The Academy Newsletter 2012

passed at those grades. Hannah Stew-

art 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 Sci-ences.

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, Mathemat-ics, 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 condi-

tional offers to study French at the prestigious University of London Insti-tute in Paris. They hope to join Re-

becca Anderson from last year‟s MVI, (Continued on page 2)

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 Mathemat-

ics – 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

demic achievements of our pupils.

The pursuit of high academic stan-dards is at the heart of our endeav-

ours. 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 co-

hort 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 Depart-ment 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*.

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 char-acter of its own, defined by memora-ble moments and the achievements of

individuals who have striven for suc-cess. In the face of unprecedented budget cuts, we have sought to in-

crease rather than diminish the oppor-tunities available to our pupils this year.

This academic year had an auspi-cious 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 Profes-sor Ian White as our Guest of Honour on Prize Day. He is the first former

pupil to be elected Master of a Cam-bridge College – Jesus College, where he had been an undergraduate

in the 1970s. And on that day it was pleasing also to celebrate the aca-

The Academy Newsletter

Belfast Royal Academy

June 2012

Olympic Torch Relay

Headmaster’s Notes

2 The Academy Newsletter 2012

our talented dancers, providing them

with the chance to gain experience and confidence on stage.

It was a pleasure to welcome members of the 1962 Schools‟ Cup Final team back to school on 16th March, and to

attend an Anniversary Dinner in the Royal Belfast Golf Club on St. Patrick‟s Day, at which members of the Acad-

emy team shared memories with mem-bers of the RBAI team with whom they shared a hard-fought, low-scoring draw

in the Final, 50 years ago. The occa-sion reminded me that we remain part of the wider community of our school

for a lifetime. Many in that community will have been

pleased to see Stuart Olding and Iain Henderson achieve their first caps for Ulster this season. It was very good to

see the power and pace which graced our run to Ravenhill two years ago (and which was honed as a Fifth For-

mer on the 3rd XV) carry Iain to the Munster line for a memorable try at Thomond Park. I have no doubt that

their exploits will inspire a new genera-tion of Academy players in the years to come.

Once again, the year ends with the departure of colleagues and friends

whose careers have been shining threads in the fabric of this school‟s life, for more than thirty years in some

cases - Dr Lomas, Mrs Heaslip, Mrs Leyden, Mrs Connolly, Mrs Lyttle and Mr Carroll. Their professionalism, com-

mitment and care for their pupils have been exemplary; their encouragement and the opportunities which they have

created have given impetus and direc-tion to many. A proper appreciation of their contribution to the life of the

School will be published in The Owl at Christmas. We wish them well and we hope to see them often.

It has, indeed, been a year rich in achievement, activity and variety. For a fuller account of events we must wait

for The Owl. As I write, groups are putting the finishing touches to prepa-rations for trips to Romania, with Habi-

tat for Humanity, and to Malawi, which will take place after the public exami-nations. Already plans are afoot for

new ventures next year. Through eve-rything runs the aspiration to achieve high standards and a good-natured

vitality which suggest that our wish that pupils develop self-confidence and a sense of self-worth through endeavour

and achievement, and by being part of a school which seeks to ensure that they are stimulated and happy, fulfilled

and respectful of others, is well founded.

J.M.G. Dickson

Ndou and Jack Kyle visited school, the

R.E. Department hosted a conference in the Library which was attended by pupils from St. Patrick‟s College,

„Bearnageeha‟ and Our Lady and St. Patrick‟s College, Knock. The event was chaired by William Crawley and

involved a panel of guests and R.E. students in much lively discussion of themes contained within the Advanced

Level R.E. specification. We try to broaden the experience of

our pupils through events such as these, and also through our exchanges with schools in Sweden and Spain, our

work experience trips to Malawi and Bangladesh and the work of Mr Nash‟s European Studies group. Through our

contacts in Sweden, Dr Lomas was invited to speak at a conference in Uppsala University in May. Ms Keenan

and Mr Nash will lead a group, includ-ing pupils from Victoria College, to work in Romania under the auspices of

Habitat for Humanity at the end of June. In recognition of our educational work abroad, the School received the

prestigious International School Award in the autumn, after much preparatory work by Mr Dorman. It is a recognition

of our work to open up horizons far beyond North Belfast, and, along with projects such as our Sixth Form men-

toring in local primary schools and the work of the Community Service group, it reflects the importance which we

place on developing a sense of social responsibility among our pupils: the School is full of talented young people

and we wish them to consider how they can use their gifts, both now and in the future, for the benefit of others,

who are less fortunate than they are. Twelve pupils attended the 174 Trust on one or two evenings each week

throughout the year – Alex Devine, Shannan McLoughlin, Niamh Duffy, Emily Reid, Holly Reid, Kim Stewart,

Chiara Banas, Rachael Allen, Lauren Bradley, Kathleen Maguire, Nikita McCoubrey and Lauren Jenkins. They worked with thirty children with disabili-

ties ranging from learning and physical disabilities to life-limiting illness, sen-sory loss and missing limbs, and

earned certificates in areas such as First Aid, Sign Language, Disability Sports Coaching, Mental Health and

Child Protection. The „C lean-ups‟ of Cave H il l

(organised by Friends of the Academy) and of the Mournes (organised by Mr Reilly‟s Duke of Edinburgh‟s Award

team) were examples of how we have worked with the wider community to improve our environment.

I particularly enjoyed World Book Day. A poetry reading was held in the Li-

brary at lunchtime, where Scott Jami-son and Stephen Connolly, former pupils and members of a new genera-

tion of Ulster poets emerging from Queen‟s University, read to an audi-ence of pupils and staff. Another

memorable moment this year was our first performance in the Rock Chal-lenge anti-drugs Dance event at the

Waterfront Hall. The conceptual crea-tivity, the choreography and the per-formance of our dancers were excep-

tional – I am grateful to Miss Craig for introducing this event to our calendar: it created a great new opportunity for

reaching the top 10 in the Amnesty

International UK Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year Competition. Alice Kelly of Amnesty wrote, “We

would like to congratulate you on the unprecedented achievement of having six pupils reach the top ten of the Jun-

ior category in the competition, which had over 3,000 participants. The diver-sity, originality and quality of each of

the 6 articles was inspirational.” Tom Hanna (LVI), Jordan Shaw (LVI),

Chris Turnbull (V) and Ben Campbell (V) competed with 27 other teams in the Queen‟s University Mathematics

competition and emerged triumphant, in 1st place.

