Academy Newsletter 2017

The Academy Newsletter Belfast Royal Academy June 2017

“Heroes all”

ACADEMY HOCKEY TRIUMPHS Prior Shield

U14 South Antrim League

1st XI South Antrim League

U14 Ulster Shield

1st XI Belfast League

U13 South Antrim League

2 The Academy Newsletter 2017

Hockey Success

The 1st XI Boys’ Hockey team played in the Final of the Prior Shield against Friends’ School in December 2016 at Lisnagarvey HC. The match, played in front of a large crowd, but in adverse weather conditions, went as predicted in the first half, with Friends’ dominating the play and creating some very good chances but failing to take them. The defence played very well and goalkeeper Seweryn Szulgan made several excellent saves, in particular from short corners. The game-plan had always been to ensure we were in contention at half time, so we went in at 0-0 feeling we had survived an onslaught, but were positive they had played their best and not scored. We had the psychological edge.

The second half continued to be a test of our defensive mettle, with few chances for us to score, and the game ended 0-0.

Following no score in extra-time, the Shield would be settled by penalty strokes.

The penalty strokes brought about a display of great composure, determination, skill and bravery, to win in sudden-death after stunning saves by goalkeeper Seweryn Szulgan. Captain Jason Roe lifted the Shield and it truly was an incredible achievement to win the Final in such a dramatic way.

K. Lunn

This year the Girls’ Hockey Club completed arguably their best ever season, with 4 league titles and an Ulster Shield. We also had representative honours at Irish level. Niamh McIvor and Harriet Dougan were selected for the Irish U16 squad.

Our 1st XI captain, Erin Getty, was selected for the Ireland Senior squad and received her first cap against Germany in Dusseldorf, an exceptional achievement from an exceptional girl. The 1st XI squad won both their South Antrim and Belfast Schools’ leagues, the latter being a league for 1st XI teams only. The girls had an unique opportunity when they were invited to play before the annual Oxbridge Varsity match in London. It is traditional for the schools attended by the captains of the two Varsity teams to play each other, and this year the Cambridge captain was former pupil Faye Kidd. We played Reed’s Independent School of Surrey; the girls did our school and Ulster Hockey proud, winning 3-2 in a most memorable match.

Not to be outdone by their Senior compatriots, the Junior squads continued the winning trend by clinching the U14 South Antrim League - winning all of their matches on the way - and also reaching the Final of the Ulster Shield, where they played Royal School, Dungannon winning 3-1 to lift the trophy. The U13 team capped this most successful of seasons by topping their South Antrim League.

N. Nicholl

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Headmaster’s Notes

land. The event was held in the National Library, Dublin. Conor went on to compete in the Final, one of 10 pupils out of an original entry of 16,000 to do so.

I have been a member of staff at Belfast Royal Academy since August 1980.

The time has passed quickly, and that is true of this, my last year at the School also. I believe that this is because the Academy is a dynamic, busy place, with events and activities succeeding each other week by week. Perhaps this is why it has been such a rewarding place to work.

Conor, along with his partner Jack Golden, also reached the Final of the Northern Ireland Schools’ Debating competition. In a closely contested event, held in Queen’s, they were defeated by a team from Bangor Grammar School.

This academic year began with a pleasing set of results in the public examinations. Despite an untimely outbreak of mumps among the MVI Form, of 512 examinations sat at Advanced level, only five were failed. 86% of the examinations were passed at the top grades A* - C, and 71% of pupils achieved at least three of those grades. Ryan Corry and Ryan Lightowler gained 4 A* grades, for which more than 90% in the A2 modules is required, while Callum Dalzell and Nicole Xu gained 3 A*s and 1 grade A. I congratulate Rhys McKendry, who was placed 1st in Advanced level Economics with the CCEA Board, and Juanita O’Kane, who was joint 1st in Art. Callum Dalzell secured a place at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, to read Engineering. Our pupils embarked upon their journey beyond school at 41 universities across Britain and Ireland.

Our GCSE results equalled our best ever: 98% of pupils achieved 5 or more grades A* - C, and 95% attained 7 or more passes at those grades. Laura Loboda has achieved 11 A*s and 1 A, Alice Reid and Jasmine Ross gained 11 passes at A*. 19 pupils gained 11 passes or more at A* or A, and a further 14 achieved 10 passes at those top grades. Shane Martin was ranked 1st in CCEA Physical Education at GCSE, Aidan Murray was Joint 1st in Single Award Science, and Anna McClurg was joint 1st in Art and Design, having scored full marks.

