Daisy Thomas from Abbeyleix has been crowned Microsoft Specialist Word 2016 Champion of UK and Ireland.
Daisy is a Transition Year student in Heywood Community School. As part of the TY Programme in the school, all students under the expert guidance of the IT teacher Mr Donal O’Callaghan prepare for and complete the Microsoft Office Specialist Exam.
Daisy’s performance in this exam qualified her to compete in the Irish and UK final which was held online last Thursday.
Daisy who is only 16 years old achieved a score of 100% in the final, a score which none of the other competitors (many of whom are at university) could match on the day.
For her efforts Daisy has won a trip of a lifetime to represent the UK and Ireland at the MOS World Championships in Florida, USA in August 2021.
Deputy Principal at Heywood Community School Mr Peter Malone said that everyone in the school are delighted with Daisy’s success but are not surprised as Daisy is an extremely talented student.
“It is a huge achievement to win a competition in which there were approximately 30,000 initial entrants.
“I’d like to acknowledge the immense contribution of Donal O’Callaghan who is the IT Co-ordinator at Heywood.
“Over the last number of years Donal has developed IT in the school to a very high level and this was particularly evident and beneficial to students and teachers during the recent school closure when all teaching and learning went online.”
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