Eorann O‟Neill and Holly Hamill had the honour of carrying the Olympic torch, in Antrim (and Lough Neagh!)

and Belfast respectively. They are excellent ambassadors for sport and for the School. Eorann, who is cur-

rently on the Irish Waterpolo team, is Ulster Lifesaving Champion and 3rd in the UK. Holly was selected in 2009 to

be part of the GMPD (Gymnastics and Movement for People with a Disability) British National Rhythmic Gymnastics

Team. She has won six Gold medals and two Silver medals at the Rhythmic British Championships and claimed the

Junior title two years in a row. This year she won all four Gold Apparatus medals, taking her first Senior title.

In addition to these, and many other individual achievements, a number of

events will live long in the memory. One such was the Christmas Recep-tion, at which a fine illuminated plinth,

bearing the School crest, dedicated to the memory of Mr Louis Lord was unveiled in the entrance hall of the

Crombie Building. Mr Sillery spoke with characteristic wit and grace about his predecessor, and afterwards the many

former pupils and members of staff who attended were entertained by Christmas music performed by Senior pupils.

In February, the South African Ambas-sador to Ireland, His Excellency

Jeremiah Ndou, visited school and had lunch with other guests, including Jack Kyle and Darren Cave. The occasion

marked the launch of our „Big Scrum‟ project, which led to us setting a new world record when 840 pupils formed a

scrum on the pitch at Ravenhill before the Ulster vs Aironi match. Our pupils were joined on the day by guests from

schools across North Belfast – it was a memorable occasion, well organised by Mr McCarey and Mr Shields. The

„Big Scrum‟ was sponsored by RaboDi-rect, and money from it will be given to Tygerburg Children‟s Hospital when

our Senior Rugby players tour South Africa in the summer. This was the charitable cause nominated by Ulster

Captain Johann Muller when he visited school in November to speak to Senior Assembly about his career and the

importance of his faith. In February he visited Roughfort to spend an after-noon with our 1st XV squad. We are

very grateful for the interest and sup-port of Ambassador Ndou and Johann Muller as we prepare for our trip to

South Africa. On the same day that Ambassador

who is currently studying there. Kath-ryn Fusco won First Prize the

Santander Spanish Essay Competi-tion organised by Queen‟s University and was placed third in the French

Essay Competition. Jazmin Campbell came equal third in the Spanish Es-say Competition.

Ben O‟Donnell‟s Art was selected for The True Colours Exhibition at the

Ulster Museum which showcases some of Northern Ireland‟s most tal-ented young artists and designers.

In the course of the year, six LVI pu-pils – Tom Hanna, Scott McCam-

bridge, Gareth Gilfillan, Luke Taylor, Adam Brice and Bethany Queripel – and nine MVI pupils – Grace Kenny,

Anna McShane, Julia Diamond, Dun-can Taylor, Adam Purvis, Ridwan Farouki, Andrew McClements, Jordan

McClurkin and Tom Marsh - attended week-long residential courses at Villiers Park. The pupils experienced

tuition from Oxbridge academics whilst enjoying debate and discussion with other academically gifted pupils

from across the UK. Three further LVI pupils – Katy McLarnon, Zoe O‟Reilly and Callum Browne – have been

awarded places in the summer. Reports outlining some of the high-

lights of this year in Sport, Music and Drama appear elsewhere in this magazine. Worthy of special note are

the achievements of our pupils, coached by Mrs Alexander, in aquatic sports. Our swimmers won Gold

medals in three events at the Irish Schools‟ Swimming Championships, and Shannon Alexander and Mark

Wylie were selected to represent Northern Ireland at the Common-wealth Games Lifesaving in South

Africa. Other pupils also performed in their sport at a level beyond schools‟ competition: in Rifle Shooting, our Head Boy, Adam Purvis has been

selected to tour Canada with the Ath-elings (the UK OCF/ATC shooting team) in the summer; James Reid (III)

won Gold in the Irish Schools‟ Judo Championships in the U18 category and has been selected to represent

Northern Ireland in the Common-wealth Judo Championships in Car-diff; Kristian Irwin (LVI) has qualified

for the World Kick Boxing Champion-ships which will be held in Orlando, Florida, in the autumn; Lucy Dugan

was a member of the Northern Ireland U21 Netball team which competed in the European Championships and

she and Robert Moffett competed at the European U20 Club Athletics Championships in Portugal.

We are Champions again in Show-jumping and Bridge; Mr Reilly‟s Duke

of Edinburgh‟s Award programme spans the year and the province, with more than 400 pupils currently work-

ing for their Bronze, Silver or Gold. Juanita O‟Kane was placed 1st in the „Tell The Future‟ all-Ireland short story

competition (Junior category), winning prizes for herself, her class and the school; Form I pupils, Conor Fergu-

son, Jonathan Evans, Douglas Ad-ams, Adam McTeggart, Jillian Lynn and Masha Holmes won awards for

(Continued from page 1)

The Tempest

The Academy Newsletter 2012 3

and a huge backdrop was fixed to the wall to create the forest environment that the charac-ters inhabited. Dr Lomas created beautiful costumes: the three Ariels (Rachael Elmore, Katy McLar-non and Erin McCullough) were resplendent in Mary Quant dresses, Prospero (Stephen Doyle) mirrored the fashion of the 1970s and Ferdi-nand (Joel Auterson) was dressed in military garb. Mr Jamison and the crew cre-ated the levels on stage which gave the production more depth and with the purple, red and blue gels lighting the steps from the platform to the stage, created the perfect atmos-phere. There were some special mo-ments; Ben Frederick‟s hilari-ous entrance as Stephano and Courtney Meneely‟s perform-ance of Trinculo seemed to steal the show, but all the ac-tors were outstanding. The difficulty of the language and the need to sustain the pace of the play could have been chal-lenging, but the production was a great success.

