A Ballyclare Secondary School News Views Year 8 Christmas ...ballyclaresecondary.co.uk/wp-content/themes/ballyclare/pdf/InformJan2016-Web.pdfOn Tuesday 8th December 2015 the Year 8

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On Tuesday 8th December 2015 the Year 8 Pupils enjoyed their Christmas dinner which was hosted in the Assembly Hall. Principals and school representatives from our local primary schools were also invited to attend. All pupils enjoyed the lunch and it was a great opportunity for their former teachers and principals to see how well they have settled into life at Ballyclare Secondary School.

Year 8 Christmas Dinner

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Theatre Trip - Grand Opera House“Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, pas-sions?”

“The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven . . .”

Famous lines from one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, “The Merchant of Venice” which was brought vividly to life at the Baby Grand at the Grand Opera House’s C21 production on Wednesday 21st October 2015. That’s all it takes to make the Bard come alive again – a good theatre trip!

The Baby Grand offered an intimate setting for a play written over four hundred years ago but which still resonates with us today with themes ranging from prejudice, power, control and the role of women in society. The staging was minimalistic which laid bare more starkly the rampant racism expressed towards Shylock merely for being a Jew, yet the mood was lifted cleverly at times by comedic effect from the Princes of Arragon and Morocco.

The joint Year 12 and Year 13 English Literature trip was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all, particularly with our front row seats and, of course, meeting Shylock himself afterwards!

Year 8 Residential Programme 2015As part of the ‘Year 8 Residential Pro-gramme’, all classes in Year 8 have had the opportunity to stay at Woodhall Residential Centre in Kilrea, County Londonderry.

Woodhall is used by school groups for educational purposes on a residential basis. Formerly a large, private residence, Woodhall is situated on the outskirts of Kilrea village, in its own grounds overlooking a small sheltered lake. The centre has an attractive geographical position central to the Board’s area and within convenient range of natural amenities offered by the North Coast, River Bann and Sperrin Mountains. Pupils had the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities such as canoeing, archery, high ropes and orienteering. The experience is a fantastic way for pupils to meet new friends and complete team building activities with their classmates.

Ballyclare Secondary School inauguration of its new Senior Prefects for 2015-2016

Year 8 Quiz Points Running Total

McConnell 4 4

Ollar 1 1

Collin 3 3

Lindsay 3 3

Year 9 Quiz Points RunningTotal

McConnell 2 2

Ollar 3 3

Collin 4 4

Lindsay 1 1


McConnell 4 4

Ollar 1 1

Collin 2 2

Lindsay 3 3


McConnell 2 2

Ollar 3 3

Collin 4 4

Lindsay 1 1


McConnell 3 3

Ollar 4 4

Collin 3 3

Lindsay 1 1

Year 13&14 Quiz Points Running Total

McConnell 3 3

Ollar 2 2

Collin 1 1

Lindsay 4 4

KS3 KS4 Post 16 Staff Overall Points

McConnell 10 5 3 0 18

Ollar 5 7 2 0 14

Collin 9 7 1 0 17

Lindsay 7 2 4 0 13

Well done McConnell!

House Table QuizzesOur 1st Whole School House Competition of the academic year was a table quiz for each year group. This took place in October 2015, see below:

Monday 5th October Year 12

Tuesday 6th October Year 11

Wednesday 7th October Year 10

Thursday 8th October Year 9

Friday 9th October Year 8

Monday 12th October Years 13&14

Friday 23rd October Staff

Competitiveness, eagerness and team spirit was displayed by all at our Year Group and Staff Table Quizzes in October. Rounds included a selection of questions on Science, Anagrams, Mathematics, The Bible, Geogra-phy, Faces, Television, History, Food, Music, Sport, Current Affairs, World of Business, Foreign Currency/ Language and Structures/ materials.

It was fantastic to see everyone entering into the spirit of a House System. The pupils certainly enjoyed the quiz and were provided with toast and pancakes to keep their brains fuelled!

Names of the Ballyclare Secondary School Houses:

C – Collin (green)

O – Ollar (blue)

L – Lindsay (yellow)

M – McConnell (red)



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Duke of Edinburgh continues to flourish What a busy start to the year it has been for the pupils and staff of Ballyclare Secondary. With the introduction of the Silver Award and a boom in numbers for our Bronze award, it is safe to say that The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is going from strength to strength at our school.

