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St Paul's High School
Ardscoil Naomh Pól
St Paul's High School; Ardscoil Naomh Pól
Location
	Bessbrook, County Armagh; Northern Ireland
Information
Type	Secondary school
Motto	In caritate radicati ("In charity rooted")
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1966
Chair of Governors	Eileen Fearon
Principal	Daíthi Murray
Chaplain	Séamus White
Age	11 to 19
Enrolment	1600
Colour(s)	Maroon, white
Website	http://www.stpaulsbessbrook.org

54°11′06″N 6°23′24″W / 54.185°N 6.390°W / 54.185; -6.390

St. Paul's High School, Bessbrook(Irish: Ardscoil Naomh Pól, An Sruthán) is an all-ability, co-educational secondary school located on the outskirts of Bessbrook near Newry, County Armagh. It is a Catholic-maintained day school for boys and girls aged 11 to 19, with a pupil population of over 1550 (including a Learning Support Centre for pupils with special educational needs) and is one of Ireland's largest post-primary schools. The school is managed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and the Education Authority (EA). St Paul's High School is a heavily over-subscribed school with an annual admissions number of under 300 pupils.

Location

The school is situated on the main Newry to Camlough road (A25). The school was extensively rebuilt and refurbished with a £17 million grant from the Department of Education. The new school was officially opened on 25 January 2007 by Archbishop Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland, on the feast day of The Conversion of St. Paul. The renovation of St. Paul's won the Construction of Excellence Award. ^{[citation needed]}

The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, visited St Paul's on 9 November 2006 to mark the completion of the extensive renovation of the school. Former Principal Oliver Mooney, was named Northern Ireland Headteacher of the Year in the 2010 Teaching Awards.^[1]^[2] His last day at St. Paul's was 18 December 2013.

Armagh GAA footballer Jarlath Burns was appointed as Principal of St Paul's, effective 1 January 2014.

Academics

The school was designated a Specialist College for Science, by the Department of Education in 2008, was awarded the BECTA ICT Mark, and became a Centre of Excellence for ICT in 2009. The Education and Training Inspectorate of the Department of Education carried out a Standard Inspection at St Paul's High School in January 2016 and reported that the school was 'outstanding' in all areas (Achievements and Standards, Provision for Learning and Leadership & Management).^[3]

In 2018, 57.4% of its entrants achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths.^[4] Also in 2018, 64.6% of its entrants to the A-level exam achieved A*-C grades.^[5]

Notable former pupils and staff

Eamon Collins (1954–1999), author and Provisional IRA volunteer
Dominic Bradley (born 1960), SDLP politician and MLA for Newry and Armagh (2003–2016); schoolteacher
Jarlath Burns (born 1968), Armagh GAA captain; school principal
Mairead McKinley (born 1970), actress^{[citation needed]}
Susan Lynch (born 1971), actress
Conor McGinn (born 1984), Labour MP for St Helens North

References

^ "Teaching Awards 2010 winner - Northern Ireland". The Pearson Teaching Awards. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ Murphy, Brónagh (15 June 2010). "Prestigious teaching award for Bessbrook Principal". The Examiner. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ "ETI Reports". St Pauls' High School, Bessbrook. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^ "Belfast Telegraph GCSE 2018". Retrieved 27 November 2018.
^ "A-Level: Northern Ireland School League Table 2018". Retrieved 27 November 2018.