Rathfriland High School

Build the Brand - Digital Learning Environment (DLE) Design Competition

Our Digital Leaders having been working hard right up to the end of term, availing of the opportunity to get involved in creating a brand and identify for the new DLE for all schools in Northern Ireland.

Using their creativity and working as a team they entered two proposals for the name and logo of the new Digital Learning App. Following brainstorming sessions, they designed their logos and produced two short videos to present their concepts. It was great to see the Digital Leaders work collaboratively, each bringing and developing their strengths to for example, draft scripts, produce an animated video and get in front and behind the camera.

Excellent work and commitment Digital Leaders and all the best with your entries!

Enjoy a well earned summer break!
Mrs Budde and Mr Donaldson

A big thank you to 11a3 Form Prefects (one student missing from the photo).
Your support each morning has been very much appreciated. Have a lovely Summer break!
Mrs Budde

SU headed for their end of year trip to Airtastic in Craigavon. All the pupils were exceptional! We enjoyed trampolining, ten pen bowling, as well as some retail therapy in Rushmere. We finished off the trip by having our traditional meal in Mc Donald’s.

We celebrated our pupils sporting success last night at our annual Sports Awards Dinner. We were once again very well looked after by the staff of the Milestone/Loft 56 and we thank them greatly for all they did for us. We had a lot to celebrate, with our teams achieving so much this year. Our Girls Football team won the Newry, Mourne and Down Cup, our Y11 Netball team won the Banbridge District League with our Y12’s finishing runners up. Our U13 Boys Football team won the Northern Ireland Small School’s Cup and were semi-finalists in the South Down League and our U15 Boys Football team won the South Down Plate. Our U14 Rugby team won the Ulster South East League and won the Ulster Plate.

All in all a fantastic year for our pupils and it is justly deserved given the hard work and effort they have all shown. Below are our individual prize winners and although it is important to recognise individual success it is important to note that all of the pupils of our teams have contributed to this.

Well done to everyone and Mrs. Martin and I hope you all have a great summer. Come back in September ready to get stuck in again!

Girls Football

Most Improved – Lexi Frazer
Players Player – Anna Ervine

Boys Football

U13
Most Improved – Callum Maginn
Players Player – Jackson Wharton

U15
Most Improved – Billy Bennett
Players Player – Ethan Stewart

Netball

Y8
Most Improved – Elona Megaw
Players Player – Hollie Abernathy

Y9
Most Improved – Jayne Gamble
Players Player – Ellie Scott

Y10
Most Improved – Katie McClimond
Players Player – Anna Ervine

Y11
Most Improved – Cassie McAleavey
Players Player – Eden Kernaghan

Y12
Most Improved – Edee Rowan
Players Player – Amy Spiers

Rugby

U12
Most Improved – Noah Dawson
Players Player – Joel Ringland

U14
Most Improved – James Davidson
Players Player – Ryan Johnston

U16
Most Improved – Elliot Hutchinson
Players Player – Thomas Skelly

Sports Day Awards

Y8
Girl – Grace Magill 18 points
Boy – Adam McDowell 30 points

Y9
Girl – Olivia Stewart 25 points
Boy – Ben Megaw 35 points

Y10
Girl – Bella Macauley 25 points
Boy – Ryan Johnston 30 points

Y11
Girl – Eden Kernaghan 21 points
Boy – Ethan Hillis 21 points

Well done to all of our pupils who competed for their Houses in last weeks Sports Day. It was a great day, full of competitive spirit and some exceptionally close races, where we had to make decisions based on photo finishes. Ultimately the winning House on the day was Finnis, but well done to pupils of both Knock and Tamary, who pushed them all the way. Special mention must also go to Ben Megaw, who earlier in the week broke the Long Jump record at the interschools competition and on Sports Day broke the High Jump, Discus, 80m and 200m records! An astonishing achievement by a very talented young man.

Well done to all our Athletes who competed in the Inter-Schools Athletics competition at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast. A great effort from all of them and they represented the school brilliantly. Lots of medals on show as well, which is great to see.

**Merit Trip**

Over fifty of our pupils who achieved their Silver Merit Award headed over to the Milestone this morning and were treated to a hot breakfast. Well done everyone and keep up the good work next year! A big thank you to the Milestone for the delicious food and the great hospitality.

Applications for Free School Meals and Uniform Allowance for the upcoming academic year are now open on EA Connect 📢

Click here to apply 👉 https://connect.eani.org.uk/parent/

⏰ Please note, as well as new applicants, parents/guardians of children who are already in receipt of Free School Meals and Uniform Allowance will need to apply again for the 2024/25 school year.