Amazingly, we had close to 100 hundred applications for Bronze followed by some rigorous physical activities. With a surge in staff joining the school’s committee there will now be 45 bronze students, 15 silver students and 13 members of staff all working to achieve outstanding levels of success. With such a committed staff we are

now able to offer the “world’s leading youth achievement award” to more of our year ten, eleven and twelve students.

The beginning of November parents and pupils were invited in for an information evening. With such high attendance it is clear that parents and carer value this programme as we do. The night involved a presentation by Mr Nicholl followed by an opportunity to ask questions, talk to a Cotswold representative about equipment / clothing and chat to staff about what the year ahead looks like for our hikers. We would like to take this as an opportunity to thank all pupils, parents and staff who took the time to come along to this evening.

As of this month pupils have started to train, seek out activities for their respective areas and entrench themselves in the Duke of Edinburgh life of our school. Pupils are reaching out to the variety of extra-curricular clubs and societies that we offer at school to fulfil their role as a volunteer, develop skills

in a new area and to improve their overall fitness. It is heart-warming to see pupils be-ing involved in things like: cookery, language skills, netball, craft making, drawing, music, woodwork, jujitsu, swimming, rugby, hockey, animal care, car maintenance, etc. The list of activities that our pupils are partaking in is seemingly endless.

As the year progresses our pupils will be at-tending training on: map navigation, first aid, cookery, packing equipment, countryside code, route planning and tent construction. What an incredible year it is going to be!

We look forward to reporting on our spring / summer expeditions.

Think Pink for Breast Cancer Research 2015: Cancer FocusDuring the month of October, the PE Depart-ment organised a variety of sponsored activ-ities during PE classes. The girls (and some of the boys!!) enjoyed the fun involved in the activities as well as having the opportunity to dress up in something pink!! Merchandise was also sold throughout the school to raise money for this charity.

Breast Cancer research is essential. It helps identify the causes of breast cancer and discover improved methods of diagnosis and treatment. Many cancers, previously thought

to be incurable are now being treated suc-cessfully as a result of scientific research.

Well done to all staff and pupils for their continued support for this charity. We have a cheque for £1751 for Cancer Focus N.I.

To date Ballyclare Secondary School has raised £21,527.92 for Breast Cancer an ab-solutely fantastic amount raised. Well done!

Sea Cadet National Combined RegattaYear 10 pupil Lauren Mitchell has recently represented Northern Ireland at the Sea Cadet National Combined Regatta. The event took place on September 5th at the Excel Centre in London’s Victoria Dock. Lauren competed in the Junior Girls double kayaking time trial marathon, along with her team mate Catie Peden. The girls faced stiff competition with competitors coming from 6 other regions throughout the UK. After a steady start Lauren and Catie began to pow-er ahead winning by approximately 20 boat lengths and taking gold for Northern Ireland! After a long summer of training, 3 days a

week, in Lough Neagh all the hard work has paid off. Well done Lauren!

Read On - Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for ChildrenYear 10 pupils participated in a very suc-cessful Read On event raising a grand total of £1008.77 for The Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children.

Ballyclare Secondary School has supported this very worthwhile charity for many years now, which not only benefits a local charity, and therefore local children with cancer by raising vital funds, but also helps pupils develop their reading skills by participating in a sponsored reading event.

Business DinnerOn Thursday 1st October 2015 Ballyclare Secondary School opened its doors to the world of business by hosting a very successful Busi-ness Dinner. It was a night to celebrate the achievements of 2014-2015 and to begin planning for 2015-2016. The school catered for and entertained a grand total of 105 guests on the evening. Many new links and ventures were discussed on the evening with great plans for the future coming from this event.

Fire Safety for Year 8 Pupils



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Year 8 Christmas Card DesignsYear 8 were given the opportunity to design and colour their very own Christmas card. 8M worked very hard on their creation during class assembly. They are photographed with their fantastic designs. The designs have since been sent away for scanning and printing. 8M were delighted to have received a professional copy of their Christmas card and many have ordered copies for Christmas! A fabulous experience was had by all.

Year 13 & 14 Royal Ulster Academy Trip 2015

Doriane the French Assistant Hello Ballyclare Secondary School,

My name is Doriane and for those who don’t know me - because they made the terrible mistake of dropping French - I have the pleasure of being your French Language Assistant this year. I come from Brussels in Belgium. Belgium is tiny and absurd but is a really friendly kingdom next to France where we speak three official languages (French, Flemish and German). Belgium happens to have a few similarities with Northern Ireland: the lovely rainy weather and the chips!

