As the end of term rapidly approaches, we wanted to make sure that Mrs Gourley got the send off she truly deserves as she prepares to retire after 21 years as the principal of Victoria Park, We held a special assembly on Thursday morning and we were delighted to be joined by Stephen Warke, Chair of the Board of Governors, and Anca Matei, the Chair of the PTA, along with other special guests. Anca presented Mrs Gourley with flowers and a gift on behalf of the school's parents, past and present. A big thank you to all the parents who contributed so generously. A special retirement dinner was also held at The Stables, Groomsport, that evening attended by staff and other invited guests including former colleagues and governors and current board members.

Mr Warke's statement on behalf of the Board of Governors:

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝟯𝟲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗦, 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹. 𝗜𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟱, 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗚𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗦 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗚𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗿, 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 “𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂” 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼!!

𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗚𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.