Juanita O’Kane, Kieran McKenna, Anna McClurg, Molly McShane and Beth Murphy Morrison had work exhibited at the North Belfast Area Learning Community Art Showcase at Ulster University in September. Their success, along with the first placed candidates in the public examinations and the quality of work being assembled for the annual Art Exhibition as I write, indicates the strength of Art and Design in school at the moment.

In September, the Education Minister, Mr Peter Weir, visited school to open officially the new facilities provided through the School Enhancement Project.

How quickly we forget what it was like to have builders on our site! This year we have thoroughly enjoyed the new dining facilities in the Jackson Suite, the new Music building, the Learning Support Suite, the Heritage Room, the reconfigured Mary Hyndman Building for Home Economics and the new Business Studies classrooms.

Our pupils are already using the new Fitness and Conditioning Centre, and our new facilities at the Roughfort pavilion will make Saturday mornings a little more comfortable for those who support our teams in the micro-climate of Mallusk. Thanks to the support of parents, who voted in favour of the project, and the One Family organisation which funded it, a new kitchen has been created, with a large serving hatch to cater for parents, pupils and visitors who attend fixtures at our grounds. For some time, parents have laboured heroically to provide hot food and confectionary outside, but they will now be able to prepare food in relative comfort. The second part of the project - the installation of two retractable awnings at the top of the steps - will provide spectators with some protection from the rain which is such a feature of the ‘Roughfort experience.’ We are assured that safety features will retract the awnings in high winds...

It is, I think, true to say that our facilities are better than ever before, and provide an excellent environment for study and recreation for our pupils.

Once again, pupils have been involved in a wide range of activities in school.

Members of the Junior Book Club enjoyed a Big, Bumper, B.R.A. Book Quiz, devised by Miss McAtamney, on World Book day. Daniel McIlroy managed to win three of the prizes on offer. On the same day a Literary Treasure Hunt took place, in which pupils had to identify the source of quotations displayed around the school.

Gabriel Bador was placed 3rd in the Patrick Kavanagh Student Poetry Awards 2016. Conor Callaghan and Rian Millar reached the Semi-Final of Poetry Aloud, the annual poetry-speaking competition open to pupils throughout Ire-

Jayne Bassett, Daniel Quigley and Conor Foster took part in the annual Spanish Debate, organised by NICILT at Queen’s University. Mary Cousins and Natasha Kelly were interviewed by Antoine Ginioux, a journalist from Radio France, and Philippe Bernard, UK and Ireland correspondent from Le Monde newspaper, about their opinions on future relations between Northern Ireland, the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Europe following the ‘Brexit’ vote.

Three Sixth Formers who competed in the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad were placed 6th in Ireland in the group section of the competition, all receiving Commendation for their scores. Daniel Quigley was invited to join the Ireland Linguistics Olympiad team.

Pupils travelled to Edinburgh in March to take part in the Model United Nations Conference at George Watson’s College. Isaac Jarman was awarded Commended Delegate at the event.

Form I pupils enjoyed the Credit Union Quiz, and in January a team of middleschool pupils finished 2nd out of 15 entrants in the Top of the Bench competition, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The event took place in the David Keir Building, Queen’s University, and was intended to give pupils an insight into the study of Chemistry at university.

Not to be outdone, the Senior Maths team won the Northern Ireland section of the UK Maths Trust’s Senior Maths Challenge and travelled to London for the UK final. Two weeks later a slightly altered team won the annual Queen’s University Mathematics competition.

One of the two B.R.A. teams of Junior pupils who competed in the Belfast heat of STEMQUEST, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics event held at the Titanic Campus of Belfast MET, finished second in the competition and qualified for the Semi-Finals.

The Young Einstein Club made Thaumatropes, experimented with ‘invisible writing’, used chemicals to make ‘fizzy fun’ and held a ‘tower-building’ competition – one of several competitive House activities.

Experience of the world beyond the Cliftonville Road continues to play a significant role in the education of our pupils. Our Spanish Exchange with pupils from Pola del Siero in Asturias continues to thrive. This year saw the ninth exchange – our pupils travelling to Spain in September and their counterparts coming to us in October. Such is the popularity of the Exchange, some pupils take part several times and keep in touch with their Spanish friends long after they have left school.

A group of 29 Senior pupils travelled to Germany and Poland in November, exploring Berlin before travelling to Krakow and experiencing a moving and thought-provoking visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Later in the year, Laura Fleck and Jacob Brady took part in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme. As part of the programme they met holocaust survivors and visited the former concentration camp. Afterwards, they were asked to speak about their experiences at the Yom Ha Shoah memorial event at Belfast Castle. They also reflected at school assemblies on what they had seen and learnt.