R. Evans

Prospero, the usurped Duke of Milan who was marooned on a deserted island by his enemies now finds them within his grasp. With the aid of his trusty spirit Ariel he plans his revenge by using the magic of the island; a magic shown to him by Caliban, the deformed slave who now serves him. With the royal party helpless before him, will he choose to exact his revenge, or show mercy and forgive those who have wronged him so se-verely? This year‟s Senior Dramatic Society production was Wil-liam Shakespeare‟s „The Tem-pest‟. Having directed „A Mid-summer Night‟s Dream‟ in 2009, Miss Tinman and I were keen to bring Shakespeare into the twentieth century and so we developed a post-Vietnam vision of the play, transforming Prospero into a usurped President of the United States, and Caliban into a Vietnamese woman left behind after the decimation of her village. The Art Department and Grace Prenter (MVI) worked tirelessly to create the stun-ning set for the Assembly Hall stage. A platform was built for the back of the stage to give Prospero a vantage point from which to survey his revenge in action. Boards were painted

For the 2011/12 season we fielded our usual four Senior and four Junior Hockey teams every Saturday in our block fixtures. Also every Saturday morning our Form I club was coached by Neal Hermon and Louise Mellor. Louise is an ex-pupil who has helped coach the Form One team and the

Mini-section since leaving to study Medicine. Louise has just qualified and is unable to continue; we will really miss her. Both Louise and Neal have shown fantastic commit-ment to our club over the years, and we hope Neal can continue to do so. The Owls‟ Cup is presented every year to the most suc-cessful team and this year it was won by the Under 13s, who lost only three games all season. They won the South Antrim League by winning all of their matches. The team was led strongly by Captain Erin Getty. Erin went on to play for Ulster U15s along with Abbie Brown; both girls have represented the U15 Belfast team, along with Lucy Miller. Erin and Abbie played on the U15 Ulster team which was invited to play in, and won, the annual youth tournament in Holland, where the team played both Dutch and Ger-man opposition. Other honours include, Faye Kidd who represented Ireland

at Under 16 level and also played an international tourna-ment in Holland. Faye hopes to be selected for the Euro-pean Championships to be held in Valencia in July. Anna Hutchinson and Holly Reid won a Gold medal playing for the Belfast Area U17s and

both girls earned themselves an Ulster trial; Anna has been included in the training squad for a second year at this level. Emily Reid, our 1st XI captain, played for the Ulster U21s at the Inter-provincial tournament in Cork. Incredibly, the 1st XI record finished exactly the same as last season! It was, however, a more successful season as we reached the quarter-final stage of the Senior Schools‟ Cup for the first time in 10 years. After getting a „bye‟ in the first round we travelled to Dun-gannon Royal and fought out a 1-1 draw which stayed the same after extra-time. After 5 penalty strokes the teams were still level on 4-4 taking the game to sudden death. Anna Hutchinson stepped up to score a superb stroke which was followed by a top-drawer save from keeper Lucy Dugan to put us through to the next round. Grosvenor was our next oppo-nent and extra-time was not

required as we went on to win 4-0. Unfortunately, for our quarter-final match against Strathearn we had to play with-out our goalkeeper, who was on duty as captain of the Northern Ireland U21 Netball team! This time we were on the receiving end of a 4-0 de-feat, ending our Cup run for another season. Captained by Katie O‟Neill, who also ended up playing for the 1st XI every week, the 2As, due to various reasons, ended up playing only 14 matches this season, managing 5 wins and 1 draw. They had been unlucky in their Cup competi-tion to go out to Belfast High on penalty strokes. The lack of consistency was in part due to an ever-changing team. Thank you to Mr Dorman for all his hard work and commitment in working alongside me in tak-ing the 1st XI and 2As. Captained by Taylor McCombe the U14As was an enthusiastic and talented team. Indeed many of these girls will hope to earn a place on next season‟s 1st XI squad. The girls had a slow start to their season, but really improved over the year getting into winning ways and showing much improvement as a team. They were very unlucky to go out of their Cup at the quarter-final stage. We travelled to Banbridge Acad-emy for this match and went out 1-0 to a very strong team; the girls‟ performance and ef-fort could not have been

faulted. Thank you to Mark Mills for all his help. Ellen Dalzell of Form I put in the performance of the Girls‟ Cross Country Club this year, finishing 4th in the District Championships and then going on to finish 6th in the Ulster finals out of a field of 110! We look forward to watching Ellen‟s cross country running progress in future years. Other qualifiers from our District Championships who made it through to the Ulster finals were Faye Kidd at Intermedi-ate level and Emily Reid and Lauren O‟Donnell-Anderson at Senior level. Numbers at this year‟s summer camp were at a maximum of 80 and, for the first time since it began, some children unfor-tunately had to be turned away such is the camp‟s growing success. The „Teenage Kicks‟ dance project ran again for the fourth year and a team from our school was invited to perform. The dance programme is co-ordinated by Freddie Kinner-sley and is supported by Bel-fast City Council. In the Irish Schools‟ Athletics Championships at Tullamore, the performance of the day was by Emma Kelso. In the Intermediate Girls‟ Pole Vault, Emma broke her team mate Lucy Dugan‟s Irish record in winning Gold. Lucy won Gold in the Senior event.

N. Nicholl

Girls’ Sport


Adam Purvis (MVI), Melissa Antonio (V), Steven Bailie (LVI), Ling Chung (IV) and Oliver Vick (IV) talked with Prince Edward about the Acad-emy D. of E. Centre‟s work helping to clean up the Moun-tains of Mourne over the last twenty-two years. 238 of our members have been very successfully in-volved in a busy period of ex-pedition work at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, on foot in the Antrim Hills and the Mourne Mountains, and, by canoe, on the River Bann. After the sum-mer examinations the pro-gramme of expedition work will continue right through until the end of October.