I really enjoy working in Ballyclare Secondary School. The French Language Department is great and I love teaching French. I am also delighted to live in Northern Ireland for a while and I have already had the chance to visit really nice places such as the famous Giant’s Causeway.

I am hoping to share my love of French with you throughout the year. My door is always open: if you have any questions about French, just come and ask for my help.

Doriane

Claude’s Crêpes- European Day of LanguagesTo mark the European Day of Languages at Ballyclare Secondary the Modern Languages department invited a French crêpe-maker to school. Claude was dressed in stereotyp-ical French attire and his favourite French music was playing from his stall. Pupils had to order their crêpes in French and they had been practising hard with ‘Je voudrais une crêpe s’il vous plaît’. They all enjoyed crepes with a wide variety of flavours on offer, ranging from Claude’s own home-made nut-free chocolate spread to lemon and sugar. This event kicked off a week of events throughout the school in celebration of European Languages. Tuesday involved a special European lunch menu in the canteen, while throughout the week pupils found class signs in French. Also on Tuesday there was a novice French-Belgian chef at cookery club to help the pupils perfect ‘la cuisine de Belgique’.

Art and Design AS and A2 Level pupils had the opportunity to visit the Royal Ulster Academy at the Ulster Museum in Belfast on 16th October. Pupils were able to see first-hand artwork produced by local artists to inspire and develop their own work. All pupils thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and came away with a variety of photos and ideas. They were also able to see Colin Davidson’s paintings of portraits of people affected by the ‘Troubles’. This exhibition was very moving and was a fantastic insight into portrait painting. Pupils were able to see the movement and freedom of his painting technique as well as the exceptional detail he had created in the eyes.

Onatti Theatre CompanyOn Friday 16th October the pupils of Ball-yclare Secondary School were treated to a fantastic play. Following the success of last year’s performance, The Modern Languag-es Department invited the Onatti Theatre Company back.

This year, they performed their play “Les Garçons”, which was a humorous play performed by native-speaking actors. Year 9 and 10 pupils, along with pupils studying French GCSE and A level, watched their per-formance and some even had to participate!

Pupils felt immensely proud, as they were able to understand all the play, while even picking up some new French words. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to enjoy French outside the classroom.

Modern Language Department visits Ballyclare Primary SchoolAs part of the European Day of Languages Celebration Week (21st-25th September) the Modern Language Department from Bally-clare Secondary finished their week’s events with a visit to Ballyclare Primary School to join in with their celebrations.

Three GCSE French pupils along with the French assistant visited the P4s who had been learning about France. The primary pupils showed off what they had learnt and also displayed their fabulous outfits! In return, they got to learn ‘Head and Shoul-ders, Knees and Toes’ in French and it was fantastique!

Modern Languages Department



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Interviews with Head-Boy and Head-Girl 2015-2016

Head Boy- Curtis Brown

What was the interview process like and how did you prepare? I received a letter a few weeks prior to the start of the school term and immediately got to work on preparing my presentation. The interview process was quite nerve-racking, as I had to present to five of the senior teachers within the school. However once I started my presentation I become more re-laxed and confident. I prepared for my inter-view by making a PowerPoint presentation, the presentation included headings such as ‘Personal skills and Experiences’, ‘Contribu-tion to school life’ and ‘What I thought the role of head boy meant’, I had also prepared notes to read during my presentation to make the whole process easier for myself. I thought my interview went very well and the teachers seemed to agree.

Why do you think that you were chosen? I think I was chosen due to how I present-ed and promoted myself throughout the interview process. I tried to stay calm and relaxed throughout my presentation and I think this helped to impress the senior teachers. I have also been vastly involved in school life over the past 6 years, attending many extra-curricular activities and volun-teering for different events. My academic success at GCSE and AS-level has proved that I am a hard working individual and the right candidate for the role.

What are your roles and responsibilities? Some of my roles include, speaking at pres-entation evening, attending remembrance Sunday with the school and organising the school formal. I also believe I have a respon-sibility in promoting the school and most importantly I am required to be a role model to fellow students.