As I write, this year’s group of more than 40 pupils and members of staff is making last-minute preparations for their trip to Malawi. Earlier in the year they had a residential weekend on the North Coast and all involved have sought ingenious ways to raise funds. One such was the sale of flags to pupils who travelled to support our team in the Schools’ Cup Semi-Final at the Kingspan Stadium. The sea of maroon and navy flags added much to the atmosphere on the day and raised £1480 for ‘Nancy’s Solar Light Bulb Project’ – enough to allow 300 pupils in Malawi with no electricity in their homes to study after dark by going to a central area in their village which has the solar light bulbs.

Our Politics pupils visited Stormont in April. As many of the MLAs were en(Continued on page 4)

4 The Academy Newsletter 2017 gaged in ‘crisis talks’, our pupils were allowed to take their seats in the chamber and to hold an impromptu debate on whether voting rights should be extended to 16 - 17 year-olds. In November, the Politics Society held a mock US Presidential Election, using Tutor Groups to facilitate the Electoral College system. Hillary Clinton won, although apparently Third Form boys favoured Donald Trump.

A group of 38 pupils from Belfast Royal Academy and St. Malachy’s College travelled to Geneva to visit the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The Scripture Union had weekends at Castlewellan Castle and Seaview House, Kilkeel, and sent a team of Senior pupils to Warsaw to work with other teenagers on projects to assist the underprivileged.

A large party of pupils of all ages travelled to Erwald in Austria for the annual ski trip, and enjoyed ‘good snow’. Rugby players preparing for the Schools’ Cup and the Medallion Shield spent a weekend training in Portrush, and the Boys’ Hockey Club had a similarly productive trip to Dublin.

A party of pupils from Forms I – III will shortly embark on the Classics Trip to Hadrian’s Wall.

In Mr Reilly’s absence, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in school continued its activities as usual, with more than 400 pupils involved at different levels in the course of the year. Expeditions camped and walked in the Mourne Mountains, canoed in Fermanagh or hiked in Scotland. A number of Gold Award participants spent 5 days away for their residential section - some at the Share Centre in Fermanagh, or in Glencoe repairing highland paths, or volunteering at the Dublin Horse Show, helping those with disabilities.

Fundraising for charity got off to a memorable start in September, when £3,200 was raised by our pupils for the NI Hospice, when we hosted an All for Onesie party involving pupils from schools across North Belfast. Just over £4,000 was raised for Save the Children through events such as BRA’s Got Talent, a staff Christmas Jumper Day, Bake-Off sales and a BBQ.

Scarlett Armstrong Winner of 6 Gold, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze medals at the Ulster Championships, has set several Ulster records and will represent Ireland at the European Youth Olympics in Hungary this summer

“ATID”

More than £1,100 was raised for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children through the Read-On event for Forms I and II pupils, eleven of whom had the opportunity to visit the Narnia respite home in Bryansford, Co. Down.

The Sponsored Walk raised £8,816, which was divided between Homeplus NI, our Malawi Project and Friends of the Cancer Centre (Belfast City Hospital).

Almost £3,000 was raised for a variety of charities through collections in Registration throughout the year. In addition, tray-bakes, and a range of other activities raised funds for worthy causes.

Ten Lower Sixth pupils joined boys from our partner school, De La Salle College, in the Habitat for Humanity Change Makers programme.

The year saw many occasions when former pupils had an opportunity to recall their time at the Academy and share their experiences with current pupils. The Shared Experience programme continues to thrive. Former pupils returning to the School this year included: Helen Watt (Senior Administrator for Social Work in Belfast), Dr James Flannagan (Scientist and graduate of Stanford University, California), Mark McCrory (local businessman and owner of the Dirty Duck gastropub in Holywood), Sam Butler (former editor of the Belfast Newsletter), Brenda McManus (partner in a law consultancy in Rome), Dr Andrew McAllister (RVH), Ian Campbell (Head of Rail operations at Translink), Dr Andrew Kerr (Minister of Knockbracken Presbyterian Church and Lecturer in Theology), a number of whom led seminars with Sixth Form pupils. Dinners were held in Belfast, London and Edinburgh, two Business Breakfasts were held in Ten Square, Claire McCollum was the Guest of Honour at Prize Day and a number of reunions and tours of the School were organised, including an event to celebrate the history of cricket in the School. A reunion of our 1997 Schools’ Cup winning rugby team, organised by Captain Michael Haslett, was held in school in March. These occasions seem to testify to the veracity of the pupils’ slogan – “ATID”.

