The Academy Newsletter Belfast Royal Academy June 2012
Headmaster’s Notes The school year follows a familiar pattern. The punctuation marks – Prize Day, the Carol Service, the Spring Concert and so on – remain the same, but each year has a character of its own, defined by memorable moments and the achievements of individuals who have striven for success. In the face of unprecedented budget cuts, we have sought to increase rather than diminish the opportunities available to our pupils this year. This academic year had an auspicious start. A record number of pupils applied to enter our Form I, and while that talented generation settled into their new surroundings, those ahead of them reached milestones of their own. It was a pleasure to welcome Professor Ian White as our Guest of Honour on Prize Day. He is the first former pupil to be elected Master of a Cambridge College – Jesus College, where he had been an undergraduate in the 1970s. And on that day it was pleasing also to celebrate the aca-
demic achievements of our pupils. The pursuit of high academic standards is at the heart of our endeavours. Our aim is to enable all of our pupils to fulfil their potential, whatever their level of ability – and, as one of the largest schools in the province, we cater for a range of abilities. However, we are fortunate to have a strong cohort of pupils whose academic aptitude is outstanding and who are on a par with the very best in these islands. Once again their hard work, allied to excellent teaching, led to very pleasing success in the public examinations in the summer. At GCSE, two pupils, Connor Brogan and Matthew Smith, achieved 11 A*s, and 74 pupils achieved A* or A in 7 or more subjects – an improvement upon a statistic with which we were pleased last year. At a time when the Department of Education has asked schools to focus on Literacy and Numeracy, it is worth noting that 68% of our pupils achieved an A or A* in Mathematics, and 79% of those who sat English Literature achieved an A or A*.
Olympic Torch Relay
A pleasing number of pupils scored full marks: in English Literature – Callum Browne, Antonia Campbell, Suzanne Currie, Stephen Doyle, Bethany Queripel, Matthew Smith, Ryan Spence, and Stefan Tucker; in Art and Design – Ben O‟Donnell; in Mathematics – Tom Hanna; in French – Luke Taylor; in German – Luke Taylor and Matthew Smith; in Spanish – Ben McConnell, Hannah McKinstry and Ryan Spence; in Latin – Antonia Campbell. Stephen Doyle was ranked 1st in Northern Ireland in GCSE Music, Luke Taylor was joint 1st in French, Tom Hanna was joint 2nd in Additional Mathematics, and Paul Rodgers was joint 3rd in Additional Mathematics. At AS level, 33 pupils gained three or more grade A passes, and Aleksy Gaj scored full marks in Mathematics. At Advanced Level the results were perhaps the best that we have ever had, with 73% of pupils achieving 3 passes at A, B or C grades; indeed, 85% of all the examinations sat were
passed at those grades. Hannah Stewart was one of the few pupils in the province to achieve 5 A* grades; she was also joint 3rd in Northern Ireland in Advanced Level Biology. Alisha Gergett achieved 4 A*s and 1A, and she has accepted a place at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to read Natural Sciences. I am pleased to note that in the last three years our pupils have achieved the top place in the Province (CCEA) at GCSE or Advanced Level in Music, French, Business Studies, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, English Literature and Chemistry: twice, in the case of French, Chemistry and Business Studies. Not only the number of top students, but also the range of subjects included in the list, is very gratifying. Following interviews in Paris, Anna McShane and Neil Fulton won conditional offers to study French at the prestigious University of London Institute in Paris. They hope to join Rebecca Anderson from last year‟s MVI, (Continued on page 2)