St John the Baptist’s College, Portadown celebrated with a Mass to mark the presentation of the first Knights of St Columbanus awards to a large body of pupils in Year 11. They were delighted to welcome Bishop Michael Router who celebrated the mass with chaplain Fr Clarke.
The school community are immensely proud to be the first school in Ireland to complete the Knights of St Columbanus award scheme which has been running over the past three years. The concept and detail of the award was initially co-designed in 2019 between the Knights of St Columbanus, Principal Mrs Noella Murray and members of the RE department.
The award promotes Christian faith, charity and action. Each year during their Key Stage 3 journey, the students completed three different acts of service within their home, local community or globally. Each child was encouraged to showcase their own gifts and talents, living out their faith in action. Over the course of three years. 52 of the students completed nine pieces of evidence that contributed to achieving the award.
It was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and guardians attending the mass and joining all for the celebration afterwards back at the college.
Whilst in the college, Bishop Router visited the Knights of St Columbanus Oratory along with the school Governor and member of the KC9 Knights Jim McConville, Mrs Brenda Leathem and Mrs Murray. The refurbishment of the oratory was sponsored by the Knights of St Columbanus – this sacred space is a treasured part of the school.
The beautiful award which the pupils received was designed by Mrs Una Coyne, teacher of Art in the college.
Everyone is looking forward to seeing how the award progresses over the next few years and all are incredibly proud of the students who received recognition.