The Old Girls’ Association assisted the School financially in a number of projects, including the placing of a large crest on the Darbyshire Building and the design and production of House flags. It also assisted the Old Boys’ Association and Mr Ken Knox with the purchase of the Samuel Laurence portrait of Sir Henry Pottinger (1840). The many forms of support and encouragement

A Level Drama Showcase “Cruel Kings and Mean Queens”

The Academy Newsletter 2017 5 provided by the wide community of Academy former pupils are greatly appreciated.

The list of Careers’ events in which our pupils participated during the year is too long to include in this report. Highlights included talks by former pupils Laura Farrington (Engineering), Hannah Cooper and Katy Stewart (Medicine interviews), Kim Mawhinney (Art world), Amy Matthews (Nursing) and James Flannagan (Science). Judith Gillespie and Patrick Anderson were among the speakers at the Area Learning Community Equality Symposium, involving pupils from schools across North Belfast, which was held in the Assembly Hall in March.

House Hockey Cairns won the Girls’ House Hockey tournament after a late winner against Pottinger

Our pupils continue to excel in the Arts. Our musicians enjoyed much success at the Ballymena Music Festival in March. Jonathan Hayward was 1st in the Double Bass solo U13 competition, Jason Poots and Anna Quinn won the Duet for Strings competition, Ellen Quinn also won the Cello Solo competition and the Chamber Choir won the Post Primary Choir competition. We were placed 2nd in four other classes. Ellen was asked to perform at the Beggs and Partners Young Instrumentalist Award event and she won the Bursary awarded to the most promising string player at the Festival. The success of our pupils in one of the year’s most prestigious music events was very pleasing and paved the way for an outstanding Spring Concert in the Ulster Hall. It was, as the invitation suggested, an “epic night”.

Kerry Uprichard was invited to play the harp at functions attended by Prince Edward and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Laura Browne and Aoife O’Hagan were cast as Mister Mistoffelees and Alonzo respectively in the production of Cats directed by Peter Corry in the SSE Arena in August.

The LVI Drama class attended A Day with Bruiser Theatre Company at The Mac in January. They greatly enjoyed the workshops.

Nia McVicker was a winner in the Young Filmmaker 2016 competition (12-15 age category). Her film, ‘The Birth of a Penny Board’, was selected for the shortlist of ten for the competition final, out of hundreds of entries from the UK and Ireland.

In February, we hosted a drama workshop commissioned by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland. Entitled ‘Chelsea’s Choice’, it was performed by the Alter Ego Theatre Company.

Former pupil Sarah Gordon performed her own play, ‘A Sinkhole in Guatemala’, at the Dublin Fringe and the Belfast Festival.

Our objective is to provide a wide variety of opportunities, through which pupils, whatever their interests, can gain confidence, make friends and fulfil their potential. For many, sport is very important. Our Girls’ Hockey 1st XI enjoyed another good season. Disappointed to lose by the narrowest of margins to Friends’ School, Lisburn in the Cup competition, they were defeated by Rainey Endowed School in the Final of the Shield competition. However, they were saving the best until last. In March they won the South Antrim League for the first time, before travelling to England to play in the Varsity Schools’ Cup match, in which the former school of the Captain of Cambridge University plays the former school of the Captain of Oxford University, prior to the Varsity Match itself. They warmed up with a 3-0 victory against Latymer Upper School before playing Reed’s School in the Varsity game. Cheered on by former pupil Faye Kidd, Captain of Cambridge University, we won the match 3 -2. It was a great game, and all enjoyed the ‘mini-tour’. The girls returned home buoyed with confidence and shortly afterwards defeated Methody to win the Belfast League for the second year in succession.

The U14 A XI also had an exciting end to the season. They beat Ballyclare High School 5-1 in the Quarter-Final of the Junior Shield, then defeated Ballymena Academy 3-0 in the Semi-Final. They travelled to Civil Service Hockey Club for the Final in March, where they defeated Royal School, Dungannon 30 to lift the trophy.

Hockey is thriving in school at all levels, and we are pleased to have access to the additional skills coaching which supportive parents have made possible. A number of girls were selected for representative squads at various levels.

Harriet Dougan and Niamh McIvor were selected for the Ulster U16 squad (Continued on page 11)

Waterpolo Sam Brown, Anna Whiteside and Cara Carson were selected for the Irish U17 Waterpolo team in the Junior European Championships

6 The Academy Newsletter 2017

Spring Concert Over 200 performers took to the stage of the Ulster Hall for Belfast Royal Academy’s Spring Concert on Wednesday 15th March. It was a wonderful success; full of variety, musical talent and a range of accomplished performances from many groups.

The Senior Orchestra’s spritely rendition of Montagues and Capulets gave a rousing start to the proceedings leading into Ben Madigan’s lively performance of songs from Oliver and Annie.

