The annual Easter School offers additional support to Year 12 pupils at risk of not achieving the required Grade C in their GCSE mathematics and English language examinations in the summer. Attending the West Belfast Partnership Board (WBPB)/St Mary’s University College Easter School this year were almost 300 pupils, divided into twenty-five class groups from twelve schools including Irish medium schools, an integrated school and pupils from the New Start EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) Project. There were twenty-five fully qualified teachers and twenty-eight classroom assistants (including twenty-four student teachers from St Mary’s) working with the pupils.

Schools involved included St Dominic’s; St Louise’s; Corpus Christi; St Rose’s; St Genevieve’s; De La Salle; Christian Brothers’ School (CBS); St Mary’s, Glen Road; Colaiste Feirste, Malone College; Rathmore; St Patrick’s, Lisburn; and, finally, New Start EOTAS.


Pupils attended classes in the College each day from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. A thirty-minute lunch break included a hot meal and a soft drink. The classes mixed gender and combined schools, dividing students into classes by the particular examination board or the topic or theme being taught.

Pupils were selected using the following criteria:

• They must be year 12 pupils who are borderline Grade C or below.
• They must attend a school, or be a resident, in the West Belfast Constituency.
• They have experienced barriers to their learning.
• They have had satisfactory attendance at school.

Each pupil’s regular class teacher had indicated the student’s particular areas of weakness in mathematics and/or English, so the support provided could be targeted and could be more effective. There were also opportunities on days three and four to explore examination preparation strategies and study techniques. Pupils wore casual clothes instead of school uniforms, and the atmosphere generally was more informal than in the normal school environment.


The following student ambassadors from St Mary’s worked at the 2017 school: Hannah Campbell, Niamh Murphy, Seaan Clancy, Sinead Logue, Elena Smyth, Seanan Hurley, Rebecca McAlindon, Ryan Farrell, Andrea Franklin, Laura Daly, Eibhlin McAnaw, Fergal McNicholl, Gerard McCorley, Neil McNicholl, Maria Cassidy, Momháine Keegan, Niamh Byrne, Niamh Murphy, Cailin Fox, Catherine Grieve, Sarah Totten, Leah Kelly, Caitlin Miskimmons, Seana McCracken.