What plans do you have for the incoming year? For this year, I plan to work and study hard

for my A2 exams, this will ensure I can fulfill my full potential and get into university for the course I want to study. I also intend to enjoy my final year at Ballyclare Secondary School and make the most of my time here, whilst also trying to improve the school life of younger pupils and encourage them to succeed within the school.

Final Thoughts I think our school has progressed so much in the last few years and I hope to help it keep improving, It will be an honour to have the role as head boy for this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 7 years at Ballyclare Secondary School and I will miss it when I leave at the end of year.

Head Girl- Bethany Stewart

What was the interview process like and how did you prepare? After receiving a letter inviting me for an interview for the position of Head Girl for 2015/16, I was excited and thoroughly began to plan out my PowerPoint pres-entation. I thought about my contribution to school life, my passion and dedication to Ballyclare Secondary and my own personal-ity. I prepared a 5-7 minute long presenta-tion along with flash cards. I practiced my presentation several times in front of my family and friends and I was mindful of my timing, content and clarity of speech. This was delivered to Mrs. Bell and several other senior members of staff. Whilst the overall interview process was formal and daunting, I was made to feel very welcome and I imme-diately felt at ease when presenting.

Why do you think that you were chosen? I believe I was chosen as Head Girl because of my passion and dedication to Ballyclare Secondary. I believe I am a role model to my peers and would describe myself as being an approachable and trustworthy person. My overall presentation was well prepared and I thought my composure when pre-senting demonstrated my mature nature, reliability and my appropriate skills for the

role of Head Girl. My interview highlighted my enthusiasm for the school as I have been committed to Ballyclare Secondary through sport, Scripture Union, Class Prefect, 100% attendance and my relationship with both staff and pupils.

What are your roles and responsibilities? As Head Girl my daily role is to be an am-bassador of Ballyclare Secondary and set an example to my peers through my behaviour and appearance. One of my daily respon-sibilities is to oversee prefect duties and ensure prefects are happy with their jobs. Another one of my roles is to work along-side the Head Boy and deliver a speech at Presentation Evening, represent the school on Remembrance Sunday and later in the year undertake the responsibility to organise our annual school formal.

What plans do you have for the incoming year? My plans for the incoming year are to contin-ue working hard for my A2 exams next sum-mer in order to get the grades for Queen’s University to study Midwifery/Nursing. As Head Girl I plan to help Year 8 pupils settle in to school life at Ballyclare Secondary, as this is a big transition in their lives. Also, I intend to continue my role as Class Prefect for the current Year 9 class who I visited twice a week last year and built a great relationship with. I hope that my time as Head Girl will impact on someone and encourage them.

Final Thoughts I am honoured to be Head Girl for Ballyclare Secondary School 2015/16 as it is a role with many great opportunities and respon-sibilities. I would love to inspire others in my school, as I once aspired to be like a pre-vious Head Girl. I have had a great 7 years at Ballyclare Secondary and I have gained many skills, academic achievements, friends and great memories. I intend to complete this role to the best of my ability and contin-ue to fulfill the motto of Ballyclare Second-ary, which is ‘Building Success Stories’.

Paris Trip 2015On Tuesday 16th June 2015, a group of 42 pupils and 5 staff from Ballyclare Secondary School set off to Paris in France.

On the day we arrived in France, we trav-elled by coach to the Golf D’ozoir-la-Ferri-ere, to our hotel. When we got into the hotel Miss Dundas introduced us to Malikic our French guide. He then gave us twenty min-utes to unpack. My room was pretty nice and cosy and I shared with Dylan, Josh and Alan.

The atmosphere in the dinner hall was really good and after dinner we played games before heading to bed at 10pm. The next day we got up at 6.30am and headed down for breakfast at 7.30am. We then got a coach to central Paris to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was so grand and beautiful and an amazing experience. We then took a boat ride that was very interesting, but it was very, very hot.

The third day was spent in Disneyland Paris and it was raining, although that didn’t stop us from going on the thrill seeking rides. This was personally my favourite day of the whole trip.

The final day was spent visiting the le Sacré Coeur and again it was an amazing experi-ence and a very beautiful church.

Overall, I completely loved the trip and the teachers were amazing. I definitely recom-mend it! Ryan (Year 10)

We met at Belfast city airport bright and ear-ly, all packed, full of excitement and ready to go. Little did we know that we would be coming home wanting to go straight to bed because of all the action-packed activities the hostel had in store.

