Presbyterian Moderator Visits Priory College

Priory Integrated College gets visit from Presbyterian Moderator

Education matters for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The Church’s Moderator, the Right Reverend Dr Sam Mawhinney, has praised the “dedication, commitment, passion, and care” of teachers and staff, when he visited two Down schools recently.

There were both within the bounds of Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) Presbytery of East Belfast, as part of a week-long tour of the Presbytery. One of the schools visited was Priory Integrated College in Holywood. 

The PCI has around 200,000 members belonging to 500-plus congregations across 19 regional presbyteries throughout Ireland.

While presbytery tours are primarily pastoral visits to encourage the local church on the ground, in the Presbytery of East Belfast – which takes in Holywood – there are 23 congregations.

Throughout the week, Dr Mawhinney undertook upwards of 20-plus civic, community and cultural visits. 

“It has been a busy week and a fascinating one, with many different visits to a variety of places, including Priory Integrated College and Mitchell House School.

“Having gone to Ballycastle High and Queen’s many years ago, and having ministered and lived in the Republic of Ireland for the past 25 years, much has changed.

“It was good to get a greater understanding of the sectors they are part of, and the challenges that they face at the moment,” Dr Mawhinney said. 

He added: “I want to thank both of them for the warm welcome and time that they took to show my wife Karen and I around, which gave us just a glimpse of what daily life looks like for them, the teachers, children and young people.

“While they were different in many respects, the dedication, commitment, passion, professionalism and care that they, and their staff demonstrated, was palpable. 

“I really enjoyed the Q&A sessions during Priory’s Religious Studies class and the Year 12 Learning for Life and Work class, with some well thought out questions.

“These questions touched on issues from same-sex marriage, to why he became a minister, what it was like to work in a hospital in Kenya, to matters such as does the PCI work with other churches and if churches do enough to promote peace.

“There was also a question on what happens to you when you die.”

Welcoming the visit to Priory College, Vice Principal Alison Watterson said that Priory’s 700-plus students come from 23 feeder schools in a wide catchment area that extends from East Belfast to North Down and the Ards Peninsula.

As an Integrated College, it welcomes pupils of all religions, and none, and is inclusive of all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and academic profiles.

Alison Watterson added that that GCSE and A-Level outcomes were consistently above the Northern Ireland average for similar schools. 

Built in the 1970s as Holywood High School, the all-ability co-educational post primary school changed its name when it became part of the Integrated Sector in 1997. 

There are currently 58 teaching staff and 36 classroom assistants in the College, “supported by an amazing ancillary team,” Alison Watterson said, who has been at the College for 30 years. The College motto, ‘Accomplishing More Together’ embodies the college’s Integrated ethos. 

She said: ““It was a pleasure to host the Moderator, which provided an opportunity for our pupils to engage with him on different subjects and hear his answers from a Christian perspective and his own lived faith experiences as a minister.

“Pupils took the opportunity to quiz him on some controversial issues and his honesty and considered answers were much valued, as were his answers about his own faith journey and his call to be a minister,” she said. 

“I also welcomed the opportunity to share with the Moderator what integration looks like in action at Priory, and how the pupils, staff, and wider community experience integration.

“Our integrated ethos permeates all we do.

“Ours is an inclusive community in which building positive relationships are key to developing the aptitudes and talents of all our pupils.

“I very much hope the Moderator enjoyed his visit.”  

Website: presbyterianireland.org 

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