On Friday, 12th November a distinguished gathering from the world of academia converged on the Seven Oaks Hotel in Carlow for the fifteenth annual Presentation College Academic Awards ceremony.

The Board of Management implements a system of Academic Awards to honour the top achieving students in the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations. This time it was the turn of the Presentation College high achievers in the 2021 summer state examinations. The Academic Awards, implemented by the Board of Management, are designed to recognise and reward academic achievement among the students in Presentation College and to publicly celebrate their success.

The Academic Awards are just one of a series of initiatives introduced in the college to acknowledge, support and sustain the high level of performance and success by students. The high-achieving students in the non-state exam classes, based on last summer’s in-house exams, will shortly be presented with their Subject Certificates at ceremonies to be held in the school. Third and Sixth Year students have recently completed Study Skills seminars and numerous students also avail of after school Supervised Study from Monday to Thursday evening and on Friday afternoon. Testament to the academic ability of the students is the collection of numerous national titles the school has amassed in the areas of business, enterprise, ICT, technology and public speaking. Most notably, Presentation College has secured awards at three World Finals, in Kuala Lumpur and Abu Dhabi, of the very prestigious F1 in Schools Technology Challenge.

Academic achievement among the students is a top priority in Presentation College and they perform consistently at a very high level in terms of results in the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations each summer. This is due in no small manner to the hard work ethos of the students and their teachers, coupled with the support and encouragement of their parents.

The Awards Ceremony on Friday night consisted of a sit-down meal for all recipients and their parents, along with the Principal, Deputy Principals, Year Heads, Deans of Discipline and Board of Management members followed by the presentation of awards. The Chairperson of the Board of Management, Fr Conn Ó Maoldhomhnaigh, presented awards to the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate high-achievers. He extolled the benefits of education and wished the senior students every success in their future studies and encouraged the junior students to return for further awards based on a successful Leaving Certificate.

The Junior Cycle recipients were – Sarah Delaney, Julia Dempsey, Áine Dowling, Oliwier Jakubiec, Aoife Kelly, Kim Kumpiranon, Tara Lyons, Laoise McHale, Anna Miller and Patryk Walkowski Heary.

The Leaving Certificate recipients and their current course of studies were Jaspar Butler (Engineering, UCD), Alex Fennell (Architecture, UCC), Edward Hatton (Agriculture, WIT), Damian Korus (Engineering, UCD), Diego Lopez Clarke (Chemical Sciences, TCD), Shona Martin-Holohan (Business Studies International, DCU), Conor Murphy-Ffrench (Engineering, UCD), Niamh Nolan (Bachelor of Education, MIC), Jack Nulty (Computer Games Development, IT Carlow), Alexander O'Brien (Biological and Biomedical Sciences, MU), Ellen O'Neill (Speech and Language Therapy, UCC), Kate O'Sullivan (Study Leave), Charlotte Walsh (Children’s and General Nursing, DCU) and Conor Whelan (Bachelor of Arts, MU).