Prize
Night in Ballyclare High School
2005
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Headmaster's Report Mr Chairman, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys of the school, it gives me great pleasure to welcome to our School this evening the President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University, Belfast, Professor Gregson and Mrs Gregson. I thank you both for giving up the time to be with us on this important occasion for the School, when we celebrate the endeavours and achievements of our pupils during the past year. I feel sure that your visit this evening will help to further consolidate an already very close relationship between this School and Queen’s University. May I also welcome the Mayor of Newtownabbey Alderman De Courcey and the Lady Mayoress, Mrs De Courcey to our Prize Distribution this evening. The demand for places in this School remained high last year and once more the Department of Education was asked to allow a temporary increase to our enrolment numbers to allow all those pupils who met the School’s criteria for admission to Sixth Form to return to School to resume their studies. There were a number of changes to staffing at the end of the School year, which included the retirement of Mrs Heather Watson who taught Chemistry, Mr Les Reid, who taught English and Media Studies and Mr Tony Thomlinson, Head of Physics. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome to the School for this current year Mrs Emma Hanna to teach Drama and English, Miss Caroline McCready to teach German, Mr Gareth Shaw to teach Geography, Mrs Laureen Todd to teach Media Studies, Mr Paul Wilson to teach Science and Mrs Kirstie Wilson to teach Mathematics. It also gives me great pleasure to welcome our language assistants this year Mademoiselle Aude Le Bourhis, Fraulein Gesa Quast and Senorita Cristina Polanco. Mr Richard Wallace, one of our Vice Principals, returned to School after a two year secondment with the ICT Strategy Group and I would like to express my appreciation to him for his work during the year in taking forward the School’s ICT strategy. I would also like to express my appreciation to our other Vice Principals, Miss Stewart who is responsible for Pastoral Care and Mr Hollinger for Administration for their support in ensuring the smooth running of the School over the past year. Indeed the staff as a whole must be thanked for the professional and cheerful way in which they discharge their responsibilities. I thank also the administrative and support staff of the school for their efforts over the past year. A more detailed, but also more light-hearted account of the past year may be found in our School Magazine and on our Web Site, which is currently being up-dated. Details of the School’s examination results will be published later in the term in the Board of Governors’ Annual Report to Parents and in the School prospectus. This evening this report will highlight just briefly a few important examination statistics. Our A level results were even higher than last year with 71% of the grades achieved being A or B and 92 % being A to C. In all 83% of our pupils achieved 3 grades A to C and 26 pupils gained 3 grade As or higher. At GCSE 91 % of our pupils gained 7 or more passes at grades A to C and 95% had 5 or more passes. Altogether, 33 pupils had 8 or more grades A* or A. There were some top performances in individual subjects. In A-level Art Claire Abraham and Christine Leathem were both placed within the Top Ten candidates in the United Kingdom with the Edexcel Examinations Board, as were Matthew McComb and Stephen Black in A-level ICT and Linda Duddy and Hayley McWhirter in ICT at at AS level. In GCSE German Joanna McCunn scored one of the top 5 marks in the United Kingdom with the AQA Examinations Board. These were excellent performances for which all these pupils and their teachers deserve much credit. Elizabeth Johnston and Lindsay McMorran were both accepted by Cambridge University to study Natural Science, while Iain Sedgwick was accepted by Oxford University to study Engineering. Congratulations must also go to those past pupils who distinguished themselves during the past year through their results. Details are to be found in the list of graduates in your Programme this evening, but in particular I would like to mention Matthew Gray who graduated with a 1st class honours degree and was awarded the Fitzgerald prize for English, having gained first place at Exeter College, Oxford University. Matthew was also 3rd in English in the University overall. I am also pleased to see some pupils here who will soon be taking up their places at university. I wish you well in your future studies, whether here in Northern Ireland or further afield. Two of our teachers were also recognised for their achievements during the past year: Mr Trevor Martin reached the Northern Ireland final of the Teacher of the Year Award, where he was presented with a certificate of distinction