J. Reilly

cast during the Saturday tea-time news, featuring footage of the clean-up work and inter-views with Mr. Reilly and three pupils. This year, the Mournes Clean-Up raised £2,567.27 for our funds. On Tuesday 31st January 2012 Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, opened the new Northern Ireland Regional Of-fice of The Duke of Edin-burgh‟s Award in Newtown-breda. Six participants and a Leader from the Academy‟s D. of E. Award Centre were hon-oured to be invited to take part in the event. After the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Jonathan Cum-mings, Maebh King (LVI),

i.e. 109 pupils, all Duke of Ed-inburgh‟s Award members from Forms III to MVI, as well as 34 adult helpers, including former pupils who are Gold Award holders, parents and teachers. About six tonnes of rubbish were cleared from 11 sites in the Mournes‟ area. We received much appreciated assistance from Down District Council, Newry and Mourne District Council, The Mourne Heritage Trust, The National Trust, Tidy Northern Ireland and Mark‟s Skip Hire (Kilkeel). BBC Newsline sent a reporter and cameraman to cover the event. They focussed on the clean-up in Donard Wood. A two minute report was broad-

The D. of E. in the Academy continues to go from strength to strength. Currently our membership stands at 414 pupils from Forms III to MVI: this means that the Academy has the largest school-based Award Centre in Northern Ire-land, and possibly the United Kingdom. Since 1984 the fol-lowing Awards have been gained by our pupils:

Bronze: 1,112 Silver: 609 Gold: 410

The 22nd Annual Sponsored Mournes‟ Clean-up and Envi-ronment Day was held on Sat-urday 10th December 2011. Taking part were 143 people,

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award


Championships; Erin Getty was selected for the U13 Bel-fast Area Netball Academy while Naomh McGuigan and Lauren McCullough achieved places on the Belfast Area Po-dium Training Squad. This year 8 netball teams from

the Academy competed in

League competitions. We hope

that Netball in the Academy

continues to grow, offering op-

portunities for the development

of skills, success, competition,

fun, and the privilege of repre-

senting our school.

V. Heaslip

This season recorded consid-erable team success. The Junior A team reached the final of the Belfast Schools‟ „A‟ League, but lost narrowly to Rathmore Grammar, a school with a rich Netball tradition. The Senior team played in the Belfast Schools‟ „B‟ League and proceeded undefeated to the Final against Lagan Col-lege. Sadly, victory also eluded the Senior team on the day. Individual success was also a characteristic of this season. Lucy Dugan was selected to play for the Northern Ireland U21 team in the European

Netball Round-Up

January and February also proved to be extremely busy months. Many groups per-formed during the Open Eve-nings in the second week of January. Prospective pupils were treated to a wide range of music performed by the Big Band, Traditional Group, Saxo-phone Quartet, Clarinet Quar-tet, Flute Quartet and the Brass Quintet. These smaller instrumental groups, made up largely of members of the Sen-ior Orchestra and Wind Band, have proven to be invaluable to the Music Department. Many thanks must go to the pupils who are members of three or four instrumental groups as well as a choral group – they willingly give up lunchtimes and stay regularly after school until 5pm. The Annual Spring Concert in March was a huge success. Fourteen different groups and over two hundred and fifty stu-dents performed to a packed Spires Centre. Everyone rose to the occasion and the wealth of talent on display was out-standing. Lauren O‟Donnell-Anderson and Niall McIlroy (MVI) performed solos that demonstrated their natural mu-sical ability and made every-one a little tearful that this was their last year. Rehearsals were frenetic in the run-up to the big event – members of Senior Choir can testify to that, but all the stress and mayhem of the rehearsals were no-where to be seen on the night. As I stood in front of Senior Choir at the start of John Rut-ter‟s Requiem I wondered if


2011/2012 has proven to be a very busy and exciting year for the Music Department. Re-hearsals commenced immedi-ately in September for all groups. With only seven re-hearsals between the begin-ning of the new school year and the Senior Orchestra and Chamber Choir‟s perform-ances at Prize Day, we settled down to concentrate on the music chosen for that occa-sion. The Senior Orchestra performed Abdeldazer by Pur-cell and the Chamber Choir sang Ave Maria by Rachmani-nov. Immediately after the half-term break, rehearsals commenced for the Senior and Junior Carol Services. Once again the Senior Choir, Chamber Choir and Senior Orchestra performed at the Senior Carol Service with solos from Mi-chael Bell (LVI) in God is with Us by John Tavener and Stephen Doyle (LVI) and Jes-sica Massey (MVI) in A Child’s Prayer by James MacMillen with the Chamber Choir. Mé-abh Mallaghan (MVI) and Lau-rie-Anne Bartsch (LVI) per-formed the solos in Once in Royal David’s City and There were Shepherds by G. F. Han-del respectively with the Sen-ior Choir. It was an excellent Carol Service with over £400 raised for The Simon Commu-nity. The Junior Choir per-formed four carols in the Jun-ior Carol service with solos by Patrick Donnelly, Jessica McVeigh, Molly Bond, Owen Minford and Charlotte Nicholl.

Music Notes

and support over the years. Without you the Music Department would have sounded quite terri-ble and would certainly not have been as much fun! Finally, news of some successes on the wider choral and instrumental scene: Olivia Wilson, Sarah Minford and Mi-chael Bell have obtained places in the Ulster Youth Choir while a number of pupils have found places in the Ul-ster Youth Training Choir and Stephen Doyle has gained a place in the Ulster Youth Orchestra. These places are all highly prized and gained only by audition against the stiffest of competition province-wide. Many congratula-tions to all students. All in all, we have yet again much cause for celebration and I am looking forward to the next academic year al-ready! The hair dye has already been bought!

