Steven Corin Thomas McVeigh

Steven came in to visit today, and to tell us that he would be setting up in interior design while he consulted about the best route to furthering his career in drama. Steven already had a place at a prestigious drama school across the water, but had decided it was very important to him to stay in Ireland. He called to see his wonderful drama teacher, Catherine Kelly, and while he was there, his mobile went, and he was offered a place in the inaugural year of the brand new Lir School of Drama at Trinity College Dublin, which is a collaboration with the world famous RADA. This is the most fantastic news, and you will all have to paint your own houses now! Stuff interior design! Steven would be the first to say that his success owes so much to Catherine. She left the beautiful purple, greenroom Steven designed for her, perhaps for the last time as wageslave Shimna staff member BUT she is now Shimna associate and friend, and will be back in all sorts of capacities. We wish her all the very best of luck in her own new drama career.

Stephen Samples

It was great to see Stephen Trainor in the picture of CAFRE students from the Loughry campus out sampling the real world of the bakery industry during their visit to the Howell House bakery at Lisburn.

Jonathan Killen on the Underground

Turns out he actually works on the London Underground. He came in to get his passport form signed, and it was great to see him. I wish I had asked more questions though. While I did the signing, he set off for a look round the school to see what has changed. He was very pleased to hear about classmates Kerry Smyth and Ryan Doran.

A Philosophical Cyclist

We ran into Shane Cooney on one of his trips home. He transferred from his philosophy degree to study history and media studies. At the same time he kept up his mania for cycling, training in high level bike maintenance and travels the world with teams competing in international competition. He is looking ahead to the time when he may want to settle down, and might consider primary teaching.

Ryan Doran Teaching

Ryan Doran is following up his Journalism degree from Sunderland with a conversion course, which picks up from his A level maths and has won him a place on a maths teacher training course. On P6 Day, pupils from All Children's IPS joined us for language learning activities, and lo and behold, the staff member with them was Ryan himself. Every prospective teacher has to do some observing and volunteering before they start training so that they can prove to themselves that they actually like children. Ryan looked as if he liked them as much as they obviously liked him.

Graham Briggs, Architect

Graham took the smart route to his degree in Architecture with which he graduates this summer. He graduated first several years ago in Architectural Technology, worked a few years and earned a bit before completing the lengthy training. He has kept up his interest in sustainable design, which is important for all our futures.

Naming her Salary

Kerry Smyth has graduated with a first class honours degree in Actuarial Studies from Queens University, Belfast. So well has she done that she has job interviews lined up this week and next. With this kind of qualification, she really will be able to name her salary. We were so pleased to hear her good news and look forward to hearing which firm she picks.

Famous Horticulturalists

Wonderful to see Stephen Newell and Sam Wright among the names in the Belfast Telegraph achieving their Level 2 Diploma and National Award respectively in Horticulture from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise. The Minister of Agriculture, Michelle O'Neill, made the presentations at the Greenmount Campus.

Matthew's Movie

Thanks a million to Matthew Denvir for our copy of his award winning film. Shimna has a pretty impressive back catalogue now of famous film makers, and Matthew is up with the best.