Over the course of the first half of the concert, the audience were treated to a feast of music from the Junior pupils to the more seasoned performers in Chamber Choir. Every group performed beyond the standard that I had expected and it was lovely to see the camaraderie and good humour on display between pupils.

The second half of the programme opened with Big Band and Clare Njanina getting the audience to clap along in Respect. The Junior Choir managed to sing in French and the Senior Traditional group played a lovely ethereal set complemented by some of our wonderful traditional dancers.

Boys’ Choir (or army) sang their little hearts out on stage and really did Miss Carson proud! Johnson Furusa played one of his own compositions for the MVI solo and his performance was of such a high standard that he received a standing ovation. The final piece was Vivaldi’s Gloria, which the Senior Strings and Senior Choir clearly enjoyed; it is a mark of the talent among the string players in B.R.A. that I was able to get pupils to accompany the Choir instead of having to hire in professionals! A fine conclusion to a highly enjoyable evening.

Thank you to all our instrumental teachers, teaching staff, pupils and parents for the dedication and continuous support which goes into making these concerts such a tremendous success.

M. McMullan

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8 The Academy Newsletter 2017

Art Arabic Programme

Now in its third year of educational development, Form III pupils expanded upon the Art and Design Arabic Project. Our aim this year was to further pupils’ knowledge of the Arabic language, alphabet and Arabic numeracy with Ashgan Essa our Arabic Language teacher. The pupils applied Islamic patterns inspired by their research through the internet, focusing on the David Collection, Copenhagen Museum, The Beatty Museum, Dublin, and British Museum artefacts collections.

Small teacher-led workshops allowed all Form III pupils to experiment with and create various samples based on their research into Arabic Culture and Islamic artwork. Each class had the opportunity to explore various mixed media e.g. printmaking, ceramics, felting, silk painting, weaving, foil embossing, Angelina fibres and Photoshop. The final group workshop outcomes were placed together to create five large wall panels representing the Five Pillars of Islam (Faith, Prayer, Charity, Fasting and Pilgrimage).

Our reason for selecting this theme was to connect the ideas to the Form III Religious Studies scheme of work. These panels will be displayed in the school Crush Hall on the architectural pillars leading into the annex area. We decided on this exhibition space because it already showcases the Form II Arabic panels titled Welcome, Respect, Collaboration and Diversity NVTV visited Belfast Royal Academy to interview the pupils and staff as well as film during one of the Arabic lessons. This was aired on Focal Point Community News to promote awareness of our Arabic Connected Learning Project throughout the community and give pupils positive recognition for their effort and involvement.

P. Kerr

Poetry Aloud

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Poetry Aloud is an annual poetry speaking competition open to all post post--primary students on the island of Ireland. It is organised by Poetry Ireland and the National Library of Ireland. Pupils must recite two poems from memory – one prescribed poem, one of their own choosing from a selected anthology.

Belfast Royal Academy students Ben Golden, Tara McBride, Jack Green, Conor Callaghan and Rian Mullan took part in the first round of the competition at Belfast Linen Hall Library. On Friday 18th November 2016, Conor Callaghan and Rian Mullan competed in the Semi Semi--Final at the National Library of Ireland, Dublin and on Friday 2nd December, Conor competed in the Final. From over 1,600 entries across Ireland, Conor was among only 10 Senior students selected to compete in the Final – a tremendous achievement.

O. Mort

Irish Bridge Champions Meet Crombie The Owl

The Irish Schools’ Bridge Team Championships took place in Galway in March. After 3 sessions, 2 B.R.A. teams qualified for the Semi-Finals in the Gold section, being drawn against each other. The team of Molly O’Donnell (V), Roma Mulholland (MVI), Cameron McGaughey (MVI) and Laura O’Kane (V) narrowly defeated the second Academy team of Luke McGarvey, Conor Gallagher (both LVI), Josh Mills and Joshua Boyd (III) to progress to the Final. In the Final, they overcame Bangor Grammar School to retain the title they won last year. The second B.R.A. side beat Kilkenny in the 3rd place play-off.

In addition the team went on to win the Inter-Provincial competition in Belfast later that month to cap another successful season for the Bridge Club.

During the Open Morning on Saturday 20th May, Crombie the Owl flew in for the first time to meet and greet pupils, parents and teachers. The new mascot could be seen at the school gates among an enthusiastic crowd of selfie-takers, curious on -lookers and those attempting to find out who had really donned the suit for the day.