M. McMullan

tender ages. The two Rock Bands – Dispose after Use and the Hedge Lizards – enter-tained the audiences with their own songs. Once again, Ben McConnell left many young hearts racing with his perform-ance! The Music Department would like to take this opportunity to thank the various members of staff who sing, conduct, ac-company and take part in so many instrumental and choral groups. Without their support the Music Department would find it very difficult to produce music of such a high standard. Thanks also to the instrumen-tal teachers in the School who have shown such commitment to the groups that they have taken throughout the year: Mr Power for conducting the Brass Band, Miss McGinley for her work with Junior Strings and Dr McAtasney for training the Saxophone and Clarinet groups. This year we are losing a num-ber of valuable members of the Music Department. To all the MVI who have sat in Orchestra rehearsals since Junior School, Wind Band since Form I or in Senior Choir since Form III, thank you for all your help

things would go as badly as in rehearsals. Of course they didn‟t! Each angelic little face smiled at me and they sang their hearts out – if only they would sing like this in rehears-als I would not need to get my roots touched up every eight weeks. However, the highlight of the evening must be Ben McConnell break-dancing dur-ing the Chamber Choir‟s per-formance of Pricetag and James Donnelly attempting to sing and dance at the same time – only us women can multi-task James! The Summer Serenade at the end of May was a wonderful, if rather hot, evening. This time the Junior pupils entertained their friends and family with their musical ability. The Jun-ior Wind Band, after realising that the music started after eight beats in and not four, played rather well. The Junior Strings and Junior Traditional Group were, as always, per-fectly in tune and the Saxo-phone Group and Clarinet Quartet played brilliantly by themselves – no conductor needed! The four soloists, Jordan Walker, Ryan Davison, Emer Gribbon and Ruari McGowan, performed with a confidence that belied their


choosing Music as a fifth „AS‟ subject. I owe all my success to the great teaching and sup-port I have received from the members of the B.R.A. Music Department, who continue to help me develop as a student and musician.

Stephen Doyle (LVI)

tening skills for the examina-tion and also helped me pre-pare for the performance mod-ule. I was delighted to hear I had come first in the province in GCSE music, an achievement which gave me confidence in

theme tune to „Peer Gynt‟. In addition to the study of set works, the course requires a composition and performance element, which allowed greater freedom and creativity. Music examinations can often be difficult to prepare for as they rely on aural skills and aptitude as well as extensive knowledge of your notes. To improve my listening abilities, I felt it was important to take part in as many practical groups as possible including: Senior Strings, Senior Orches-tra, Senior Choir and Chamber Choir every week. Outside of school I was a member of the Ulster Youth Orchestra, Ulster Youth Choir and City of Belfast Youth Orchestra. This invalu-able experience of hearing the instruments of the orchestra every week sharpened my lis-

The new GCSE specification brought with it a rejuvenated syllabus which explored a more broad and interesting range of music than before. The modules chosen were „Repeated Patterns in Music‟, „Incidental Music‟ and „Vocal Music‟. The „Repeated Pat-terns‟ module explored the use of motif as an important compositional tool and gave me lots of ideas for my com-position coursework. As a singer, the „Vocal Music‟ mod-ule interested me a great deal and allowed me to study ora-torio, art songs and musical theatre. As musical theatre is an integral part of the „AS‟ specification, it was very help-ful to have this insight at GCSE level. The „Incidental Music‟ module was refresh-ingly eclectic with works rang-ing from the „Doctor Who‟

Top in Music

There was plenty of endeav-our this season from the 1st XV Rugby team. After a disap-pointing exit from the Schools‟ Cup at the hands of Rainey Endowed the team picked it-self up and enjoyed a good run in a very competitive Bowl competition. Hard-fought vic-tories were secured against Wellington College and Down High School on the road to the final. The opposition in the final was Sullivan Upper School. A very nervous first-half display saw the team trail-ing 19-0 at half-time. How-ever, a spirited second-half performance saw the team almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Unfortunately, a late intercept try from Sulli-van was enough to see them home. Congratulations to our captain, David Patterson, who played for Ulster U19 and Daniel Dass, who played for Ulster U18. The 2nd XV had, on the whole, a very successful sea-son, coming to within three points of a semi-final place. In a closely fought quarter-final match against Sullivan Upper we lost 17-14. The squad was without doubt good enough to have won the 2nd XV Cup. In our four matches against Dungannon Royal, Foyle and Londonderry College, Regent House and Bangor Grammar, we scored a massive 214 points with only 13 points be-ing conceded. The side was awarded the „Team of the Year‟ trophy at the Colours Award Ceremony at the end of a rewarding and very enjoy-able season. After a somnambulant start and a meagre haul of victories against lesser opposition, the 3rd XV season exploded into life once the Cup matches came around. The Owl will contain a fuller account of these tales of „derring-do‟ suf-fice to say here that victories against Ballyclare 4th team, Limavady and Ballyclare 3rd teams saw us take to the field at Osborne Park in a well-deserved Cup semi-final


Upper and in the impressive 4-1 win against Friends‟. Unfortu-nately, they fell at the final hur-dle, losing to a strong Wallace side. The season finished with a hugely enjoyable trip to the Olympic Qualifiers in Dublin. The Colts team enjoyed similar success in the Taylor Cup, where they progressed through a tricky group to set up a semi-final tie against the defending champions, Portadown. De-spite battling hard, Portadown proved to be too strong in the end for the relatively young Colts team. The Junior side continued to show improve-ment and recorded several good results. There were stand-out performances from Owen Kinnear, Jason Roe, Thomas Carey and John Miller, as-sisted ably by several new ad-ditions from Form I. The Boys‟ Athletics Club has been successful this year at the District Championships. As well as gaining a 3rd place in Discus, Robert Moffet t achieved 1st place in the Ham-mer, creating a New District Record. Success also came to Andrew Curtis who was 1st in the 200m, Nathan Lyons who obtained a 1st place in the High Jump and 2nd in the Tri-ple Jump and 3rd places were secured by Daniel Dass in the Shot, Malachy McKenna in the 1500m and by Andrew Curtis, Andrew McClements, Nathan Lyons and Jonathan Orr in the 4x100m Relay. The Academy team finished in 1st place over-all. The Intermediate Boys‟ team also had their share of 1st places with Alan Curtis winning the 400m Hurdles and Long

played an important part in the Medallion Shield campaign. It was a very successful sea-son for the Under 14 Rugby team. Notable v ictories throughout the year came against Ballyclare High School, The Royal School Armagh, Grosvenor Grammar School and Belfast High School. The team also won the „Bowl‟ at the annual M.C.B. tournament in which the team only lost against the eventual champi-ons, Campbell College. The season concluded with a very enjoyable tour to Cambridge in March. The Under 13 Rugby team had a successful season, winning 12 of 19 games, following a slow start. They improved on each of their results from Form I and have shown significant potential for the future. The Under 12 Rugby squad has been a very enthusiastic team this year. They began the season very well, winning a tournament against Carrick Grammar and the Boys‟ Model. They also had a fine victory against Coleraine Inst. The team produced some very good performances in the final tournament of the year losing out narrowly to Campbell Col-lege in the quarter-final of the Plate competition. It was a largely successful sea-son for Boys‟ Hockey. The 1st XI team competed in the Prior Shield, qualifying for the semi-finals for the first time in recent years. The team played some excellent hockey throughout the campaign, particularly in the 2-1 win against Sullivan

