My Lord Bishop, Mr Chairman, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

My Lord Bishop, Mr Chairman, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

During the past twelve months the students of PortoraRoyalSchool – your sons and daughters, the sons and daughters of your friends and neighbours – have distinguished themselves in many areas of endeavours.

Once again, our A levels results were of a quality to ensure our place among the top schools. Over 78% of our students achieved three A levels at grades A* to C; 11% of all grades were at A* (the NI average was under 8%). 41% of all grades were at A* and A and 66% were A* to B. Our rolling average over three years from 2010 remains among the highest achieved by any school.

Ian Armstrong, Nathan Brunt, William Carrothers, Andrew Coleman, Adam Farrell, James Ferguson, Henry Millar, Jamie Nelson, James Saunderson and Adam Wilson between them achieved 30 A star and A grades.

In recognition of his excellent performances at A level, Ian Armstrong was awarded a JP McManus All Ireland Scholarship the value of which is £5,000 a year for the duration of his degree course. Ian is studying History at ChristCollege, Cambridge.

At GCSE Matthew Coalter, Mathew Wilson, Aaron Brown, Ryan Crawford, Andrew Keys, Jack Milligan, Kaelyn Somerville, John Trimble, Adam Wilkins and Ryan Morrison between them accumulated 88 A* or A grades. Matthew Coalter achieved 9 A stars and one A while Matthew Wilson Mathew Wilson achieved eight A* and 2 As.

Just before half-term break I received notification from CCEA that four of our students achieved marks which ranked them in the top three of all candidates in one of their subjects:

In The Moving Image at A level, Alan Dean was ranked second and James Wallace third. Congratulations to Ms Doherty who was one of the pioneers for the subject and whose students inevitably achieve the top grades at A level

Jack Milligan was second in GCSE Applied Business, and congratulations are due to Ms Donnelly who became a permanent member of staff in September

and it will not surprise you that another of Mr Smith’s Technology and Design students was placed in the top three at A level: this year, it was Jack Campbell who was placed second.

These results, both at A level and GCSE, were achieved on the back of challenging demography. Our constituent population has been diminishing for a number of years.

In 1998 of the Year 8 pupils accepted to this school, 63 had achieved A grades at transfer.

• In 2005, the entry year of last year’s A level students, 46 achieved A grades.
• In 2007, the entry year of last year’s GCSE students, 32 achieved A grades.

In both instances, the outcomes at GCSE and GCE exceeded the outcomes of that 1999 cohort.

We contend that the improved outcomes were the result of true value-added experiences in school. The analysis of our results by the University of Durham over the past six years clearly indicates that our teaching and learning strategies add value to the achievements of students.

The reasons for improvements in outcomes are complex and varied but at their core lies the recognition that improvement in learning will occur when

• teachers understand the needs of their students and those needs can be quantified into targets,
• when students’ progress against targets is monitored closely and they are challenged on under-performance
• and when parents are involved in the process of monitoring and review

There is the broader background against which we must consider our results. In Northern Ireland, the number of studentsachieving top grades in their A-levels have fallen for the second year in a row.

In 2011 almost 34.5% of students achieved A* or A grades in their exams. In 2012 it was 32%, a fall of 2.5%.

The comparable figures for Portora were 42 % in 2011 and 41% this year, a fall of 1%.

It may be that the fall in those hitting the highest grades is down to a broader range of people staying on at school and taking the exams. To some extent my colleagues our experience would confirm that. But there is a rip tide working beneath the surface and distorting the direction in which we should be travelling.

A levels are rationing devices. Success rates do not solely depend on objective measures of performance but on the availability – the rationing, if you like - of university places and positions in elite professional occupations.

Fifty years ago, when barely 6% went to university, fewer than half the entrants to A-level were awarded passes. You could access University courses with two pass grades at A level. In the 21st Century, higher education is available to 36%, the pass rate from a far larger pool of candidates is close to 100%, and more than 25% of UK students get A grades. Even universities, which complain that A-level students lack the skills and knowledge of their predecessors, hand out firsts and upper seconds to more than 60% of their students against barely half in the mid-1990s.

The truth is that Britain and Ireland are no longer able to support a university system at its current size.

This year, we are told that more than 8,000 local students missed out on a place at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster due to a record number of applications. Around 17,000 students applied to study at the two universities but between them they had only 8,133 places.

A difficulty with this movement is that it damages young people. High achievements raise expectations and morale. Depressed achievements lower expectations and morale. Universities no longer accept D grades. Next year, universities may not accept C grades. Try motivating a student who finds it hard to register more than a D performance in an A level subject.