at a ceremony to celebrate excellence attended by the Mr Gerry McGinn, Permanent Secretary from the Department of Education and Lord Puttnam. Mr James Maxwell was selected for the German Teacher Award from a large number of nominations of teachers throughout the United Kingdom. A number of school trips were organised during the year. Our links were maintained with our twin schools in Dorsten and Colmar. In September a party of our pupils travelled to Dorsten, where they were received with customary hospitality by their hosts from Gymnasium Petrinium. November saw the arrival of a group of pupils from Lycee Camille Se in Colmar for what proved to be an extremely successful visit. An additional exchange with College Anatole, Bailly in Orleans was organised in December last year. In June our Year 8 trip was to Paris, where pupils experienced first hand the rich culture and history of that city. The annual ski trip in April was to Austria. Year 13 pupils returned from their annual trip to Romania with some quite serious reflections. One girl wrote, ‘This experience is something that will remain with me as one of the most rewarding and influential things to have happened in my life’. A similar response was prompted when David Boyd, David Knape, Amy Hilditch and Hannah McCarley joined with 3 pupils from the Shetland Islands in July to visit South Africa as our representatives on the Global Classroom Partnership Conference, entitled Sharing Pasts, Shaping Futures, where they met students from other parts of Europe and South Africa. One of our pupils wrote ‘I have made some of the most important connections of my life and I love the fact that I am now connected to a whole world of possibilities’. Jack
Logue and Stuart Marks also found a world of possibilities in Berlin when
they travelled there in October last year with Mr Hollinger and 26 other
pupils from around the United Kingdom to a youth conference on climate
change, at which they gave a presentation. They had also the privilege
of meeting Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip as well as the Chancellor
of Germany, and the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. Swimmers Laura Heaton and Wilson Logan travelled to Tenerife in September 2004 as members of an Ulster Schools’ squad for a week of intensive training; our 1st X1 hockey squad travelled to Cork; Our sixth form art students visited galleries and museums in Dublin; and a number of our music students travelled to North Italy with the North Eastern Education and Library Board’s music service to play at selected venues. This large number of trips and exchanges places enormous pressure on our resources, but we are convinced of their value and we are often persuaded by our pupils when they return that such opportunities leave deep and lasting, impressions. A remarkable and pleasing achievement last year was the success of some of our year 14 girls in the Northern Ireland Post-16 French Debating Competition sponsored by Alliance Francaise and involving 11 grammar schools competing throughout the year. The team, consisting of Rosy Marshall, Joanne Martin, Aisling Gillespie and Sarah Coburn, prevailed over Methodist College, Belfast in the final of the competition and Aisling Gillespie was awarded the prize for best speaker. The school debating society also enjoyed some success when Adam Finlay and Lynsey McAllister reached the semi-final of the Northern Bank debating competition and Adam won the Peter McLaughlin prize For Best Seminar Speaker, while the school won the prize for best contribution to the competition. In the Soroptimists Public Speaking Competition Emma Wilson was awarded a second place and Emma Porter received a commendation. In
April we became the first school in Northern Ireland to host the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts Shakespeare Certificate Examinations. Eighteen
pupils from the senior school gained their bronze certificates and they
will now progress to the silver award. Gold certificates were achieved in the Year 9 Maths Competition by Suzanne Bell, Frances Downey, Lucy Finlay, Emma Fleming and Lauren Mawhinney. Emma Flemming was invited to take part in the Junior Maths Olympiad. Year 11 pupils Thomas Baird, James Bell and Matthew Luney received gold medals at Intermediate level. Our Opera, last year ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ had a large, enthusiastic cast with outstanding performances by Rachael Haugh, Rachel Hamilton and Stuart Marks. Our annual Carol Services attracted large audiences The Spring concert brought together our senior, junior and chamber choirs with the wind band, orchestra and various ensembles and soloists to produce a varied and enjoyable programme. Particular praise must be given to Lauren Owens, leader of the orchestra, who attained grade 8 in examinations in piano, flute, violin and singing. The School continues to support
a wide range of charities based locally, nationally and internationally.