So new to our school scene is Crombie the Owl he only recently received his name following a school competition. Lucy and Ryan pictured above with Crombie were the winners. Not only is Crombie the name of our new school mascot, but is also the name of the central building on site named after Rev. Dr. James Crombie the founder of the Academy in 1785.

We look forward to scanning the skies for Crombie to see M. Harte when he will hover down from the Crombie tower to share his wisdom and maybe his true identity…

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Netball This year we had eleven teams playing competitive games in the Belfast Schools’ Area League. We had record numbers attend training, with over 180 girls taking part in extra-curricular netball. We had great success throughout the School, with five teams reaching the Belfast Area League finals, with the Minor B, Junior B and Inter C teams being victorious!

From this, the Minor B and Inter C teams played in the Northern Ireland League finals, finishing runners-up.

The Junior A team, captained

by Megan Warke, won the Northern Ireland Shield against Methody. This was a great result for a hard-working and dedicated squad of players.

Netball in school has continued to grow with talented and committed players emerging

throughout the Club.

Representative Honours U13 Regional Academy Squad- Kristie Monroe, Nada Hawela, Catelyn Burns, Rebecca Dwyer, Ruth Davis, Siobhan Baine, Fiona Murray.

U15 Regional Academy Squad – Hannah Hill, Ellie Collins, Fabienne Cochrane, Julia Forbes, Lois Sharpe, Megan Warke, Leah Doran, Ellie Murray.

Congratulations to Ellie Collins and Hannah Hill who have made it through the first two stages of the U17 Northern Ireland squad trials. Good luck to the girls in the next round.

Congratulations also to Mrs Winning who has been appointed as Head Coach of the U17 NI squad and Miss Brady who has been appointed team manager.

K. Brady

Ben Madigan Notes

This year has been a busy and fulfilling one at Ben Madigan. We have acquired four Clevertouch screens and two Interactive Whiteboards which will greatly add to our delivery of not only the ICT curriculum, but also many other aspects of our school life.

During the Spring term our Boys’ and Girls’ Hockey teams played at regional qualifying tournaments and acquitted themselves very well. Sports Day, the Summer Play, Stay Awake nights, the Sponsored Walk and Prep 6 and 7 trip to York were also highlights of our Summer term. One important development this year has been the creation of a Parents’ Development team and a separate marketing committee. The members of the Parents’ Development team have organised some very successful events during the year such as a MacMillan Coffee Morning and Christmas Fayre in the Autumn term. We enjoyed a very entertaining Quiz Evening in early March and then a golf foursomes afternoon with coaching for pupils, followed by dinner in Belvoir Park Golf Club. We welcomed Ulster Rugby’s Ruan Pienaar to the Castle Grounds in May for our Tag Rugby ‘Blitz’ Tournament. Our annual Fun Evening takes place on Friday 9th June. This is a joint venture between parents and teachers and has proved to be very popular in the past.

We will be very sad to bid farewell at the end of the Summer term to Mr Simon Patterson, who has been Vice-Principal for the last two years and has taught in Ben Madigan for seven years. He moves on to become the Head of the Preparatory Department of Friends’ School, Lisburn. We wish him well for his future career.

T. Wilson

The Academy Newsletter 2017 11 which competed in the Inter-Provincial tournament in Dublin. Subsequently, both girls were selected for the Irish U16 squad, and Niamh played against the USA. Megan Warke and Niamh McIvor travelled to Holland as members of the Ulster U14 squad. The tournament involved 12 teams, and the girls played seven matches over three days. Harriet, Trinity Geddis and Naomi McGuckin represented Belfast U17s and Sophia Del Castillo, Megan Warke and Niamh McIvor were selected for the U15 Hockey Area Board Tournament in March.

Erin Getty, following her performance with the Ulster U21s, won her first full adult international cap for Ireland in a match against Germany in March.

The inaugural Old Girls’ Trophy was won by the 1st XI after an entertaining victory against the Old Girls’ XI under the floodlights at Roughfort in October.

It was a successful season for Boys’ Hockey also. The 1st XI defeated Antrim Grammar in the Semi-Final of the Prior Shield in November, on their way to victory against Friends’ School, Lisburn in the Final, at Lisnagarvey Hockey Club in December. The match was decided by penalty flicks after extra time.

After previously reaching a Taylor Cup Final and Semi-Final, winning the Prior Shield was a fitting end to the school hockey careers of a number of the players.

In Cross Country running, Aoife Corry and Rioghnach Catney qualified for the Irish Schools’ Championships. Rioghnach was selected to be part of the Ulster U20 team which competed in the Celtic Cross Country International, hosted by Welsh Athletics in January.