against the „old enemy‟. A pul-sating match saw us eventually defeated, but with honour in-tact. It would normally be wrong to single out any particular player in a report that is brief. How-ever, mention has to be made of our undeclared player of the season, Jonathan Orr (MVI), whose cache of tries averaged more than one per game, in-cluding a brace in the semi-final against R.B.A.I. The Medallion XV had a suc-cessful season, but unfortu-nately lost to a strong C.A.I. side in the fourth round of the Medallion Shield. The squad displayed excellent commit-ment and determination throughout the year. Their fine and diligent effort in training reaped rewards in terms of progress on the pitch. All sea-son long, the boys were a credit to themselves and the School and with a more fortu-nate draw in the Shield would have progressed much further. The Medallion „B‟ XV com-peted in an extensive fixture list this year. The team had mixed results throughout the season, including narrow de-feats to Wallace, Boys‟ Model, Lurgan and wins over Bally-clare, Sullivan and Catholic University School, Dublin. The most emphatic win of the sea-son came when the team trav-elled to Ballymena. There were notable performances throughout the year from both forwards and backs. In the forwards, there were Caolan Lyttle‟s try-scoring heroics, Sammy Nelson‟s strong tack-ling and ball carrying, David Reid‟s ability to force a turn-over and Peter Boyd‟s strong scrummaging. In the backs, the two Bens, Cave and Kane, combined well at half-back and were assisted ably by strong running lines and defence by centres Ruairi Linden and Christian O‟Connor. The strength of the Medallion „B‟ XV and the level of improve-ment were evident by the num-ber of players who forced their way into the „A‟ Squad and

Boys’ Sport


obtaining Silver in Discus and Bronze in the 400m Hurdles respectively. In Cricket, the School has reached the semi-finals of the McCullough Cup. They de-feated Ballyclare High and Friends‟ School, Lisburn and drew with Wallace High School on points. We will play Sullivan Upper in the semi-finals. The Colts Cricket team has reached the quarter-final of the Under 15 Cup. Furthermore, the Junior Colts XI has reached the knock-out stages of the Schools‟ Under 14 League and the quarter-final of the Derriaghy Cup; the 2nd XI has reached the quarter-final of the Duke of Abercorn Me-morial Cup and congratulations should go to Jack Burton NCU Under 13, Andrew Forbes NCU Under 15, Daniel McFad-den and Ross Bryans NCU Under 17 and Jordan McClurkin who is part of the Ireland Under 19 squad. I would like to take this oppor-tunity to thank members of staff for their tireless work and support over the past year.

I. McGonigle

Conor Ferguson started well in the Ulster Championships; gaining 3rd place in the Minor 4x100m Relay. Other mem-bers of our Junior team also performed well, with Stephen McCorry being placed 3rd in the Hammer, Sean Rice 6th in the Long Jump and 7th in the Triple Jump, Gareth McAdams 6th in the Discus and 4th in Javelin and the 4x100m Relay team comprising Jack Gill, Christopher McLaughlin, Sean Rice and Roy Chia achieving 5th place. The Intermediate team also produced an encouraging per-formance in the Ulster Champi-onships, with 1st places from Stewart Martin in the Discus, Robert Moffett in the Hammer, Alan Curtis in the 400m Hur-dles and 2nd places by Alan Curtis in the Long Jump and Scott McMurtry in the Hammer. Ruairi Brogan also achieved a 3rd place in the 100m Hurdles and the 4x100m team compris-ing Ruairi Brogan, Alan Curtis, Scott McMurtry and David Campbell was 5th. We look forward to seeing their accom-plishments in the future. In the Irish Schools‟ Champi-onships, Robert Moffett won Bronze at Senior level in the Hammer event, with Stewart Martin and Alan Curtis, com-peting at Intermediate level,

was 1st in the Minor Shot and Shane Martin was 3rd in both the Minor 100m and Long Jump; the Minor 4x100m Relay team of Shane Martin, Conor Ferguson, Joshua Hegarty and Aaron Campbell finished 1st; Sean Rice was 2nd in both the Junior Long and Triple Jumps, with Thomas Carey finishing 3rd in the Junior Triple Jump; Gareth McAdams was 2nd in the Junior Javelin and Discus events, and Stephen McCorry was 3rd in the Junior Hammer; the 4x100m Relay team of Sean Rice, Roy Chia, Christo-pher McLaughlin and Jack Gill finished in 2nd place. Shane Martin, Joshua Heg-garty, Aaron Campbell and

Jump, Ruairi Brogan winning the 100m Hurdles, Alex Steenson winning Shot and Stewart Martin achieving first place in the Discus. The team worked very hard to finish 3rd overall with convincing per-formances in the Long Jump by James Carey (3rd), and a run of 2nd places in the Ham-mer, Javelin and 4x100m Re-lay by Scott McMurtry, Rhys Donaldson and the team of Ruairi Brogan, Alan Curtis, David Campbell and James Carey respectively. Athletics is going from strength to strength in the Academy and the following young pupils achieved encour-aging results: Jack Plackett

fident in your own abilities. They won‟t mind if you make a mistake! Good luck.

Luke Taylor (LVI)

Therefore, next time you go on holiday, aim for somewhere that speaks the language you learn. Go into a shop or restau-rant and speak to the local people. It makes you feel con-

and try talking to yourself or even thinking in French. For those who are older and attend conversation classes in school, I think it really helps if you try to go the whole class without speaking a single word of Eng-lish. To sum up, I would certainly recommend Modern Lan-guages. It is useful to know as early as first or second year where your future lies. People think that languages can only lead to teaching or interpreting, but the reality is so much dif-ferent. With knowledge of a language, the world is your oyster. Knowing more than one or two languages makes you much more employable.

