40 FEATURE DERRY POST TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2013 St. Mary's College, Clady 1962-2013 Why my school is special to me Enda Kearney Cormac Collins Dermot Mawhinney My favourite subjects are P.E, Irish and T.D. I have made a lot of friends from the start of the year. I come from Lavey. My dad and my auntie used to be pupils at St. Mary’s College too. My dad was chosen for two ‘Allstars’ in his time here. My dad also used to play for his club, Lavey, and his county, Derry. My Dad played football and hurling. I would like to follow in his footsteps. I have been at St. Mary’s for five months. I chose this school because I wanted to go as my dad went here too. I like my new school very much. St Mary’s College is 50 this year so this is a special year. There must have been lots of changes over the last 50 years but I’m really proud of our Technology and Design building and the fact that we are in the semi-ﬁnal of the Ulster U14 football. Before Christmas I went to my old primary school St. Brigid‘s Mayogall. It made me remember my happy times there but also how much I like my new school. I study all subjects but my favourites are Maths, Irish and Technology & Design. I live in Bellaghy with my mum and dad, two brothers and sister. My interests are farming and football. When I was in Primary 7 I had to decide what secondary school I wanted to attend. All my uncles, my mum and my granda attended St. Mary’s College and this was one of the main reasons I chose it as they all loved the school and really enjoyed their time at St. Mary’s. I’m proud to be continuing with this family tradition. St. Mary’s College has a brilliant atmosphere and everyone is really friendly. The school has a lovely community feeling about it and the teachers are very easy to talk to. There are excellent extra-curricular activities which I enjoy taking part in which include football, where we have our own pitch and training facilities. There is also the EMU Scheme which is a cross-community based project alongside Cullybackey High School. All these activities and more make my time at St. Mary’s College a real pleasure. Year 8 student Karlis Bercis Year 12 Student d I love my school an am I . dy stu I love to out feeling conﬁdent ab rk my sel f an d my wo ry ve am I l. oo at sch ool pleased with my sch am and my teachers as I my intending to pass spo st be the h wit s GCSE s SE GC My s. de sible gra s, inc lud e Ma the ma tic ard English, Double Aw , hy ap ogr Ge , RE ce, Scien n, Technology and Desig ve Construction and I ha ra also entered for an ext . an ssi Ru in SE GC d I am from Latvia an sed therefore I was surpri lto see the warming we l oo e to you come into this sch staff are amazingly nic when I joined it. The l. Mrs Clayton was the Princiand so is the Principa I arrived and the next year en pal at our school wh ired. I think r place when she ret he k too y ell nn Do Mr job running d goo y ver a rmed that Mrs Clayton perfo Donnelly has followed in her d work to St. Mary’s College. Mr everyone to learn an footsteps encouraging en open their full potential. t our school has be When I found out tha prised at all. Old photos on t sur for 50 years I was no the school a sense of history. e our school walls giv improving Mary’s has kept on e of the It shows me how St. on e com be s ha d rs an dents stu over all these 50 yea of ge nta rce lly high pe best schools with a rea h high grades. wit passing GCSEs exams part of this school and it is the be to y pp ha y ver am I St. Mary’s! best! Happy Birthday Year 9 student Year 9 student Georgina Fegan Year 10 student I study lots of di ffe re nt su bje ct s, bu t m y tw o fa vo ur ite subjects are Ar t and English. I live in Coleraine, and I travel to Cl ad y ev er yday because m y mum works as a teacher in th e pr im ar y sc ho ol in Bellaghy. My hobbies are w ri tin g st or ie s an d lis te ni ng to music. I have been a pupil at St . M ar y’ s fo r three years, and I chose this scho ol because I’d hear d great things abou it (such as exce t lle my friends were nt GCSE results) and a lot of go I am proud to be ing to it as well. it is such a frien a pupil at St. Mary’s because dl safe at it all the y school and I feel happy and time. I think that school is fantas the care in our tic looked after by because I always feel so well all the staff. Ev very pleasant an eryone is also corridor they wi d if you meet someone in the ll always smile and say hello. What makes St. Well we do have Mary’s College special for me? a lo t of after-school such as netball, activities, fo art club and it’s otball and art club. I stay for great. I love St. Mary’s! I do various subjects, Maths, English, Science, R.E., P.E., Art, Home Economics, Music, French, Irish, History and Geography. My favourite subjects are Art, Irish, Science, Geography and History. I love these because there are loads of materials / equipment and we do plenty of practical work. I live in Bellaghy with my mum, dad and my brother. My hobbies are mountain biking, motorbikes and rallying. I also like football and our Year won the U-14 County Championship. My association with St. Mary’s began as my dad came here and my brother Rory is in 4th year. I came here for the school’s Open Night and really liked it as it wasn’t massive and I knew I wouldn’t get lost. I’m proud to be in St. Mary’s as every one of the teachers, cleaners, ofﬁce and canteen staff are very friendly. Everybody knows your name. The teachers encourage and support us if we need help. I’ve been on great school trips and was proud to speak to parents during open night only weeks after joining the school myself. I’m glad I came here because everybody looks out for each other. That’s what makes St. Mary’s College special. Nicole Caldwell Year 10 Student Our school contains a variety of subjects that are thoroughly edu cational. In St. Mary’s the teachers ﬁnd different methods for us to lear n, they ﬁnd ways to teach us that we enjoy. Some subjects we learn are; The subjects I ﬁnd most interesting would have to be English, Geo graphy, Home Economics and Fren ch. The teachers in this school hav ea whole new level of appreciation for the pupils and they explain to us how things work so clearly. As a pupil from Portglenone ther e isn’t much of a distance to scho ol, my mum is a past pupil from St. Mary’s College and she knew how things used to work there. She won a lot of awards for sports over the years. She love d cam also enjoy. She has passed her pass ogie and netball which I am really enjoying my time here ion for sports on to me and I . It has been three years since I started at St. Mary’s College Clady and time has passed quickly. There are reasons this school is so important to the people in it. The teachers understand the pupils, the education we have is amazing and the fun we have with friends is unbelievable. It is hard to believe the school is 50 as the modern facilities it contains are great. My mum can’ t believe how the music department has changed, when she was a ing studios or sound proof room pupil there were no records. the better and has deﬁnitely affe The school has changed for cted people’s lives in a very good way. I love coming to school every day in are amazing, our football team . The activities we take part s have achieved substantial awards and we are very proud of them for this. It’s all down to the coaches and the players. The y work hard, play hard and they do succeed. We have activities after scho ol camogie. Many of the pupils, incl like netball, football and uding me, are really looking forward to our new performing arts. We are so grateful to the English teachers for organising it for us. Overall the pupils and teachers of St. Mary’s are extreme ly proud of the school.