If you don’t already have an EA Connect account, you will need to set one up. This is quick and easy to do, and there is lots of helpful information available on www.eani.org.uk/fsm to show you how.

You will also find details on eligibility and the supporting documentation you will need to upload when making your application.

Year 12 Students and Parents
You are invited to the Annual Art & Design and Technology Departments exhibition of GCSE coursework.
The students have been working very hard over the past 2 years and have developed a very impressive body of work.
We hope to see you all in the Art room at Rathfriland High on Tuesday 25th June from 7pm - 9.30pm.

We are delighted to provide the space for the new uniform swap shop at Rathfriland High School. We hope to gather a good supply of second hand uniform to either swap 'like for like' or purchase at a very reduced rate with all funds raised going back to RHS. More details to come...if your local school would like to get involved, we would love to chat.

Congratulation to past pupil Emma Parker.

And now back to the awards. The Chief Nursing Officer Rising Star Award for newly-qualified nurses is sponsored by the Chief Nursing Officer and the Department of Health Northern Ireland.
Celebrating Emma Parker and Aneica Duffy, the shining stars of South Eastern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts, respectively. We are so proud of these Chief Nursing Officer Rising Star award joint winners. Keep leading the future of nursing!

Well done to the 8 Primary Schools, who braved terrible weather conditions to compete in our annual football tournament. There was some fantastic football on display and we look forward to welcoming those joining us from these schools in September.

Cup Winners: Abercorn
Runners Up: Drumadonnell

Plate Winners: Iveagh
Runners Up: Ballydown

Shield Winners: Bronte
Runners Up: Edenderry

Bowl Winners: Poyntzpass
Runners Up: Cumran

There are a selection of photographs, however look out in the local press for full coverage.

Abercorn Primary School
Drumadonnell Primary School and Nursery Unit
Brontë Primary School and Nursery Unit
Ballydown Primary School PTA
Edenderry Primary School, Banbridge

The Year 11 GCSE Geography class was out doing data collection for their GCSE Fieldwork exam last week. The class spent Monday 5th June out on the River Shimna, taking measurements of various features along the river's course. The recent dry spell meant there wasn't a lot of water in the river but the class were still
able to collect their data and will be working on processing and presenting the data for the remainder of the term.

A special mention must go to Matthew Truesdale and Jamie Graham who ensured that we were able to get all of the necessary data at each site, despite getting a little wet in the process!

Unfortunately EA have informed us that East Coast Coaches are no longer able to cover Lorraine's run with effect from this afternoon. until the end of the week. As a result parents will have to transport their children to and from school.

Another year of the numeracy programme has concluded. Well done to the Year 10 pupils who participated this term. Their consistent effort and commitment aided their progress.
Mrs Budde (Numeracy Co-ordinator) would like to whole-heartedly thank Mrs Kernaghan and Mrs Sloane for their support, hard work and dedication throughout the year.
All the best to all the numeracy programme students in their examinations. Keep up the hard work. Have a wonderful Summer break!

Congratulations to former pupil, Nicola Murray on her excellent work for her final year ceramic exhibition, at the Art College Degree Show in University of Ulster, Belfast. Well done, Nicola!

Further to our message yesterday, regarding the EA yellow bus service (Lorraine’s).
We have been informed this morning that a replacement provider has been secured for the remainder of this week. East Coast will be delivering the bus service on Lorraine’s route for the rest of this week.

Kind regards,

Rathfriland High School

More photographs from our football finals can be found here.

Boys & Girls Football Final Pictures Here are some photos from yesterday’s finals. There was also a professional photographer at the boys game and their photos can be viewed and purchased at the following link: https://www.chcapturedmoments.com/e-gallerysport-241/st-colms-v-rathfriland-ni-small-schools-cup

Please be aware that Tom Moorhead's bus will be running later than scheduled today.

Huge congratulations to both our boys and girls football teams, who brought home the silverware today! Firstly our girls, in their first year of playing competitive football, won the Pat Jennings Newry, Mourne and Down Cup, defeating Newry High School 7-0. Goals from Connie Shilliday x3, Anna Ervine x2, Ruth Trimble and Maisy Ellison. A fantastic effort and a great reward for their hard work and commitment to training this year. Our boys U13 football team, on reaching the final of the Northern Ireland Small Schools cup, travelled to Belfast, with the rest of the school supporting to compete against St. Colm’s Draperstown. In a tightly contested game the boys quality shone through, coming out on the right side of a 4-2 scoreline, with goals from Jackson Wharton x3 and Ben Megaw. A huge achievement and the first time the school have won this competition at U13 level. More pictures and photos of both finals will follow, however well done to all of those involved today, both players and supporters, you should all be very proud of yourselves!

Best wishes to our Girls' Football Team today!