Addressing a crowd including parents, staff, governors and pupils, Dr Liam O Cuinneagain heaped praise on those who had delivered "outstanding" exam results and sporting performances over the past twelve months.
Speaking at the school's annual prize-giving ceremony on Friday evening he said: "2007-2008 was a landmark year for the school in many respects.
"Firstly in December 2007 the school retained the much-coveted status of Investors in People, which we were first awarded on the first attempt in June 2004.
"That the school remains an Investor in People is testimony to the significant gains we have made together as a school community in recent years.
"The year was also marked in particular by our great success in the Global Rock Dance-Drama Competition, with over ninety pupils involved in the production.
"In scenes of unforgettable and unbridled joy on an April night, the school won the final of the competition in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast.
"As champions, we had the distinction of representing Northern Ireland in the UK regional finals in May 2008 in Grimsby, where we produced another superb award-winning performance.
"In an associated achievement, the school succeeded, with considerable help from parents, past-pupils and local businesses, in raising £12,000 to send the pupils to the Global Rock Challenge in Grimsby.
"Yet the pupils did not neglect their strong record of raising funds for the needy in the world.
"For example, significant monies were raised for Trocaire, St Vincent de Paul, and, in a new venture, for the Bare Feet Charity. In addition, almost 200 boxes were contributed to the Shoe Box Appeal.
"We enjoyed further enhanced links with our feeder primary schools last year, undertaking projects in art and dance, including a performance with the famous STOMP company, with KS2 children from Ballymoney, Corkey and Rasharkin Primary Schools.
"In our broad, extra-cirricular sports programme for the year, our pupils competed at U12, U15 and U16 levels in hurling.
"The U16 hurlers reached the semi-final of the Ulster Vocational Schools 'A' Championship and lost to St Patrick's HS Dungiven.
"Nevertheless they succeeded in winning the Antrim Vocational Schools Championship, defeating St Aloysius HS in the final.
"The U14 hurlers participated in the Ulster Vocational Schools 'A' Hurling Blitz and they also reached their final of the Championship, only to be defeated by a point with the last poc of the game.
"In soccer, our Learning Resource Centre team acquitted themselves well again in the NEELB Regional Finals of the IFA 7-a-side football competition.
"In netball, pupils participated at minor, junior and intermediate levels in the Coleraine and District Schools 'B' League.
"All three netball teams were runners-up and gained promotion to the 'A' league for 2008-09.
"We had four teams competing at the annual Scoltacha Aontroma Inter-School Sports at the Antrim Forum again last year.
"Twenty five pupils represented the school and they brought home a haul of fourteen medals, five gold, four silver and five bronze.
"They Year 12 boys enjoyed coaching in rugby over a six-week period courtesy of Ballymoney Rugby Club and also in the second term the Year 11 and 12 GCSE PE pupils undertook Orienteering in Woodhall Residential Centre, Kilrea.
"In February last year, we had fifteen pupils nominated in hurling and camogie for the North East Future Champions Sports Academy.
"In addition, six Year 12 boys were sent forward to the GAA All-Star trials and of the six three went on last year to distinguish themselves in different sports at either country, national or international level; Joseph Smyth was awarded a Co Antrim GAA All-Star in Gaelic "Football, Michael Smith was capped for Northern Ireland in international soccer and Gerard Quinn was crowned All-Ireland amateur boxing champion in the National Stadium, Dublin.
"Turning to the academic standards attained by the pupils in 2007-08, it was a year of outstanding GCSE results achieved by a cohort of pupils who were excellent from their first day in Year 8.
"All of our Year 12 pupils who finished last June were entered for five GCSEs or more and all of them achieved five or more at grades A* to G.
"In addition 96% of the cohort gained five GCSEs or more at grades A* to E.
"To put these GCSE results in the school last year into a wider context, the standards achieved by our Year 12 pupils at both A* to G and A* to E further strengthen the position of Our Lady of Lourdes School in the top 5% of similar-type schools in Northern Ireland.
"Furthermore, 76% of the pupils achieved five GCES or more at grades A*-C.
"In doing so, the produced results at these grades which smashed all previous such records in the school and places this school's attainment at grades A* to C in 2007-08 at more than 25% above the Northern Ireland norm and in the top 5% of similar-type schools in Northern Ireland.
"Finally the outstanding overall performance of our pupils at GCSE last year is also evident in the large volume of A*, A and B grades attained by the pupils and typified by the results of top-achieving boy Terry O'Boyle (three A*s, two As and five Bs) and top-achieving girl Ciara McNeill (one A*, five As, three Bs and one C).
"On counting up all the GCSE grades achieved by this cohort of pupils, the school achieved the Weighted Qualifications Index of forty seven points per pupil - in other words, our Year 12 pupils attained on average the equivalent of five A*s and one A each at GCSE last year.
"Finally, the performance of the school in the top 5% of similar-type schools in Northern Ireland in 2007-08 was not confined to GCSE alone, in another critical aspect of school effectiveness, our whole school pupil attendance reached the lofty height of 94% for the second consecutive school year."
Dr O Cuinneagain thanked parents, governors, staff, officers of the CCMS and NEELB, and the pupils themselves.
He concluded: "As a parting word in this era becoming famous, or infamous, for the undue over-emphasis on an educational agenda driven by market economy criteria such as numbers of courses, numbers of pupils and the cheapest cost, it is a matter of deep importance to us in Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ballymoney that we continue to focus firmly on proclaiming our Mission - the holistic development of our young people within a caring, values-based faith community to enable them to bring dignity and light to the world.
"This morning, we renew our commitment to serve the families and the pupils of our local parishes and beyond and to continue to provide for them a quality Catholic education and an unequivocal emphasis on core values and high standards."