Individual year groups, organisations or departments raise funds to support
their chosen charities and the Tsunami disaster prompted a number of groups
to raise funds for victims in Sri Lanka. During
the past year the School ran a wide and varied sports programme and enjoyed
a pleasing level of success across a wide range of sports. Perhaps the
most remarkable discovery was the wealth of talent among our junior runners,
particularly among the girls. Jennifer McBrien had an impressive season
finishing second in the Stormont International Cross Country Championships
in January and winning the District Championships. Jennifer was also selected
for the Under 15 Ulster and Irish teams. Joanna Mills, having won the
District championships in Cross Country, went on to become the Ulster
Minor Champion and she was well supported by the Minor Girls’ Team, who
went on to win the District and Ulster Championships. The Senior Boys’
team was placed second in Ulster. Our Rugby season was overshadowed by a serious injury to Andrew Kelly in a Medallion Shield match against Rainey Endowed School. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute this evening to the courage, patience and determination shown by Andrew and his family during the months of his recovery in hospital. Through his resilience and fortitude Andrew was a great example to us all and I am sure that I speak for the whole school when I say that we were delighted at the beginning of September when Andrew was able to come back to School to resume his studies. We wish him well in the future. The 1st XV had an excellent win against Rainey Endowed School this year in the second round of the Schools’ Cup and despite a spirited performance against Wallace High School in the next round, away from home, they were narrowly defeated. However, there was consolation in the Plate Competition where they reached the final at Ravenhill against Belfast Royal Academy the eventual winners. Robert Logan was selected to tour South Africa with an Ulster Schools’ development squad. James Jackson was also selected to train with the Ulster Under 19 squad, while last year’s captain Adrian Saunderson was capped twice for the Irish Under 19 team and has been selected for the squad for the Under 19 World Cup in South Africa. Together with past pupil Jamie McGrugan, Adrian was also selected for the Ulster Under 21 team against Munster. Eleven girls’ hockey teams
were fielded during the past year. The 1st X1 narrowly missed out on a
place in the semi-final of the Schools’ Cup, but representative Honours
were gained at Ulster Under 16 level by Linzi Pollock and Rebecca Smyth.
Sharon Graham and Amy McConnell were also selected to play for the Ulster
Under 16 B team. Our swimmers continued to achieve
remarkable success with Wilson Logan gaining 5 gold medals in the Ulster
Schools Championships, and a place on the Ulster Under 17 swimming team.
Laura Heaton, having gained two bronze medals at the Ulster Schools’ swimming
gala, was selected to represent Ulster at Under 15 level, while Gavin
Williamson qualified for the Irish Schools’ Championships in Limerick,
where he achieved two personal bests. Our 1st X1 Cricket Team, having won the first round of the Schools’ Cup against Bangor Grammar School, were unfortunate to lose the next round by just three runs to Ballymena Academy. However, our season’s cricketing heroes were the members of the Under 12 X1 who won the Wesley Ferris Cup for the first time in the School’s history, defeating Grosvenor Grammar School in the final. A pleasing number of players gained representative honours. Andrew Cowden and John Busby were both chosen for Ulster and Irish Schools Under 19 teams, while James Jackson played for the Ireland Under 17 team and Robert Smyth represented Ulster and Ireland at Under 15 level. Jonathan Montgomery represented Northern Ireland at Under 18 level at soccer, while Lucy Simpson gained representative Honours for Ulster in golf at Under 19 level and Rachel Stronge at Under 15 level. Shirley Harvey who was selected for the Ulster Senior team also gained a scholarship at the University of Alabama. In Boys’ Badminton there was pleasing success at Under 16 level when our boys won the Ulster Schools’ Cup and came runners-up at Under 14 level. Our Girls’ Badminton teams also had quite a successful season, the Junior and Minor girls making it to the semi-finals of their competitions, while the Year 8 girls progressed to the final of the Ulster Schools’ Cup, where they lost on points. In Table Tennis the Senior Girls’ team won the Ulster Cup, beating Ballymena Academy in the final. The Intermediate Girls were runners-up to the same school in their final and the Minor Girls were runners-up in the Ulster Schools’ League. Emma Wilson