Press Release
Date: Thursday 29 April 2010 (NR/06/10)
Local Learners Celebrate Achievement
Yesterday CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment) celebrated the tremendous success of local learners at CCEA Headquarters in Clarendon Dock.
Over thirty students attended CCEA’s ‘Celebrating Achievement’ event to pick up their award in skills-based, work-related and lifelong learning qualifications.
From Brickwork to Creative Crafts to Employability Skills, the winners at Celebrating Achievement are well on their way to improving their future career prospects.
Congratulating all the students personally was Neil Anderson, CCEA’s Acting Chief Executive. He commented:
It is always a pleasure to host this annual event, where we bring together learners from across Northern Ireland in recognition of their success.
What makes this ceremony even more special is that learners were nominated by teachers, tutors and other staff for their personal strengths and qualities. Whilst others were nominated for overcoming a specific challenge to achieve their qualification.
It is also encouraging to see a good mix of schools, community organisations and Further Education colleges. It is important that skills development is accessible in a broad range of centres and that qualifications can be tailored to suit the needs of all learners.
It is a challenging and competitive marketplace out there for both jobs and education places. For this reason it is more important than ever that skills and learning are constantly evolving to meet the demands of a changing world.
These students should be proud of how they have performed in their individual qualifications, as well as how they have impressed their teachers and tutors along the way. Their determination to succeed is an inspiration to us all and I wish them all the very best in the future.
Niall Williamson, St Mary’s College, picked up an award for Construction and Engineering. Speaking about his award he said:
This qualification has definitely helped me in my current job and I really enjoyed the fact that the study was hands-on and practical. I have now moved on to study bricklaying and look forward to learning even more in the future.
Additional Information
Programme for event
12.30pm: Lunch & refreshments
1.00pm: Opening remarks – David McKee, CCEA Chairman
1.10pm: Awards – Presented by Neil Anderson, Acting Chief Executive, CCEA
1.45pm: Closing Remarks – Neil Anderson
2.00pm: Photography
Top Candidates – Celebrating Excellence Award Winners
| Winners | Centre |
|---|---|
| Being the Best in Essential Skills | |
| Geraldine Corcoran, Application of Number | First Steps Women’s Centre, Dungannon |
| Chris Muldoon, Communication | Holy Trinity College, Cookstown |
| Being the Best in Key Skills | |
| Keith Fulton, Communication | Ballymena Academy |
| Being the Best in Work-Related Life Long Learning | |
| Trevor Cahoon, Employment Skills | Workers’ Education Association (WEA) |
| Rory McCann, Employment Skills | Include Youth, Armagh |
| Maria McCarthy, Creative Crafts | WEA (Intercomm) |
| Jason McIlwrath, Performance Skills | Loughshore Educational Resource Centre, Belfast |
| Being the Best in QCF Modern Languages | |
| Noel McCready, German | Lisburn Adult Education Centre |
| Being the Best in Occupational Studies | |
| Sean Collins, Brickwork | St Mark’s HS, Warrenpoint/South Regional College |
| Daniel McDermott, Brickwork | NW Regional College |
| Shauna McFall, Care | N Regional College/St Patrick’s College, Maghera |
| Laura McMullan, Care | St Aloysius HS, Cushendall |
| Laurita Makuskaite, Care | Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon/South Regional College |
| Claire Steele, Care | Craigavon Senior HS/Southern Regional College |
| Sé McGuigan, Construction | St Patrick’s College, Maghera/Northern Regional College |
| David Cameron, Construction | Ballee High School, Ballymena |
| Niall Williamson, Construction/Engineering | St Mary’s College, Clady/Northern Regional College |
| Dovydas Barinas, Digital Technology | North West Regional College |
| Wilson Giffin, Engineering | Newtownhamilton High School/Southern Regional College |
| Natalia Damps, Fashion | Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon/Southern Regional College |
| Leanne Keys, Hairdressing & Beauty | City of Armagh High School/Southern Regional College |
| Siún McAllister, Hairdressing & Beauty | St Mary’s High School, Newry/Southern Regional College |
| Carla McGarvey, Hairdressing & Beauty | St Patrick’s High School, Keady/Southern Regional College |
| Caoimhe McKee, Hairdressing & Beauty | St Catherine’s College, Armagh/Southern Regional College |
| Gemma Walker, Hairdressing & Beauty | Northern Regional College/St Patrick’s College, Maghera |
| Michelle McCavera, Hospitality & Catering | South Eastern Regional College |
| Martin McGrath, Hospitality & Catering | Erne School |
| Daniel Dougan, Joinery | City of Armagh High School/Southern Regional College |
| Darragh Coyle, Media/Digital Technology | Holy Cross College, Strabane/Southern West College |
| Anthony Conn, Motor Vehicle | S Regional College/Clounagh Junior HS, Portadown |
| Colleen Ferguson, Office Administration | Northern Regional College/Ballymoney High School |
| Kyle Murphy, Sport, Leisure and Travel | Brownlow Integrated College/Southern Regional College |
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
