St. Patrick's & St. Brigid's tops local non-grammar leagues

This year’s league tables identified the school, which attracts pupils from the city as well as its rural suburbs, as 25th in the Northern Ireland wide league table.

While St. Mary’s College, came in 27th in the Northern Ireland wide league table - topping the urban centred table.

The league tables were compiled based on how many pupils achieved five GCSE, including English and Maths. 58.9% of pupils achieved this marker in St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s College, while 58.5% of pupils attained the same in St. Mary’s College.

St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s School principal Mrs Deirdre O’Kane said the result was a great achievement for the pupils of St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s who “continued to strive for excellence and achievement in their studies”.

Part of the Foyle Learning Community, the rural school has achieved in line with other rural schools who have outperformed schools in urban settings.

However, according to Mrs O’Kane, St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s remains the one school in the wider Derry area which has not seen significant investment in its school infrastructure.

“Our pupils are performing very well - and we have a number of applications with the Department of Education to enable us to improve on our current facilities - including an application for a purpose built sports hall,” Mrs O’Kane said.

She described the results in the league tables as “testament to the attitude of the pupils at St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s.

“This school doesn’t belong to me, or the teachers but to the pupils we are privileged to teach here.

”With increased investment the existing success of the school could be built upon. “We remain optimistic that John O’Dowd, who visited our school in 2014, will make funds available,” she said.