Mayor Graham Warke paid a trip to Holy Child Primary on Friday morning last and praised the Creggan school for being the only one in Derry this year to achieve the highly coveted School Of Sanctuary award.
He congratulated Principal Nicola Cullen, her staff and pupils on the magnificent achievement and said he would be delighted to have those involved down to the Mayor’s Parlour at the Guildhall in the coming weeks to further celebrate the award.
The School of Sanctuary award is aimed at helping schools to develop further the concept that schools are welcoming places for pupils and their families, where every child feels safe and where they are fully accepted. These schools become beacons in the community as places where cultural diversity is valued and celebrated.
On arrival at the school, the Mayor was presented with a Holy Child Butterfly Journal by P1 pupil Erin, while fellow P1 pupil Lee handed over a portrait of the mayor which the youngster had drawn himself. Nursery pupil Marcella also presented the city’s first citizen with a painting by Cohen of Autumn leaves. And proudly displaying the School of Sanctuary plaque and award were P7 pupils Daisy and Emily.
Mayor Warke congratulated the children on the award and told them to keep up the excellent work. He also said he was impressed with the presentations the children made to him and promised they would take pride of place in the parlour at the Guildhall.
Then followed a tour of the school including a visit to the new Butterfly Room, a call-in to some of the classrooms to meet pupils and a tour of the school’s new soon-to-be-opened Forest School where the Mayor was led to by a proud 4 years-old Ollie McDermott and his classmates.
Delighted to have the Mayor visit the school and meet the children, Principal Nicola Cullen said: ‘it’s an honour to have the Mayor of the city and district attend Holy Child PS today. He got a warm reception from all the children and we were pleased he acknowledged our award. Achieving the ‘School of Sanctury’ award is something we are all very proud of here at Holy Child and hope it will lead to even more in the future.’
In thanking the Mayor for taking time out to acknowledge the Creggan school’s award and achievements, she concluded: ‘We earnestly hope to get you back for the opening of the new Forest School which was funded by the Big Lotto and would love to visit the Guildhall.’