Our Rugby players enjoyed a good measure of success this year. The 1st XV began the season by winning the Ian Graham Cup at Grosvenor in September. As the season progressed, and injuries settled, the squad gathered momentum, defeating Portadown College (41-8) and Rainey Endowed School (44-7) in the Cup, to reach the Quarter-Final. Unfortunately, Friends’ School, Lisburn was unable to field a side due to other commitments. We travelled to the Kingspan Stadium to play Methody in the Semi-Final. Perhaps due in part to the lack of recent match practice, we started slowly and were soon behind.

However, the team rallied and we finished strongly. We lost 37-21, and Methody deserved to win on the day. More than 900 Academy pupils travelled to Ravenhill and gave impeccable and vociferous support to our players.

The Medallion XV had a good season. They were knocked out of the Medallion Shield in the 4th round by eventual finalists Friends' School, Lisburn, losing 17-3. They progressed to the Final of the Plate competition after defeating Banbridge Academy and Limavady Grammar School. In a well contested match we were defeated 19-0 by Sullivan Upper School.

The U13 A XV won the ‘Blitz’ tournament at Roughfort in March, defeating Campbell College, Ballyclare High School and Ballymena Academy. Our Girls’ Tag Rugby team reached the Quarter-Final of the Schools’ Cup in March.

The following boys were selected for Ulster or Ireland: Matthew Dalton - Ireland U19, Tom Gilpin - Ulster Schools’ U18, Tom Stewart, Brandon Hassan and Callum Davidson - Ulster U17, Patrick George - Ulster U16.

Aquatic sports go from strength-to-strength. Four Academy swimmers were selected to represent the United Kingdom at the Lifesaving Orange Cup in Eindhoven in November – Lorcan Gourley, Ollie Parkes, Lui Hurson and Fin Purdy. Lui won a Silver medal at the event. Sinead Gourley was selected to represent Great Britain at the German National Cup Lifesaving Championships.

Pupils travelled to Sheffield for the British Lifesaving Championships in February. The Academy team won 45 medals in total, finishing 3rd overall in the medal table. Sinead Gourley became U18 Champion and, along with Lui Hurson and Lorcan Gourley, was selected for the Great Britain Lifesaving Squad, which will compete in the European Championships in Belgium in July, with nine others from our team selected for the GB Performance Squad.

Our swimmers maintained their impressive record at the Ulster Grammar Schools’ Championships. The Senior Girls and Senior Boys won overall titles, with the Academy also achieving the ‘Best Grammar School’ award. In all, our swimmers won 47 medals. Scarlett Armstrong set a new Ulster Schools’ record in winning her two Gold medals. She, along with Sinead Gourley and Lorcan Gourley, competed successfully in the Irish Short Course Swimming Championships.

Scarlett Armstrong competed in the Ulster Age-Group Swimming Championships, and became Ulster Champion in four events. In addition, she won a Silver, a Bronze and two Relay Gold medals, setting two Ulster Junior records with her Relay team. She has now achieved the qualifying time for the European Youth Olympics, and is waiting to hear if she will be selected to represent Ireland at the event in Hungary this summer.

Academy teams won medals in three events at the Irish Schools’ Relay Gala in Dublin in May. The Junior Swim team won 34 medals at the Ulster Minor Schools’ Swimming Championships.

The U19 Girls’ Waterpolo team won the Irish Senior Schools’ Waterpolo title at the Championships held in Dublin in March. Sam Brown, Anna Whiteside and Cara Carson were selected for the Irish U17 Waterpolo team which competed in the Junior European Championships in Prague in April.

Our Senior Boys’ Waterpolo team won all of their League and Cup matches during the season, winning the Ulster Schools’ Cup (Canada Trophy) for only the second time in the 80 year history of the competition. Four members of the team, Joe Loane, Lorcan Gourley, Matthew McIlroy and Phillip O’Callaghan were selected for Ulster squads.

In Netball, the Minor A, Minor B, Junior A, Junior B and Intermediate C teams qualified for the Belfast Area Finals. The Minor B, Junior B and Intermediate C teams won their finals, and the Minor B and Inter C teams both finished runners-up in the Northern Ireland Finals. The Junior A team won the Northern Ireland Shield Competition. The following girls were selected for the U15 Regional Development Academy: Hannah Hill, Julia Forbes, Lois Sharpe, Fabienne Cochrane, Megan Warke, Ellie Collins, Ellie Murray and Leah Doran, and the following girls were selected for the U13 RDA: Rebecca Dwyer, Kristie Monro, Siobhan Baine, Ruth Davis, Nada Hawela, Fiona Murray and Catelyn Burns.

