CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2026

Spirit of Catholic Education Award 2026

Thirty-One Schools in Northern Ireland receive the prestigious Spirit of Catholic Education Award

The Down and Connor Schools’ Support Service marked Catholic Schools Week with its annual presentation of the Spirt of Catholic Education Awards. On Wednesday 21 January 2026, as part of the Catholic Schools’ Week celebrations, thirty-one schools from nursery, primary and post-primary schools in the diocese of Down and Connor gathered in St Mary’s University College, to receive their award from His Lordship, Bishop Alan McGuckian.

This year the schools received their award in recognition of their commitment, dedication and lived Christian witness to developing and nurturing the spiritual and prayer life of their school community. This focus is linked to the Jubilee Year of Hope and the invitation to “fan the flame of faith”.

The schools presented with the Spirit of Catholic Education Award engaged in a whole school self-reflection process, using the Catholic Ethos and Values – A Framework for Self-Reflection document, on how they intentionally provided spiritual opportunities for prayer that in turn inspired acts of faith, love and service that are connected to the word of God, the message of Christ, the power and influence of the Holy Spirit and Catholic Social Teaching.

The Catholic Schools’ Support Service received an exceptionally large number of high-quality applications. The adjudication panel were inspired and most encouraged by the impressive work that is alive in our schools which are not just centres of educational excellence and opportunity for pupils, but are also places which are alive with lived gospel values. Our schools are communities of faith and places of inspiration, love and service in which the whole school community walks in accompaniment with one another, bearing witness to the hope that is at the heart of the Christian message.

What was of particular note, was the way in which each of the schools created space for prayer, worship and sacramental devotion that was pupil led, inclusive, respectful of other faiths, connected to the wider curriculum and integrated fully into the ethos and values of the Catholic school. The variety of prayerful moments was uplifting, imaginative and creative. These included age-related silent meditation, camino walks, praying through crafting, planned intergenerational services of worship, using Makaton, signing and singing. In the words of St Augustine: “When you sing, you pray twice”. Also, many of the schools who received the Award created Sacred Spaces in their grounds that serve the school community, the parish and the local community. This initiative, supported by the Catholic Schools’ Support Service, has become an outreach for wider encounters with Christ and faith development and it also provides a unifying reminder of our shared Catholic identity as well as creating opportunities for sharing faith and practice with other faith communities.

In his address to the schools that were recipients of the Spirit Of Catholic Education Award, Rev Father Colin Grant, Director of the Catholic Schools’ Support Service said: “It is you, our children and young people, supported by family, school and parish that the “Good News” of the gospel is fully alive in your hearts, your heads and hands. Through prayer and action you embrace the common good and bring the love of God into real life”.

In his blessing upon all attending the award ceremony Bishop Alan said:

“Our love of Christ should radiate from us – make others curious and want to share in our joy. We must share the joy of the Gospel. Let us, priests, deacons, people and Bishop together make the love of Christ known to all.”

This echoes the words of Pope Leo in an address to young people in June 2025:

“As you gather today in this great celebration, I want to both express my gratitude to you and also to give you encouragement as you continue to build up community, friendship, as brothers and sisters in your daily lives, in your families, in your schools, parishes and communities. I invite each one of you to look into your own hearts, to recognise that God is present and that, perhaps in many different ways, God is reaching out to you, calling you, inviting you to know his Son Jesus Christ, through the Scriptures, perhaps through a friend or a relative … a grandparent, who might be a person of faith. To discover how important it is for each one of us to pay attention to the presence of God in our own hearts, so that we may be able to do something with our own lives to serve others”.

The Diocese of Down and Connor and the Catholic Schools’ Support Service congratulates each award-winning school. These schools are representative of and showcase how teachers and pupils across the diocese embed an ongoing commitment to living out the Spirit of Catholic Education and respond to Christ’s invitation for normal lives, called to holiness.

The Spirit of Catholic Education Award 2026

Award-winning Schools

St Teresa’s Nursery School, Belfast

Grange Primary School, Kilkeel

St Finian’s Primary School, Newtownards

St Teresa’s Primary School, Belfast

Moneynick Primary School, Randalstown

St Patrick’s Primary School, Ballygalget, Portaferry

St Patrick’s Primary School, Legamaddy

St Brigid’s Primary School, Downpatrick

St Louis Grammar School, Ballymena

Dominican College Fortwilliam