which was launched after the Education Minister John O’Dowd announced in the Assembly last June that he had authorised the Education and Library Boards to start consultation on Post Primary Area Plans.

He continued, “We are an 11-16 school, hopefully soon to be an 11-18 school, and you may be aware of our strong campaign for much-deserved Sixth Form, post-16 status at a new-build campus here on the Mowhan Road.

“We wish to be open and transparent to aid you in the decision-making process and we are also sharing with you our three-year school development plan which outlines the many exciting and ambitious developments we hope to introduce by 2015.

“Our vision is to ensure that all our children leave here with the knowledge, understanding and skills they might need in order to meet the challenges of life and work in the 21st Century.

Mr Maxwell said the vision for this year and for subsequent years for Markethill High School is ambitious yet very achievable. He said the school is one which continues to impress inspectors and its students and teachers continue to bring home awards..

“We are a cornerstone school, committed to serving the community. We are fortunate to have dedicated staff who offer our pupils a wide choice of extra-curricular opportunities ranging from chess club to hockey to basketball to young enterprise to the equestrian team and Duke of Edinburgh,” he added.

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Posted by on Jan 24 2013. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

1 Comment for “Markethill High School is a ‘school of very good practice’, ETI claims”

  1. The Principle is definitely playing an excellent PR game with the education minister. Hardly a week goes by without a good news story from MHS, winning an award, community links, results etc etc.

    Embarrassing the opposition…

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