We arrived in France around 5pm and we were already knackered after the flight and the early start but we continued on the bus and after a long bus journey we were there. Once we got inside we were given our keys, we were told the rules and then were allowed to go upstairs to unpack, change and freshen up. We were then let out to play some fun team games and after all that adrenaline it was back to the hostel for food… but there were consequences; what is the point of going to France and not learning any French? So we learnt all our cutlery vocabulary and eventually once we

all remembered it, we got munching. After a well-deserved tea we played games in the park and football at the centre and went to bed to prepare ourselves for the long day ahead.

We woke up to the sound of teachers knocking on our doors to get up and get dressed for breakfast, which resulted in the French essential breakfast foods; we had delicious croissants or pains au chocolat and bowls?! of chocolat chaud. There was also cereal, bread and fruit. Then we had to get our bag and our lunch and head for the bus, which took us straight to Paris… Hooray! We saw some absolutely amazing sites, the Eiffel Tower, le musée d’Orsay, la cathédrale Notre Dame, we went on a boat ride to eat our packed lunch. We were roasting because of the heat and our teachers and Malik (our leader) very kindly squeezed in an ice-cream and drink stop. Then after a fun-filled day it was on the bus and back to freshened up and refresh our minds on the vocabulary we learnt on the previous night. Then it was din-nertime, which was really good. We played team-building games and brainteasers and the girls beat the boys each time!

The next day some of us didn’t even have to get woken up as we were raring to go to Disneyland, which I thought we had been waiting long enough for! We had our tasty breakfast, got our bags and packed lunches and went on the short bus ride to Disn-eyland. When we got there everyone was screaming with excitement… we were actu-ally in Disneyland…WhooHoo. We split up in our groups and went on nearly every single ride. We then met up for lunch and were let lose (with our teachers, obviously!) to go on some more rides, buy food or souvenirs.

Eventually it was time to go home. We were gutted and wanted to stay, but the fun had to end at some point. Well that’s what we thought, however, as it was our last night we had one more vocabulary refresh and our last dinner with SNAILS!!! Then it was time to PARTY THE NIGHT AWAY… well until bedtime. We had lots of fun, made some new dance moves and made the most of our last night in France. Ryan and Zara had a dance off and after hard dancing and tricky dance moves it was finally decided it was a draw. When the party was over it was straight to bed for all of us.

The following morning was our last day. We dragged ourselves out of bed and got to tidying our rooms and got out in time for our bedroom check, where we sang ‘Joyeux Anniversaire’ to Jessica. Once we got the all clear we went on the bus for some shopping in Paris. We bought lots of souvenirs and then to top it off we went to visit the le Sacré Coeur and bought souvenirs and crêpes in the Montmartre area. Eventually we went on the bus for one last time to take us to the airport, were we waited exhausted, ready to board the plane and go home.

When we got home there were lots of hugs for our parents and we all went our separate ways to have a weekend’s rest before the last full week of school. Zara (Year 9)

Cookery Club and Hardbacks go French!The culinary skills of Ballyclare Secondary’s budding cooks were challenged during Eu-ropean Languages week as a novice Belgian chef helped them make Belgian waffles.

Hardback members also enjoyed having Le navet géant (The Giant Turnip) read to them in French by Doriane Djijakli, this year’s French assistant who comes from Brussels.



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Celebrating Success Stories at Ballyclare Secondary On Thursday 22nd October 2015 Ballyclare Secondary School held its annual awards evening for the Presentation of Certificates and Trophies. Principal, Mrs Bell welcomed parents, carers, staff, Governors, pupils and guests to the evening.

Guests of honour at the event were Mr and Mrs Euel Agnew. Mrs Agnew served as a teacher in Ballyclare Secondary School for over 30 years. During that time she held a number of positions of responsibility includ-ing Head of Geography Department, Primary School Liaison Officer and Teacher in Charge of Year 8 Induction. Mrs Agnew ensured the successful transition from Primary to Post Primary School for literally thousands of young people and it was lovely to welcome her back to school following her retirement in August.

Mrs Bell’s theme for the evening was to “celebrate” the many successes of the young people in all aspects of school life and to commend the endeavours of the staff.

