Enniskillen Royal Grammar School students celebrated at prize-giving

Principal Elizabeth Armstrong welcomed all in attendance, commenting that it was a “particular pleasure and privilege” to stand before them now following the “necessary hiatus” caused by Covid-19 over the past couple of years.

“Our last prize-giving was in December, 2019, and it is indeed wonderful to welcome you all here today, nearly three years later, to celebrate the many achievements of our school community – a school community which took pride in remaining true to its vision of excellence through perseverance, as staff and students showed both agility and creativity in adapting to the demands of the pandemic,” she said.

She noted that the ERGS spirit and vision was “not quenched or daunted” by the enforced hiatus of lockdown.

“From its strong roots forged in the logistical challenge of dealing with a split site, its green shoots broke through relentlessly as staff and students, working together, found new ways to promote our community of care, connection, and creativity.”

Miss Armstrong went on to outline the successes of the students following a challenging time due to the pandemic.

“In August, we were delighted to see the tangible evidence of the resilience and resourcefulness of our staff and students, writ large in our excellent public examination results which represented yet further improvement on our already very strong pre-Covid performance.

“At A2, 82 per cent of students achieved at least three grades at A*-C: well over half of the grades reached the top A* and A standard and 28 students had three grades As or better.

“Our top achievers were Paul McConkey, who achieved three A*s and one A grade. Leanora Bell, Dearbhla Graham and Natalie Honeyman each achieved three A*s,” she said.

Miss Armstrong continued by announcing a new award which will be presented to the top candidate at A-level each year: “The Hilliard Cup presented by our guest of honour, Alison Hilliard, and her brothers, Ross and Thomas, in memory of their father, Norman Hilliard, who was a much-valued and longstanding member of the Board of Governors of Portora Royal School, where Ross and Thomas were students.

“Alison and I were classmates at the Collegiate Grammar School, and it is very fitting this afternoon to celebrate the links and ties from the past which bind and unite us in the celebration today of the present and of our vision for the future.”

Paul McConkey is the first recipient of the Hilliard Cup but was not able to attend the prizegiving event due to his medical studies commitments in Trinity College Dublin.

A second new award, the cup for Outstanding Commitment to Employability and Career Development, which was donated to the school by its partner institution, South West College, was presented to Sean O’Brien, who is studying Film Studies and Production at Queen’s University.

“Sean was very pro-active in seeking out a wide range of work experience, both paid and voluntary in his chosen discipline. He is a worthy first winner,” said Miss Armstrong, who continued her address by outlining the various achievements of students academically, vocationally and in extra-curricular activities.

Guest of honour Alison Hilliard engrossed students with her captivating speech at the event. A former students of ERGS, Alison went on to read English at Oxford University and then became a familiar voice and face on BBC Radio and Television.

She started work at Radio Foyle and then moved to Radio Ulster as the presenter of Sunday Sequence, and then to Radio 4 to present the Sunday programme and Woman’s Hour.

She has spent almost a quarter of a century presenting programmes for the BBC on radio and television, as the Head of Religious Programming at the BBC World Service, and as a BBC correspondent working and living across the Middle East and Africa, reporting from Beirut to Jerusalem, from Addis Ababa to Amman.

She’s now based in Sussex, England, and works for the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as the Programme Director of Wilton Park.

During her speech, Alison spoke of the two life lessons or practices that her schooling in Fermanagh helped her develop – lessons she wished to pass on to the students present.

“One is to keep and develop your sense of curiosity and the other is to develop and practice empathy,” she said, addressing those in attendance.

“So what does curiosity mean?” she asked rhetorically, continuing: “It means staying interested in what’s happening around you, staying fascinated by the world, by people, by places, for what more there is to learn, what more there is to see and what more there is to discover. It means a life of keeping on asking questions and finding out how others see the world in a way that’s different from you.

“That’s behind my love of journalism and why I made it my career. It’s a job that stretches and shapes you and challenges you that there’s always more that’s interesting to learn. And learning to ask questions and to stay curious begins I think as a practice at school,” said Alison, moving on to the second lesson: “And then there’s empathy which goes hand in hand with curiosity.

“Empathy helps you see the human in everyone and makes you realise that everyone has a back story. It helps you build relationships with people, no matter what their background or their experience. It helps you see and to value people as individuals. I like to think of it as seeing a ‘divine spark’ in everyone,” she said.

After outlining how she uses curiosity and empathy within her work and general life, sharing anecdotes as examples, Alison concluded her speech: “I was lucky enough 50 years ago to be given some skills to help me be ready for the world. And I’ll always be thankful for that.

“I just hope that you might discover the skills you need to make you ready for a world that is already changing in unimaginable ways.”

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