It was a pleasure for me to receive the award for the joint-highest mark in the French GCSE in Northern Ireland. I have had a keen interest in the subject since Form I, and it is one of the few interests in my six year-long school life that has stuck with me the whole way. My advice to anyone who wants to be strong in Modern Languages would be: go over the words, grammar and phrases as often as possible; speak the language to your teacher (they won‟t laugh at you); go onto educational websites and take part in ac-tivities, as there is no point in learning the words if you don‟t know what to do with them

Top in French

shouting and waving, and we could see women busily working at stalls by the roadside and carry-ing baskets on their heads. We also noted that many of the men seemed to be sitting with their friends having a drink. Our Mala-wian driver explained that it was custom here for the women to work and the men to sit back and relax. Eventually, we arrived at Likhu-bula House, set in the shadow of the magnificent Mulanje Mountain, and we were warmly greeted by the cooks there who had specially prepared donuts for us! After set-tling in to our rooms, we played with some local children who had seen us arriving and had hidden in the bushes until we came out to play – they were so eager and full of energy. Then it was an early night for everyone as we were tired after the twenty hours of trav-elling, and we had to be up early for a two-hour long church service in the morning! The days flew by as we settled quickly into our routines of early rises and long days of work ex-perience. We rotated each place-ment so every member of the team was able to experience a variety of different situations, from hand painting in the nursery school to weighing babies in the hospital. It was truly daunting hav-ing to get up and teach classes of African children, ranging from four to twenty years old, but it was a challenge every member over-came and performed to their best. At times, the language barrier and large number of children could be an issue, but our team worked even harder to ensure every child was involved. By the end of the week, even the most timid team member became completely confi-

oping over the last few years as more and more pupils visit. The link has become an integral part of the hospital‟s growth. Their vision is: „To have a community where peo-ple are able to recognise health problems and seek holistic health care services based on Christian values to improve the quality of life’. Above all, my best moment in Ma-lawi was when I got to scrub in on a caesarean section in theatre. We got to follow the whole proce-dure, right through to the baby‟s first cry after twenty minutes of the nurse trying to revive her. When she opened her eyes for the first time, I was the first person she saw! I got to hold her and she helped me realise that medicine is definitely the career I want to fol-low.” Sarah Martin sums it all up: “On Friday 24th June 2011, six-teen pupils and six staff set off on the vast journey to Malawi in South East Africa. After three long flights and one lost suitcase we were only too happy to arrive fi-nally in Blantyre Airport, where the heat instantly hit us – an impres-sive 26 degrees! We met up with Mr Creighton who had already been in Mulanje for a few days. Two minibuses picked us up and we set off on the spectacular drive to Likhubula House where we were staying. As we drove further out of Blantyre towards the more rural Mulanje, we were exposed to a setting very different from Belfast – the roads were mostly dirt tracks with no footpaths, the few cars were old models and the buildings, even shops, were very basic. Bare-footed children ran after our buses

of the staff. They were all so friendly and did everything that they could to make our stay even more special. Work experience was the main focus of our travels, but we encountered so much more than originally expected. The emo-tional bond we share with some school children in the Mulanje Mission is forever made and there is still one boy that I talk to now. Definitely one of my favourite times in Malawi was teaching in the primary and secondary schools. The children are so eager to learn and want nothing more that to continue education, al-though the reality is that very few, if any, of them will. The trip showed me what I take for granted in life. I now make it a goal to live life to its fullest. It has also encour-aged me to work for goals and not just expect dreams to be handed to me.” Judith Bingham reflects on the medical experience: “While we were in Malawi, I spent three days in the mission hospital, assisting nurses with ward rounds, observing in Radiology and the Under 5s clinic. I saw infant vacci-nations and helped weigh babies. We had the opportunity to meet the hospital‟s only qualified doctor, Dr Kilungwe, who gave us a brief guide to how the hospital is run. Currently, the areas they focus on are the youth clinic, palliative care, cervical cancer screenings, a modern dental unit, kangaroo care (a facility designed to care for mothers and their premature ba-bies) and the HIV clinic. The hos-pital is dealing with huge setbacks such as lack of funding, mainte-nance, lack of staff, but the staff remains strong and keeps trusting that help will come. The link we have as a school has been devel-

As you read this edition of The Academy, it will be no surprise to find that the Malawi project con-tinues to go from strength to strength as it extends the provi-sion of Global Opportunities for our young people at B.R.A. Every year we make changes to the team experience as we try to maximise the opportunities for our pupils and this year is no excep-tion. In June we have forty-six pupils and twelve staff members travelling to Malawi to take part and contribute to the on-going work associated with our partner-ship with the Mulanje Mission hospital and schools. The contin-ued success of this project is in no small part due to the commit-ment and support of our staff team members, but without the pupils this work could simply not happen. For that reason, this arti-cle recalls the memories of three young people from the 2011 teams as well as conveying the aspirations of one team member looking forward to travelling to Malawi this year. Reflections from 2011 and hopes for June 2012 Declan Coghlan remembers the culture and education: “We first landed in Blantyre; the change in atmosphere was in-stantaneous. The sights, the smells and the sounds were all completely new to us. Hundreds of smiling faces greeted us upon our arrival, some of whom had never seen a white person be-fore. The thing that struck me most was the thousands of chil-dren that were so excited to see us and were very enthusiastic to play and learn with us. We were provided with accommodation at Likhubula house and were over-whelmed by Nancy and the rest

Malawi



Sarah McGrath (LVI) had this to say: “Understandably, I am absolutely excited about heading off to Ma-lawi and experiencing the culture. I hope to learn so much about my-self, about those around me and perhaps even gain a deeper ap-preciation for everything which we so easily take for granted in North-ern Ireland. I‟ve experienced so much already through our team fund-raising, personal fund-raising and even our team residentials. Malawi 2012 will definitely be one to remember!” So that‟s it; some reflections from a truly memorable experience in 2011 and some thoughts about what lies ahead for our teams in June. Please follow the on-going journey of Malawi on twitter, on Facebook and on our School web-site. Thank you and we‟ll be back to tell you all about the next chap-ter…when it‟s written!

