SANDY HAZEL caught up with some excited students receiving their Leaving Cert results last weekIT WAS smiles all round last week as the Leaving Certificate results 2007 were released. St Kevin’s College, Clogher Road, Crumlin, is delighted to be sending their top student to University College Dublin (UCD) next month.
Richard Lelas from Tallaght was a beneficiary of extra tuition from the New Era programme at UCD.
A very pleased Blake Hodkinson, deputy head at St Kevin’s, told Metro Eireann: “Richard got 455 points. He took part in the New Era programme of extra tuition provided by UCD and sponsored by the KWCD (Kimmage Walkinstown Crumlin and Drimagh) Partnership to go to the Institute of Education as well. He’ll go to UCD to do Arts, with 100 points to spare. He will receive a grant too to help with going to college sponsored by New Era. His mum is here today and she’s over the moon. Parents make the world of difference when it comes to performance at school.”
Lelas got his 455 points with six honours. “The offers of places will be out in the next week or two and I really hope to get to UCD,” he said. “I’m just back from the Gaeltacht where I was a youth leader for the summer. I will come back to the school in the future, maybe as a teacher, but in the meantime I will be going out to celebrate tonight,” a beaming Lelas told Metro Eireann.
There were more happy faces at Loreto College in Crumlin, where students proclaimed: “We are the future.” Meanwhile, Gerry Cullen, principal of Mount Carmel Secondary School on Dublin’s King’s Inns Street was delighted with his students’ results.
“When we saw initial reports on this morning’s news about the bad results in maths we were a bit worried, but I’m really proud that not one of our girls failed maths, and they all did excellently in chemistry and biology too,” he said. “Our religion students did very well in what is turning into a hard exam. Sixty per cent got As and two of those students are international students.”
He added: “All our international girls did amazingly well in both English and in their own languages. One girl, Stefani Tentui, got an A1 in Romanian. It can be a difficult exam, even if it is your initial language because the questions are set in English, so it’s a tricky one.” Tentui, who is from Romania and enjoyed her time at Mount Carmel, told Metro Eireann: “I am very happy. I got an A1 in Romanian and I did okay in my other subjects too. I have enough points now, I hope, to go to the National College of Ireland to study business. I hope to get offered a place.
“I will miss this school. Mr Cullen has been a great help; he helps all the foreign students. He is a great man.
“Ms Copeland too I would like to thank, she helped me with my maths. All of my teachers helped me so much – they all have a place in my heart. I’m not going to celebrate tonight as I must go to work.”
Another high-achieving student at Mount Carmel was Diane Moiseenco from Moldova. She said: “I am happy with my results but I will not be going to college yet as I’m not sure what I want to do. I didn’t take the transition year so I will now take some time to travel and do some voluntary work. Then I may go on to further education.
“I miss this school already. I used to be shy but now with my English so improved they can’t shut me up.”