was selected for the Ulster Inter-Provincial Under 21 team and Ashley McBride for the Under 17 team. My thanks for the support for our clubs, societies and departments from the Parent Teachers’ Association. Their work in raising funds and in helping at School events is an important contribution from which parents, pupils and teachers all benefit. The support of the Old Ballyclarians is also greatly appreciated. The development work of the School continued last year as we prepare for the implementation of the new curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. A number of curriculum initiatives encouraged collaboration between departments and better enabled pupils to see connections between their subjects. Some of these initiatives took learning outside the classroom. A new development plan for the School has also been launched. This has been summarised in two core aims. The first is to promote positive discipline and enable pupils to take responsibility for their own learning. This will have quite challenging implications for teaching and learning strategies in the future, as well as for classroom organisation and management. The second aim is to develop and implement new proposals for the curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 and to develop core skills and capabilities (communication, numeracy and ICT) across the curriculum. During the past year pupils and staff have been encouraged to think globally and act locally as we aim to develop awareness of sustainability and citizenship and global issues. Pupils and staff have been encouraged to contribute to our recycling programme and it is pleasing to note the positive, collective response to this initiative Over the past year Ballyclare High School has become involved in an exciting and innovative international partnership called the Global Classroom. Six schools from across the globe, in places as diverse the Shetland Islands, Germany South Africa and Sweden have united to discuss various themes and projects which are underpinned by the notion of a learning community. We are delighted that our pupils have now taken part in shared video-conferencing lessons with our partner schools. Pupils
who entered a competition to make their own film as part of a scheme run
by First Light, the UK Film Council’s Young Persons’ Initiative won funding
and professional guidance to make a film on stem cell research, which
will be screened at W5 in the Odyssey Centre along with 5 other films
from across the UK. This was a remarkable achievement that gave pupils
an opportunity to explore ethical issues related to science in a creative
way. But sadly we are all aware
that the future is uncertain for grammar schools in Northern Ireland.
With the 11 plus examination due to be phased out in 2008 we are told
that although grammar schools will remain, they will be unable to select
those pupils best fitted to match the ethos of their schools or best fitted
to make use of the opportunities that are offered. ‘Informed parental
choice’, we are told, is to become the basis for transfer from primary
to post-primary schools. Yet in 2002 the Department of Education’s Household
survey found that 64% of those who responded backed some form of academic
selection. A recent Mori poll conducted for the Belfast Telegraph found
that almost 60% of people in Northern Ireland want some form of test or
assessment to be used in the selection of pupils for grammar schools.
The policy-makers have not been inclined to listen. It seems clear, however,
that the Public does not wish to see children being misplaced in schools
that are unable to serve their needs, nor does the public wish to see
its grammar schools transformed into all ability comprehensive schools.
Chairman my report this evening on the achievements of the pupils at this school over the past year shows how much has been achieved in one year in a busy Northern Ireland grammar school, a state school. But it also illustrates just how much is at stake for parents and pupils in the future as the policy makers press ahead with their determination to change utterly the face of education in Northern Ireland. It is my hope (and I believe it is also the hope of many, many parents, teachers, past pupils and pupils) that it is still not too late to prevent the intake of our grammar schools being diluted. There is still time, but there needs to be urgent and serious engagement with the issue at the highest level. Indeed, we must all ensure that the debate continues until the issue is sensibly resolved in a way that represents the opinion of such a sizable proportion of people expressed in two separate surveys. Chairman with those few thoughts on the future, I present to you this my sixth Annual Report on the past year. |