Moate students celebrate a successful year

Anxious faces, smiles, excitement and occasionally, tears. This is the common scene at Irish secondary schools throughout Leaving Cert results day. But looking around Moate Community School last Wednesday, the mood was certainly one of celebration. Students of the school performed excellently in the 2008 Leaving Cert examination and with around 110 students collecting results, the school was a hive of activity throughout the morning and afternoon. The teachers and staff of the school were on hand throughout the morning to greet students as they filtered into the school corridors and mingled with friends, discussing their results and counting up point tallies. 'I"m definitely happy enough with it overall,' said Kevin Adamson who now plans to study business. 'It wasn"t really in the back of my mind too much but the last two or three weeks I was thinking about it a lot more.' Claire Kelly from Ballinderry was overjoyed with her results and now plans to study Commerce in Galway. 'I"m absolutely delighted - I did better than I had expected. I was a bit nervous yesterday alright but what"s done is done so there"s not much point in getting too worked up over it. 'I thought most of the exams were grand. The Home Economics paper was quite tough but I got through it fine so I"m really happy,' she added. Cousins Anne Marie and Sarah Boland said they were delighted to have the exams finished with and both will now be studying in Waterford. 'I was nervous about the exams alright,' said Sarah. 'The Maths Paper 2 was quite tough but I"m really happy now that it"s done with.' Anne Marie added that she hadn"t been thinking about the results much. 'I wasn"t really worrying about it too much. I"m just glad to have it over with!' she said. Outside the school, Naomi McCormack and Trish Waits, both from Moate, were celebrating their Leaving Cert results with friends. 'I"m just relieved now. I was thinking about it over the summer and I"m very happy today that it worked out fine,' Trish said, adding that she plans on training as a Primary Teacher. 'I"m delighted with it myself,' added Naomi. I"m hoping to study in Dublin and I"m really happy it"s finished with now!' Principal Kevin Duffy was quick to praise the Leaving Cert class of 2008 as well as their parents and the staff of the school who he said did an excellent job throughout the year. 'It was a very good year, I have to say. The students did very well and I"m delighted,' he said. 'The maths was particularly good and the concerns about the exam nationally were not reflected in the results here. 'I want to thank the students as well as their parents who have given us great cooperation. It"s great to see students achieving their potential, that"s what it"s all about and I"m delighted with the year,' he added.