During her annual report, she outlined the excellent standards achieved by pupils at GCE A level, GCSE level and in the Cam-bridge Technical Business Course pointing out how more pupils than ever before are staying on to sixth form to continue with their studies. Mrs Bell commented on the broad and varied curriculum offered to pupils and how this provided different pathways for pupils of all abilities to follow and to achieve their own personal levels of success and that all were worthy of celebration. She also highlighted the exam success of students who took courses run in conjunction with Ballyclare High School as part of the now well established Ballyclare Learning Com-munity.

Praising the pupils for their hard work and dedication in all aspects of school life the Principal reflected on the work of the Music Department, Home Economics Depart-ment, Charity Work and the many sporting

successes throughout the year. Mrs Bell also highlighted the many popular extracurricular activities which take place throughout the year,

Mrs. Bell commended the teaching staff for their efforts over the past 12 months, and also paid tribute to the Board of Governors and the Education Authority for their support and encouragement throughout the year.

The Principal went on to comment on the three major areas of the school - Pastoral Care and Pupil Welfare, Educational Provi-sion and School Organisation and Improve-ment. She highlighted the work and support of her Senior Leadership Team.

Turning to the issues affecting secondary education Mrs. Bell commented on the current proposals for Area Based Planning and that Ballyclare Secondary School was currently benefiting from inclusion in the School Enhancement Programme. Mrs. Bell detailed the major new extension to the school providing a new state of the art Home Economics Suite, Drama and Performing Art facilities, new entrance hall and a signifi-cant number of new classrooms. Mrs. Bell acknowledged this major investment in the school by the Department of Education at a time when there are such tight constraints on the public purse and that she was very much looking forward to the enhanced

learning and teaching environment it will provide for young people and staff.

In closing her annual report, Mrs. Bell welcomed the new members of the Board of Governors and thanked them for their dedication, faithful attendance at meetings and contribution to the school and stated that Ballyclare Secondary School had, once again, demonstrated that it is a very good school and she paid tribute to students and staff alike for their contribution in making it a year of outstanding success and progress.

Scientific Sue visits Ballyclare Secondary ‘Scientific Sue’ aka Sue McGrath is the Director of Science2Life, an outreach edu-cational provider and consultant dedicated to the communication of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in a passionate and engaging fashion. Her aim is to “effect change, achieve results and make science fun!” and on Friday 27th November she certainly did that on her visit to Ballyclare Secondary School.

During her show ‘Scientific Sue’ introduced Year 10 classes to the science and technolo-gy behind the “How to train a dragon” books and film series. Pupils and teachers were thoroughly engaged and entertained as we were taken on a journey through the science of dragons – from how they fly and breathe fire to their disgusting digestion.

Student Forum visit new school buildingsOn Tuesday October 20th representatives from the Student Forum had the opportu-nity to get a tour around the new buildings, which are currently under construction.

Accompanied by Mrs. Bell and the site man-ager the pupils got to see where the new learning areas would be and also got an in-sight into how certain parts of the buildings have been constructed. We are all looking forward to seeing the final outcome!

Attendance Rewards Assemblies



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Profile of an A Level student’s Career choice: Nicole ReidNicole has been really interested in working within the medical profession for a long time. Her work experiences have reflected this , work shadowing the nursing department at Antrim Area Hospital and more recently shadowing a consultant in the surgery wards at the Ulster Hospital.

Her part time job in a nursing home has highlighted her caring nature which will be well suited to her chosen career path. In addition to this her thirst for more knowledge in the field of med-icine, was further enhanced through her participation at Oxbridge Summer school for Molecular Medicine for two weeks. The feed-back from this, was excellent and very motivating for Nicole.

In her performance in tutorials her tutor described her as a ‘promising student’ with a good theoretical background and clear interest in this field. She had two set works to perform, one dealt with critically reading and summarising a scientific review, com-paring molecular strategies used by plant and animal stem cells, whilst the other was more creative. She also had to formulate a hypothesis based on described data and propose experiments to test it. Her tutor stated “Nicole’s set works were among the best in the class.

She is a talented writer, communicating her ideas in a clear and logical way. She searched for additional information in the literature and skillfully incorporated it into her essays”. This clearly shows Nicole’s passion for medicine and her very positive work ethic. Nicole also spent one week at Queens University Belfast, studying chemistry and chemical engineering. Her attendance at Medic Mentor highlighted the range of roles within the medical profession, and she gave a presentation on why she wanted to study medicine at university in front of a packed arena. For her excellent work placements she was presented with the Work Experience cup for outstanding placements in LVI. Nicole hopes to study medicine at university and we wish her all the best in pursuing this as her career.

