Portadown College

Portadown College
Location
Portadown , County Armagh Northern Ireland
Information
Type	Co-Educational Grammar School
Motto	Fortiter Et Humaniter ((With Courage and Courtesy))
Established	1924
Head	Deborah O'Hare
Teaching staff	approx 55
Number of students	800
Colour(s)	Black, Blue
Email	office@portadowncollege.com
Website	www.portadowncollege.com

Portadown College (often shortened to 'The College' or 'PC') is a Grammar School in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It has approximately 800 male and female students and its premises are currently on the Killicomaine Road in Portadown. Rated one of the top 3 grammar schools in Northern Ireland and in the top 5% in the UK, students achieve well above the UK average in both GCSE and A Level examinations.

The school has an average intake of over 76% of students entering university education, with an additional 13% going onto another type of Higher Education, which is well above Uk and Northern Ireland averages.

Academic achievements and awards are not uncommon. One such award went to Clara Boyd in 2001 and Esther Irwin in 2004 for the A Star comptetion, having both the highest A Level ICT mark in the country. This made the school the only educational institution in the UK to have a pupil win the A Star competition twice for the top female ICT student at A Level. - .

History

Portadown College is known locally as the 'College' or 'PC'. It has provided a first class grammar school education for generations of young men and women in Portadown since 1924.

The school was established initially in Edenderry House on the banks of the River Bann, adjacent to the main road bridge of the time. In 1962 the school moved to a new, purpose-built site, on the Killycomain Road.

Over the years Portadown College has seen many major changes in education. Originally established as a fee-paying voluntary grammar school, it embraced the changes of the 1947 Education Act and, subsequently, has made a major contribution to the present 'two tier' system of secondary education in the Craigavon area. That the school has coped so well is a worthy testament to its pupils, staff and governors alike.

• Mr W J Warren (1924 - 1946)
• Mr W J Woodman MBE (1946 - 1973)
• Mr Harry Armstrong (1973 - 1993)
• Mr T W F Flannagan (1993 - 2006)
• Mr DD O'Hare 2006

The School Song dates back to the schools inception, and aims to highlight the spiritual morals of the school -

Lord, help us to acknowledge In everything Thy sway; Be with us here in College Our guide in work and play. To kindness and to courtesy, To championship of truth, To courage and tenacity, Inspire the zeal of youth.

May School the wide arena Of ardent, friendly strife, Endow us with a keener And finer zest for life, To heights unscaled inspire us, Unruly passions cool, To selfless service fires us Through pride and love of school. (key change)

Still onward, as the river That once flowed by our gate, Our years are moving ever Towards life’s mature estate. Add to our book-learnt knowledge Wisdom and charity, That they who leave this College May still walk on with Thee. (Fade to outro)

Sport

Portadown College has been officially recognised in the field of sporting excellence, and has been awarded the honour of a Sportsmark School. The school has several Rugby pitches, two all weather pitches, 2 outdoor Basketball courts, 2 Tennis Courts, a Cricket pitch, Running Track, and 2 long jump sand pits. Students use the swimming facilities of the local public swimming pool. Representative teams participate in Rugby, Boys and Girls Hockey, Netball, Football, Volleyball, Tennis and Athletics.

The School Rugby team compete annually in the Ulster Schools Cup whilst hockey teams enjoy success in the Belfast Telegraph Ulster Senior Schoolgirls Cup and McDowell Cup competitions. Portadown College hockey teams have won the Senior Schools Cup on 3 occasions, the most recent being in 1996.

The Under 18 Boys Volleyball team are current Northern Ireland and All Ireland Champions. Also, the Under 18 Boys Hockey Team are the current Great British Champions after beating RBAI 2nd XI 4-3 in the final.

School Facilities

Other subjects such as Geography, Home Economics and ICT have miscellaneous classrooms throughout the school. There are over 20 subjects taught at the school, which are served by approximately 50 classrooms, subject study rooms and technicians. The schools science department is one of the largest, and best funded science departments in Northern Ireland.

It is compulsory for students to study French until GCSE. Other modern language subjects include Spanish and German. Latin, although an ancient language was abolished many years ago as a taught language in the school.

Sports Facilities include, 3 Rugby pitches, two all weather pitches, 2 outdoor Basketball courts, 2 Tennis Courts, a Cricket pitch, Running Track, and 2 long jump sand pits. As well as a dedicated Sports Hall with Gym and a second indoor sports hall.

Although sport plays a key role in the schools extra circular activities, there are a number of other societies that include: Drama, Debating, ATC, Flying Experience, Duke Of Edinburgh Award Expedition, and Fishing.

Academic Selection

As with many Grammar schools in Northern Ireland academic selection is at the heart of admission to Portadown College. Entry to Portadown College is defined by a system called the Dickson Plan whereby internal entry exams are set to students within each of its feeder schools. The Dickson plan is in some regard an analogue of the 11+ although given students sit internal entrance exams at 14 is not a direct replacement. From the scrapping of the 11+ in Northern Ireland the Dickson Plan emerges as a clear ‘model’ to replace the now obsolete 11+ albeit for students at the age of 11.

Notable Alumni

• Henry Uprichard. Presbyterian Church Moderator
• Dame Mary Peters. Olympic Gold Medallist
• Gloria Hunniford. BBC Television Personality
• Rory Best. Ulster and Ireland Rugby Union Player
• Simon Best. Ulster and Ireland Rugby Union Player
• Waldo Maguire OBE. BBC Northern Ireland Controller
• Ruth McCartney, MBE BMus PGCE LLCM ARSCM ALCM. Head and Director of Music in the Methodist College of Belfast
• Linda Doogan MABMus PGCE LTCL ALCM. Head of Music in Portadown College
• Adrian Mole. Celebrated Novelist, winner of the 2008 Whitbread Award.
• The Very Reverend John Paterson. Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
• Mark Russell, Chief Executive Church Army, Member of Archbishops' Council of Church of England
• Nigel Williams. Northern Ireland's first Children's Commissioner
• Jack Nelson. Accomplished public speaker and golfing personality.
• Sammy Stewart (Northern Irish footballer). Professional football player for Aberdeen FC
• Ashley Tsang head of Wonder Boat and Wonder Inc.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killicomaine_Junior_High_School

External links

• Official website
• Portadown College Alumni Association
• The Portadown College School Inspection Report 2005 can be found on: http://www.delni.gov.uk/standard_inspection_portadown_college.pdf
• Role model of the year