But this assault on our students does not begin at 16. Just as worrying is the attack on the modularization of subjects at GCSE. For several years the pattern of post-primary assessment has changed. The division of A level into the modules of AS and A2 was mirrored at GCSE with modules being available to sit mid-year and end-of-year in years 11 and 12. Students no longer prepare for and sit fifteen to twenty GCSE papers in the spring of Year 12. Through sitting modules at regular intervals in Years 11 and 12, they are able to collect information detailing what they know and what skills they have acquired in specific parts of the syllabus leading to a grade for their overall performance. They are better aware of their strengths and weaknesses and can more rigorously pursue improvement in areas of weakness.

It could be argued that the modularization of GCSE - grade inflation notwithstanding - has raised educational goals to primacy in schools and universities, particularly among boys. But there is political pressure to make these exams more traditional and end the trend towards splitting them into discrete "modules".

Those of you who read my Newsletter will note that this year we required all year 10 students to undertake a GCSE Short Course GCSE in RE. The initiative was led by Mr Beddard and embraced by the students who relished the challenge to tackle a GCSE at the end of Key Stage 3. The results were gratifying. It is that sense of challenge that we seek to encourage. And I believe that modularization of GCSE has deconstructed the spectre of high stakes testing and facilitated us in embedding assessment into the curriculum more holistically.

In his cautious approach to GCSE reform, Minister O’Dowd must be applauded for tapping gently where Mr Gove kicks out with hobnailed boots.

Of course, it is the determination of all of those charged with the care of your children that we extend to them opportunities to add value-added in many ways. The achievements of our oarsmen and women, our athletes, rugby players, anglers, our musicians and actors are the more visible manifestations of this. And the academic year 2011/2012 was a year in which Portorans – taking for granted within the county – found new audiences and admirers abroad. Ashley Elliot was a splendid contestant in Britain’s Got Talent, impressing not only with his musicianship but also by his demeanour when faced with Simon Cowell’s particular brand of smugness.

Kristan Swain’s success in the All Ireland Musician of the Year contest sponsored by the Northern Bank was public recognition of what we had always known: here is a musician of preternatural talent.

During the summer Kristan, Ashley Elliott and Gavin Rogers were selected to play in a series of events as part of the WELB Youth Orchestra while Kristan, as a member of the Ulster Youth Orchestraplayed a solo at the London Proms in August.

Kristan is now studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Andrew Irwin’s singing has won many awards at feises throughout the county. This year, it won him a place At Chetham’s School of Music. Two weeks ago, during his half-term break, he returned to sing at Senior Assembly and gave a stunning performance of a song from Les Miserables.

Alice Stubbs received sponsorship from the Old Portoran Society to enable her to join the National Youth Music Theatre in London this summer. She spoke at the OP dinner on the 29th September and entertained the diners with a song.

Maeve McConville won a place in a jazz summer school in Boston and spent the summer further developing her not inconsiderable skills.

The range of musical talent that has been developed within the school was manifest in the classical and contemporary sections of the Fermanagh Feis where the achievements of our solo singers and instrumentalists along with ensembles and groups outstripped of those any other institution in the county. The range of instruments in which our students display excellence is amazing: piano, brass, flute, xylophone, guitar, percussion and pipes. I am particularly proud that we sustain the tradition of a school Pipe Band. Of course, key to this success is the work done by Ms Jeanne Munroe and the Director of Music, Ian Hodgson.

The resulting excellence was apparent in the Annual Performing Arts Showcase was be held at the Ardhowen Theatre on Tuesday 3rd April. Our artists, film-makers, actors and musicians presented the creative work being developed in the school. The evening was an enormous success last year and a great testimony to the creativity and commitment of the students and their teachers, in particular Mrs Rees and Ms Munroe.

But it was an event in June which revealed the talent of our musicians most completely to wider audiences. This was the Service of Thanksgiving attended by Her Majesty and Prince Phillip at the start of their visit to Fermanagh. Portorans - both past and present - were at the forefront of these thanksgiving celebrations. The Service featured the PortoraRoyalSchool 1608 Chamber Choir, directed by Ms Munroe and accompanied by Kristan Swain. An Old Portoran, Glenn Moore played the organ. The trumpet heralding the arrival of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh into the Cathedral was played by Andrew Gordon (2000-2007) Jordan (Year 10) and Matthew Coalter (Year 12) were vergers and James Johnston (Year 8) led the procession of clergy into the cathedral at the start of the service. After the service, the Head Prefect (2012-2013), Adam Shaw, met Her Majesty and introduced to her student representatives from all post-primary schools in town.

The excellence of the music provided by our students on that day has been acknowledged throughout the islands and both the Dean and I have received many plauditory emails. It was a wonderful way to finish the school year and the vicissitudes of school life paled into significance in the face of such displays of excellence.

