Larne Grammar '˜established as one of the top performing schools'
Speaking at prizegiving in the school, Mr. Wylie reported that Larne Grammar has “obtained best ever GCSE results in 2015 and again in 2018 and best ever ‘A’ Level results in 2016, 2017 and 2018”.
Mr. Wylie described this year’s GCSE success as “unprecedented”.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe percentage of pupils achieving 5 A*-C (100%), 5 A*-C including English and maths (99.1%), 7 A*-C (98.2%), 7 A*-C including English and maths (97.3%), 7 A*-B (73.6%), 7 A*-B including English and maths (68.2%), percentage of entries awarded A*-B (82.0%) and percentage of entries awarded A*-C (95.7%).”
After the distribution of the junior and senior prizes Mr Logan introduced Bill McCallion to the pupils and parents present.
Mr. McCallion, a former head boy of Larne Grammar School is a consultant paediatrician at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
He specialises in reconstructive surgery for babies born with congenital heart defects and, in his spare time, enjoys playing golf and also plays guitar in a rock band.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe noted that schools in Northern Ireland have outperformed their mainland counterparts for many years and encouraged the pupils present to recognise that they are among the best in the UK.
He told the assembly that he was “not an exceptional pupil” at Larne Grammar School.
Indeed, he “struggled most of the way through his school career and, despite excelling at rugby and being made head boy, left school with very average A-Level results”.
He went on to say that it was during his time at university he was reading an article to a group of friends when one suggested he may have dyslexia.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe explained that it was this realisation that led him to develop learning techniques that enabled him to achieve success at university.
He urged pupils interested in medicine to “think seriously about how difficult the job is before they embark on a career in medicine”.
He did, however, go on to give examples of how the work that he does has “positive, life changing, consequences”.