A. Bell

tastic. We came really close to wild elephants, hippos, crocodiles and warthogs, and also spotted gazelles, king fishers, baboons and eagles. The park was really incredible, and a hugely worth-while place to visit while we were in Africa. To see wild animals roam around their natural habitat unimpeded by cages or a barrier was astonishing. Even the land-scape was breathtaking – the cacti and baobab trees were amazing in themselves. The one quote we could use to sum up the experience is: „„A jour-ney is best measured in friends, rather than miles‟‟ - something that rings true for the Malawi experi-ence of 2011.” So what about Malawi 2012? Well, for the most part, the writing of this story is happening right now. The teams are ready, an exciting sense of team spirit and togetherness already exists, pro-ject money has been raised, the flights are booked, the bags are semi-packed and the vaccinations are complete. The teams this year have young people who are enthu-siastic, talented and, most impor-tantly, willing to get involved. An-ticipation and potential are palpa-ble.

toys that the team bought with money they fund-raised together. The other two groups repainted primary one classrooms, with help from some Malawian pupils from the local secondary school. The Cultural Exchange between the B.R.A. team and APATSA Orphanage was brilliant and en-joyed by everyone. We offered our talents as a choir and an Irish dancing troupe, and the children of APATSA put on for us a number of songs, plays and acrobatic rou-tines. Each side shared music from its home country, before col-laborating at the end in a huge song and dance. Singing and dancing with new found friends – both on the team and from Malawi – in the dusty playground of APATSA was one of the most uplifting moments of the trip. It was important to experience what else Africa had to offer out-side of work, so in our free time we visited the local markets and bought traditional Chichenzi fabric, and one day trekked up Mount Mulanje to experience the stun-ning views from the huge water-falls. Towards the end of our time we were all really excited to travel up to Lilongwe National Park to partake in a river cruise and dawn safari ride, which were both fan-

dent in a classroom environment. What we learnt through intense situations like these was more than just work experience – we gained invaluable skills for life. The organized home-visits to the houses of Malawian pupils proved a really insightful experience for all. Many of the homes visited by the team members comprised one small room only, with up to four people living there. Condi-tions were very basic compared to the luxury we live in at home. Yet despite the obvious economic differences, our Malawian peers have very much the same inter-ests and dreams as we do, even though some of their aspirations – things as simple as wanting to go to university – are actually unreal-istic. They are so passionate about doing something worth-while with their lives but in actual-ity, the opportunity to realise those dreams may never come. The project day was one of the most enjoyable of the trip, with the team splitting up into three groups and then each group re-decorating a particular classroom at the Mulanje Mission School. The nursery was repainted com-pletely, including numbers, letters and a mural on the walls, and it was also refurbished with new


Academy Big Scrum‟ on You-Tube.

M. Shields

A video of the event, made by Mr Jamison, is available by searching for „Belfast Royal

Antoinette Rademan and Ire-land‟s greatest ever rugby player, Academy alumnus, Jack Kyle. The event was well received in the media by BBC Newsline, BBC Sport website, News Let-ter, Belfast Telegraph, IRFU website, as well as drawing attention on social networking sites, where MVI pupil @joshrooney tweeted: ‘Congrats to all involved in the @BelfastRoyalAc World’s Big-gest Scrum, so proud to be involved, what a day to be part of Academy!’

On 30 March 2012 at Raven-hill, 840 children from North Belfast, led by some 700 Academy pupils, became World Record holders by be-ing part of the largest ever rugby scrum. The event was the brainchild of the Acad-emy‟s Head of Rugby, Chris McCarey, who intended it to raise interest in and funds for the 2012 Senior Rugby Tour to South Africa. Preparations began a month before with a media launch which coincided with the visit to the School of His Excel-lency, Ambassador Jeremiah Ndou, his political counsel,

‘Big Scrum’ World Record

School received a number of „Notebooks‟ and Kindles.

C. Little

Dublin on Friday 27th January to receive prizes for both her-self and the School. The

first prize in the Junior cate-gory of the „Tell The Future‟ story-writing competition. This competition is part of the „Future of Rural Energy – FREE‟ initiative supported throughout Ireland by Calor. There were approximately 1000 entries for this competi-tion, which makes Juanita‟s achievement all the more im-pressive. Her piece outlined how we should utilize our natu-ral environment in order to cre-ate a more efficient and envi-ronmentally friendly form of energy. For winning the com-petition, Juanita travelled to

This year Academy pupils have continued to impress in a variety of writing competitions. Pupils have displayed a dy-namic range of skills, whether writing convincing environ-mental articles for the Calor „Tell The Future‟ competition, powerful Human Rights jour-nalism for Amnesty Interna-tional or imaginative short sto-ries for the Féile an Phobail festival, this has been an ex-citing and successful year for our young writers. Juanita O‟Kane (Form III) won

Writing Success

tournament there is much promise in store for next sea-son with some very skilful Prep 6 pupils coming through the ranks.

top Judo primary school in N.I. In addition, our Cross Country team had success, notably Amie Bradley who won the District Championships and came 4th in Northern Ireland. Five Prep 7 pupils were se-lected to represent Belfast in an Athletics event at the Odys-sey. This year has brought much success for the current „A‟ and „B‟ Hockey teams. In the Bel-fast Blitz the „A‟ team won 8 out of their 10 matches and the „B‟ team were only beaten by 3 teams and drew against much more experienced opposition. Although narrowly missing out on silverware at the Campbell

This has been another busy and successful year at Ben Madigan. Our new venture has been the introduction of a Judo club which takes place on Friday afternoons. Some of our pupils from that and an outside club participated in the N.I. Schools‟ Judo Champion-ships along with 50 other Pri-mary schools involving more than 225 children. At Individ-ual level we won 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze medals. At Team level one of our girls‟ teams won the Team Trophy with the other team winning Bronze medals while the boys‟ team came second winning Silver medals. I am told that this makes Ben Madigan the

Ben Madigan Notes

Several of our pupils achieved success in piano examinations held by both the Associated Board and Trinity Guildhall.

V. McCaig

The Academy Newsletter 2012

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