Well done to our pupils who performed in the City Hall last night along with Andrea Begley, at a reception for the Harkin International Disability Summit 2022. 

Along with a signing choir, solo performances were given by Harry Taylor and Grace Tanner-Montgomery, while Tiernan Devine accompanied with the mandolin and singing. 

This was our pupils’ first performance outside of the school in more than two years, and they received a standing ovation at the end!

Jordanstown school is extremely proud of its pupils’ achievements in the recent examination series.  Pupils achieved top grades in AS Levels, GCSEs and a wide range of vocational qualifications.  The examinations achieved were:

AS Levels – 4 at grades A and B

GCSEs – 6 at grades A to C

OCN Level 2 Extended Certificates – 2 (equivalent to 6 GCSEs at grade B)*

Prince’s Trust PDE – 2 (equivalent to 4 GCSEs at grade B)

CCEA Performance Skills – 4 (equivalent to 4 GCSEs at grade B)

Entry Level Mathematics – 3 at each of Levels 1, 2 and 3

Entry Level Life Skills – 1 at Level 1 and 4 at Level 3

Entry Level Extended Life Skills – 4 at Level 2

ASDAN Short Courses in Environmental Studies – 23

ASDAN Towards Independence units – 85

*Achieved in collaboration with Newtownabbey Regional College

Top achiever at Key Stage 4 was Katie Calwell who has progressed to Advanced Level studies in a mainstream Sixth Form.

Top achiever at Key Stage 5 was Alanis Millar who is continuing her Advanced Level studies at Jordanstown School and Belfast High School. 

We congratulate each and every one of our pupils for their efforts and successes!

It is with much sadness that we have learned of the untimely passing of Mr John Leckey. Known to many in his work as the senior coroner for Northern Ireland, we knew him better in his role as a Trustee of the Ulster Society for Promoting the Education of the Deaf and the Blind, and as a Governor of Jordanstown School.

John became a Trustee of the Society in 1988 and served until 2017, including as Vice Chair from 2012 until 2016. He was deeply committed to his various roles and carried them out faithfully and diligently. He had a great depth of knowledge which was evident while dealing with the wide range of matters which arose over the years. The present Trustees and Governors remember him as being conscientious, courteous, wise and kind – one of life’s true gentlemen.

The Ulster Society, and the Governors, staff and pupils of Jordanstown School, owe a debt of gratitude to John for all he did in his twenty nine years of service to the Society and the School. We extend to his wife, sons and whole family circle our deepest sympathy in their sad loss. 

Please click on the image below to visit The Signature Works website who supply all our uniform needs.

The primary department have been learning about a growth mindset. They know it’s ok to make mistakes as that is the way you learn. They have all tried very hard this year and learnt lots of new things. 

We wanted to share this message with all our friends so we did it through signing the song ‘Try Everything’.

Remember the more you try, the more your brain will grow. Click on the photograph to watch the signing video.

It was with mixed feelings that we took leave today of our colleague Eileen Irvine, who has been appointed to a position in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.  

Eileen has been working as a Classroom Assistant in Jordanstown School for four years and has contributed immeasurably to our pupils, particularly her 1:1 pupil. 

She has a skill set that will be difficult to replace, but we are delighted for her that her talents have been recognised by the Health Trust and we have no doubt she will make an outstanding contribution there.

Eileen will take up her new position next week and while we will miss her, we wish her every success in her future career.

The Ulster Society for Promoting the Education of the Deaf and the Blind

The Annual General Meeting

will be held via zoom on Monday 8 February 2021 at 5.00pm.   Please email the school,  info@jordanstownschool.org for the zoom details.

Members and Friends of the Society and School are cordially invited to attend.

If you require the services of a BSL/ISL interpreter or Lip Reader, or the Agenda presented in Braille or an alternative medium please inform the school immediately. Telephone number 028 9086 3541, email – info@jordanstownschool.org 

Tonight we had the privilege of having Tori Murray teach us all British Sign Language.

We learnt numbers up to 20, the alphabet, family members and common phrases.

Keep practicing girls and Tori will be back next week to teach us more.

Juliann Coulter

1st Killylea Rainbows & Brownies & Guides

Jordanstown School was delighted today to welcome David Roberts of Sustainable Schools, as part of his Journey of Hope from the Shetland Islands to the Scilly Isles.

David is making his journey using sustainable transport, visiting projects all over the country which are working to protect the environment.  

The staff and pupils of Jordanstown School worked together to create a Butterfly Haven, and we were very fortunate to have David’s expertise to guide us.

Each class planted a small flower bed with flowers and shrubs which attract butterflies, but we learned that we also need to make sure that the butterflies have somewhere to live and breed.  The next step will therefore be to grow some long grass and nettles!

The pupils also started work on crafting minibeasts from wood and plastic bottle tops for decorating the Nature Reserve.  Large plastic bottles were also recycled to create small painted butterflies.

The school presented David with a native Irish oak sapling to bring over to his native city of Liverpool.  He will present it to St Vincent’s School to plant in their grounds.

All in all it was a wonderful day full of laughter and learning.  We wish David well as he makes his journey on from Jordanstown School through the rest of the United Kingdom to the Scilly Isles.

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Jordanstown School is involved in an Erasmus project with a range of leading schools for the Visually Impaired across Europe. Our partner schools are:

Centre IRIS, Solvenia, GOA, Prague, Visio, Holland, Royal Blind School, Edinburgh, Lega del fildo d’Oro Onlus, Italy

The project is called SMILE too which stands for Social Skills Make Inclusive Life Easier. As the name suggests, the aim of this 3 year project is to share knowledge about the development of social skills in children and young people who are Visually Impaired with the aim of developing resources for educators to support social skills in this population.

“Sighted children observe and imitate people’s social behaviours, learning from any visual cues given. This is known as incidental learning. If these opportunities aren’t available to a child, understanding and development of appropriate social behaviour can become fragmented. Having appropriate social skills is crucial to a child’s everyday interactions. They enable the child to interact with others, establish friendships and later develop personal and work relationships”. RNIB website 8 November 2017

It is well documented that the development of social skills relies heavily on observation and imitation. Children and young people with visual impairment often do not have this advantage.  Much of social interaction is non verbal and social cues and body language may be abstract concepts to the child with Visual Impairment. The development of social skills needs careful consideration as it differs considerably from that of their sighted peers.

Children who are visually impaired can find it difficult to acquire social skills that are vital for developing relationships and understanding social situations throughout their lifetime. It cannot be assumed that they will develop social skills automatically like their sighted peers. This has an impact both in school and in the wider world.

The staff involved in the SMILE too project are experienced and qualified teachers of the Visually Impaired. They are also involved in outreach work and support children in mainstream and other special schools. We are keen to involve staff and give them the opportunity to meet colleagues across Europe who face the same issues and exchange knowledge and good practice

This creates meaningful and lasting links with organisations similar to our own and includes Jordanstown School in a European wide perspective on socialisation for Visually Impaired children and young people.