Unsurprisingly, the excellence which characterizes our musicians was echoed in other fields of endeavour.

In rowing, Henry Millar, Gary Thornton and Joe Nelson became Irish champions in the junior men’s Coxed Fourand Junior men’s coxless pair. Henry went on to win a Silver medal in the Coxless Pair at the British National schools in Nottingham and represented Ireland at the European championships in Spain in August finishing in 6th position. Gary won Gold for Ireland at the Home countries in Cardiff in July.

Ben Irwin, Conor Keys, Josh Kennedy, Ewan Gebler and Evan McClean won the Junior 14 Coxed Four in the Irish Championships.

Phoebe Mulligan had a superb race in t xxx but illness robbed her of a chance to gain international honours this year.

At the Fermanagh Sports Awards, the J8 won the Junior team of the Year Award and Mr Holland won recognition as Best Coach.

The Boat Club continues to offer outstanding opportunities for young people across the town and we are delighted to be able to make such a real contribution to our shared future.

Construction work on the new boathouse has proceeded speedily and we hope that it will be complete and landscaped for a grand opening in the spring. It will be in use long before that. The school has benefited in this project from the generosity of parents and Old Portorans in particular and Mr Holland has asked me to include his thanks for your generous support.

Mr McCallum, Mr Bersot and Ms Colton led our Under 19 and Under 17 footballers to an international youth tournament at Blackpool FC during the Break Easter. The younger team had a particularly good tournament while the senior team which won the trophy for sportsmanship.

A remarkable number of our footballers represented their county in the annual Milk Cup competition and I am particularly proud to note Dean Oldcroft’s selection for the has been selected for the Northern Ireland International Senior LD Squad that will played Wales tomorrow.

The Rugby Club had a full season even if trophies eluded our teams. Once again I must record gratitude to the Parents’ Rugby Support Club for their encouragement and the hard work they undertake in the background to support the school. Apart from turning out every weekend to supply coffee and support, they organized regular funding events one of which was Strictly Scrum Dancing in the Steele Hall at the end of March. Here was a contest that featured many upstanding members of the school community in ways that must make me question how they ever became upstanding members of the school community.

I must pay tribute to Mr Boyle’s samba, if only because no one else ever will.

The first outing of the 1st XV in the Schools’ Cup (2nd Round) took place on the 15th January at home against DalriadaGrammar School: a tightly contested match meant that there was a replay in Ballymoney the following week. On this occasion, with the lead switching from team to team, Portora lost. A foray into the trophy competition ended in the second match: after defeating AntrimGrammar School, we lost to OmaghAcademy.

Our Medallion Shield campaign was more successful. A well-balanced team of great potential, the Medallion XV was coached by Ross Finlay. This year it reached the last eight of the competition eventually losing to DromoreHigh School.

We were saddened to bid farewell to Ross at half-term. He has accepted a Rugby Development post in Scotland. His new employers will have no reasons to regret the appointment.

On a happier note, John Clarke (12P) - and the pillar of the 1st XV front row - has been selected for the Ulster U18 rugby squad.

In athletics, Jordan Hylton won the Ulster Schools’ U17 100m in May. Ashely Elliott won the Senior Discus in the same championships and played a trill on the rack of javelins in celebration.

Jordan was selected to represent Irish schools in the summer. Earlier, he had been selected for the UK School Games in May, a pre-games competition which was held in the new Olympic Stadium.

Dineka Mcquire took to the mud of Wales at the end of August for the 27th World Bog Snorkling Championships and retained her Junior and Female World titles with an astounding time of 1 minute 27.43 seconds. In contrast, the Male World championship was held over the same course and was won in a time only three seconds faster.

Angus Keys of Year 8 was chosen by his fellow students to carry the Olympic Flame during its leg around Enniskillen on the 5th June Bank Holiday. This was the consequence of Mr Hodgson’s engagement with the GetSet network by demonstrating what we do to reflect the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect on a daily basis at Portora.

And those were not the only values we saw explicated in the London Olympics and Paraolympics which we seek to develop them here. We want our young athletes to work hard and achieve highly in teams and groups that are well led and produce a deep sense of belonging and loyalty. It is this lesson that can be developed by a rich extra curricular programme. Nothing beats a sense of belonging and purpose.

Consider the regime that our rowers and rugby players endure at times of the year. They will get up early in the darkness and come into school before classes to repeat boring routines in damps halls. They know that success cannot happen without the commitment of all members of the team led and facilitated by the coaches and teachers.

If we take those things – the hard work, and the importance of group loyalty and sacrifice - then we have the sense of the qualities which will ensure purposeful and decent lives.