Published on Tuesday 20 September 2011 18:41

ACROSS the county, Junior Cert students exceeded the expectations of their teachers and parents. All of the schools have reported that students did incredibly well, outperforming the national average and a number of Kilkenny students returned incredible results.

Matthew Kavanagh from Urlingford received one of the highest Junior Cert results in the country with 12 A’s. Matthew, who is 15, is a boarder in at Cistercian College Roscrea and while he may go to school in Tipperary, when it comes to hurling he is an Emeralds man through and through. Matthew was abseiling in Delphi adventure centre when he got his results and his feet have barely touched the ground since. “I had hoped to do well enough, but I couldn’t believe my results” he said.

The principal of Loreto Secondary School, Colm Kehir, said he was delighted with the performance of Loreto’s Junior Certs: “There was an exceptional set of results with a hugely impressive haul of ‘A’ grades at higher level. Two of our students, Annie Condren and Chloe Power, got the perfect score of 10 straight A grades in higher-level examinations. A further three students achieved nine A grades while three were awarded eight As at higher level.”

The boys in St Kieran’s College also were not to be outdone. Three Junior Cert students in Kieran’s received a perfect 10 As. Principal John Curtis paid tribute to students of all abilities: “It was great that three of the pupils each received 10 A’s but at all ability levels the results were excellent and as a staff we are delighted with them.”

Presentation Secondary School was particularly happy with its students’ results in maths and science, areas of the curriculum that have been causing problems at a national level. Principal Shane Hallahan said: “We were particularly pleased with our results in maths and science with a large number achieving A grade at higher level. The most pleasing aspect of the results was the many, many students who worked tirelessly and reached or in many cases surpassed their highest expectations.”

CBS principal Tom Clarke was also celebrating the excellent maths and science results the Junior Cert students received. Mr Clarke said: “I am particularly proud of the consistent high grades in the mathematics and science subjects, well above the national average. He added that the very high grades obtained by students laid the foundation for the very strong results achieved by the Leaving Certificate students of CBS Kilkenny in these disciplines.

Kilkenny College principal Ian Combes said students there had achieved 10 A’s he was happy to see students making the most of their ability. “We’re very happy overall; it’s a credit to the students and the staff,” he said.

In Heywood Community School, principal Phil Bowe was very pleased with the overall results and said it would enable the students to feel positive about going on to senior cycle. He encouraged them to see it as a launching pad and put as much work into the senior cycle.

All of the school principals paid tribute to the supportive role played by parents in motivating students to study and giving them support.