Purpose of the Fun Run

Raise awareness for health and fitness amongst the pupils and staff in Foyle College. Also to help
raise awareness of the work done by the NI Children’s Hospice in Northern Ireland and raise some
much needed funds. The Children’s hospice currently cares for 300 children annually, all with lifelimiting
conditions. Some of the children are cared for in the hospice itself, but most will be cared
for at home, through community nursing teams.
What is happening?

Fun run involves 26 pupils from the Foyle College Athletics Team and each will be running 1 mile.
The 26 miles covered by the pupils symbolises the distance of the marathon and ties in with staff
participation in both the recent London Marathon and the upcoming local Walled City Marathon.
Included with the pupils are Mrs Anita McDowell, a nurse from the Children’s Hospice and Foyle
College staff members Mrs Michaela Leonard & Mr Derek Harrington who are involved with the
running of Foyle College Athletics. Also included are Neil Stewart and Clive Austin, Neil has
completed the recent London Marathon for the second time and both are due to run the local
Walled City Marathon at the start of June. Clive is an experienced marathon runner having
completed 26 marathons in his running career.

Fundraising

The run today brings the fundraising efforts for the Children’s Hospice to a culmination and again the
pupils, staff and suppliers of Foyle College have made a massive effort and helped raise in excess of
£3,000 to help fund the ongoing costs of the Children’s Hospice.
 

On Thursday 18 April 2013, pupils and staff from Foyle College were delighted to be invited to attend the Great Hall in the Magee campus of the University of Ulster to listen to an interview between Professor Brandon Hamber, Director of INCORE (An International Centre for the Excellence for the Study of Peace and Conflict) and Honorary Graduate, and Nobel peace laureate His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

This interview was part of the “Life Stories” series, which are interviews with prominent Universityof Ulstergraduates and honorary graduates who have excelled in their chosen sphere. These one-to-one discussions offer audiences a rare opportunity to hear the personal account of the life and achievements of distinguished alumni. In October 2000 the Universityof Ulsterawarded His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for his outstanding contribution to peace and reconciliation.

Throughout the course of the Autumn and Spring term, twelve AS Level Business Studies pupils enrolled on a Sage @ School Instant Accounts course.  The on-line course gave pupils the opportunity to build skills, knowledge and competencies in the use of the Sage Accounts programme, which is widely used by accountants.  The Year 13 pupils entered both Book 1 and 2 exams which covered nominal, sales and purchases ledgers, VAT returns, bank reconciliation and the recording of customer and supplier invoices and credit notes.  In Book 2, Christian Catterson, Andrew McElhatton, Jason McFaul Aran Muttu achieved Distinctions, with scores of over 90%. 

Congratulations to all those pupils who sacrificed two Private Study periods each Wednesday morning to attend this enrichment class.