St John’s Business & Enterprise College Dromore is once again celebrating after a terrific year.

The college achieved 100 per cent of pupils attaining 5 or more GCSE passes in the A* to C range.

Speaking on the night College principal Miss Christine Doherty said: “This school continues to outperform its surrounding schools. It is a true example of how great team work can really make a difference. This is why year on year we stay at the top of the league tables. There is a very definite need for small rural schools like St John’s. Our results bear testimony to this. All I can say is, long may this continue “.

She went on to say: “Tonight we are here to celebrate the wonderful outstanding results of our pupils. I am absolutely delighted to report that St John’s just keeps on going from strength to strength.”

“A special tribute has to be made to our vocational students who have produced another great set of results.”

Miss Doherty went on to speak about the Year 12 group of students and while she said “the road to your success was not always a smooth one” she also stated. “It was a hard road but we got there eventually. Remember, now you have these results, no-one can take them away from you.”

The principal was keen to stress though that what the role of the school was to make sure each child achieved their best:

“Of course, we all know that, learning comes easier for some more than others. It is our job, at St John’s, to help each and every single child to achieve to the best of their ability as this is the key to opening up opportunities in the future. This is something we feel we are very good at and it makes us so proud to see our pupils go on from here to achieve wonderful heights and most importantly to have happy futures.”

The night began with a prayer service led by Rev. Fr. Patrick MacEntee, who is Chairman of the school Board of Governors. This was greatly enhanced by the participation of the school choir under the guidance of Miss McCarroll and Miss Bogue/McKenna. This was then followed by the junior prize giving ceremony.

Guest of honour on the night was Kevin Doyle a past pupil of the College who now runs his own business Trillick Auto Parts Centre. During his address to the assembled audience Kevin said that he was absolutely delighted and felt honoured to be invited to come along and talk to the students on Prize Night. Kevin entertained the audience with the incredible story of his journey since leaving school to where he is today.

He emphasised that hard work and self-belief were the keys to success in life. He urged the young people present to always be the best that they can be. “Work hard and always remember to believe in yourself and opportunities will come.”

Miss Doherty echoed this theme of hard work: “Pupils may not like all the prodding and pushing that goes hand in hand with getting the job done but in the end they are very glad that we did not give up on them and continued to persevere even when met with brick walls and sometimes quite visible hostility,” she said.

“No-one likes failure and the disappointment that comes with it.

“Everybody loves success and the inevitable joy it brings. It was nice to see the smiles in August – it made all the hard work worthwhile. And make no mistake about it hard work is what it is.”

To conclude Miss Doherty said: “Year on year we have to take each new group and mould and shape it into a viable working group and try to give them the best chance of achieving. This does not come easy.

“This is why I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of my staff for their steadfast dedication and determination to achieve. Without this we would not have wonderful nights like this in St John’s.”