Last summer Keaton Morrison won the Irish U14 Boys’ Golf trophy and represented Ulster at the Inter-Provincial Championships, helping the Province to win the tournament. He also represented Ireland at the Reid Trophy event in England and won the Ulster Order of Merit.

Tom McKibbin became the Ulster U14 Close Champion and competed alongside Keaton at the Inter-Provincial Championships. He was invited to play in the Northern Ireland Open, which allowed him to test himself against Challenge Tour professionals. He was capped for Ireland at the U14 Reid Trophy event in England and was a member of the Holywood Fred Daly team who were crowned 2016 Ulster Champions. He won the Club’s ‘Player of the Year’ award and was selected for National Coaching at Carton House, Co. Kildare.

His success was recognised when he was presented with the Junior Sportsperson of the Year award at the Newtownabbey and Antrim Sports Awards.

Tom also won the Munster Boys’ U16 Amateur Open by 3 shots with an impressive score of 69, to finish on 141. Keaton finished a strong joint 3rd place in the tournament on 146. At the Ulster Championship, which consists of a qualifying stroke-play round, followed by match-play format, Keaton was the leading qualifier by 6 shots, after carding a 72, going into the match-play round.

Both boys secured places in the Final, where Tom eventually took the Ulster title after recording 6 birdies on his card, with Keaton finishing in second place.

The Belfast Royal Academy team consisting of Ryan Armstrong, Tom McKibbin, Keaton Morrison and Andrew Greer won the Ulster Schools’ Junior Championship, on countback, at Fortwilliam Golf Club in May. Our Bridge teams were placed 1st and 3rd in the Irish Schools’ Bridge Teams’ competition in Galway, retaining the trophy which they won last year. Two of our other teams, one comprised of Form I pupils, also did well in the competition.

Four teams from the Academy participated in the NICMAC dance competition.

Our Hip Hop pair, Becky Dickson and Chloe McCrory, won their section of the competition.

Three B.R.A. Karting teams competed in the Semi-Final of the British Schools’ Karting Championships. The ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams finished 2nd and 3rd and qualified for the finals which will be held in England in July.

Beyond school, Abbie McHenry was selected to compete in the Lennart Jo(Continued on page 12)

12 The Academy Newsletter 2017 hansson Academy Trophy in Sweden, as part of the Northern Ireland Girls’ Football Development Squad.

Anna Sullivan and Lorna Maginness won Gold and Silver, and two Silver medals respectively at the Northern Ireland Kickboxing Qualifying competition.

Both have been selected for the Northern Ireland team. Malek Hawela took part in the Belfast Sprint Regatta on the River Lagan, with his boat winning the J16 Coxed Quadruple Scull event.

Kerrie Johnston was selected to represent Northern Ireland in Fencing at the UK School Games. Her younger sister Emily was initially selected as reserve, before being promoted to a full team member. Harry Robinson signed for League One association football club Oldham Athletic as a ‘Youth Scholar’.

Matthew Saunders participated in the Ten-Pro Global Junior Tennis Tour at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca. In an international field, Matthew was placed 3rd in the U15 category.

The Cricket Club have had a successful year. At present, the U15 are in the Semi-Final of the Northern Ireland Cup and the U12 are in the Semi-Final of the Plate. Max Burton and Harry Warke were selected for NCU U17 and had an Ulster Schools’ trial. Captain, Jack Burton, was selected for Ireland U19.

Jessica Jackson and Erin McQuiston were selected for the Northern Cricket Union Knights U17 and U15 Cricket teams.

1st XI Cricket Back-to-back Schools’ Cup winners

Chloe McCrory was appointed to the role of ‘Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for the County Borough of Belfast’, in which capacity she will accompany Mrs Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle on major civic occasions.

We were pleased to hear of the sporting achievements of former pupils in the course of the year. Faye Kidd and Daniel Dass were elected to be Captain of the Cambridge University Hockey and Rugby teams respectively – a remarkable ‘double’. Daniel led the ‘Light Blues’ to victory in the 135th Varsity match at Twickenham. Faye’s Cambridge team played well in their final, but Oxford were worthy winners on the day. Iain Henderson was selected for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

Writing this article, I am reminded of the great variety of activities which engage our pupils. As I retire, I feel privileged to have spent my working life in a school with pupils and members of staff such as ours – in a school full of opportunity and challenge, where pupils are encouraged to explore their potential, to grow in confidence and to develop skills and qualities which will serve them well through life.

Chloe McCrory Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for Belfast

I have valued working in such a close and supportive community of pupils, parents and members of staff, teaching and non-teaching. I thank you all.

J.M.G. Dickson

Iain Henderson From a cub to a Lion

Daniel Dass Captains the victorious Cambridge Rugby team