Careers at Ballyclare SecondaryYear 12 Interview Skills- Monday 23rd November & Tuesday 24th November 2015The Careers department in conjunction with BH Communications had two interview skills Training days.

On the day each pupil had the opportunity to receive help in writing a CV, assessing their own application forms and also experience a ‘mock’ job interview. This experience is as close to the ‘real’ interview situation, with the help of advisors and interviewers from the World of Work.

The guidelines given by Barbara Hume were invaluable, Prepare, Practice and Present, and there were many activities to highlight these important points.

Year 12 Study SkillsOn Tuesday 20th October all Year 12 pupils had the opportunity to participate in the Study Skills programme. Led by Mrs Beattie and Mr Adams each class in Year 12 takes two periods to complete a range of study skills activities including the completion of an individual study skills booklet. This is an extremely useful exercise in the preparation for the Year 12 mock exam week.

Why do we need Study skills? These are the skills we need to enable us to study and learn efficiently. Study skills are trans-ferable because you will take them with you beyond education, for example organisational skills, time management, prioritising, learning how to analyse, problem solving and self- dis-cipline that is required to remain motivated. Study Skills relate closely to the type of skills that employers look for.

How can we be successful with our study skills?

Discover your learning style, if you understand your own learning style you can improve techniques that will improve your learning skills.

VAK questionnaire is carried out on the 1st of Septem-ber for years 8 – 14 to assess the best way that a pupil can learn.

University Open DaysUniversity Open Days are a great way to see what a university is really like. The wide range of courses and faculty criteria is outlined through talks, as well as by exhibitors The students get a feel for the place by visiting the campus speaking to tutors, current students, and take a look at facilities. They Visit Queens University Belfast, Ulster University and Stranmillis University college. Many do go to other university open days on the mainland too.



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UCAS Information Evening-Thursday 8th October 2015On Thursday, October 18th Ballyclare Secondary School invited Year 14 pupils to attend a UCAS Information evening. The aim of this event is to inform the pupils, parents/carers of the UCAS process and the requirements for University Life.

Objectives:

• To ensure pupils are aware of the different university and college options.• To develop a structured approach to the decision making process for the success of UCAS applications.• Ensure pupils, parents/carers are made aware of the importance of researching the Internet to get additional information, advice and

guidance on Higher education provision.

Important points covered:

• What is UCAS? (Pupil Fact sheets and Parent information booklet)• Things to Do?• Personal Statement• Other things to think about? (Tests, auditions etc.)• Making choices- Choices explained for the UK and Eire• The Process- Helpful step by step guide for applying to university• Key dates stressed and the importance of hard work• Types of Offers• Student Finance (Booklet: Student Finance N.I.)• UCAS Parent Guide- Relevant information for applying for UCAS• Relevance of attending Results Day in August.

Year 12 Work Experience 28th September- 2nd October 2015Work Experience has an important contribution to make to the education of all our pupils in order for them to make an effective transition from school to adult working life. Year 12 participated in this programme from 28th September to 2nd of October 2015. Work Experience has many benefits not only for the pupils but also the school and local industries and businesses.

Advantages of Work Experience for Pupils

• improves pupil’s self-knowledge• increases pupil’s employability skills• increases pupil’s motivation to learn• gives relevance to the work pupil does in school• encourages pupil to consider the wide range of jobs available• gives pupil an insight into the workings of business and industry• highlights the skills, qualifications and experience needed by employers

Advantages for School

• brings the curriculum to life• develops closer links with business and industry• allows staff to gain an insight into the world of business and industry• provides opportunities for teachers to develop new skills

Advantages for Employers

Highlights the essential employability skills needed for future employment, employers gain an insight into developments in education and can relate education to the work environment.

Ballyclare Secondary School is Working TowardsInvestor in Careers is a quality standard for the management of careers education, infor-mation, advice and guidance (CEIAG) and is now the most widely used quality award of its kind recognised nationally across the country. The Investor in Careers (IiC) standard is about improving student’s awareness of opportunities, raising their aspirations and working with them to ensure they achieve their full potential.



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FORMULA 24 Forget Fossil - Rockingham International Final 2015On Friday 9th Oct eight pupils from Forget Fossil, Ballyclare Second-ary School’s Formula 24 team, set off to compete in the Greenpower International Final.

Forget Fossil are the first ever Ballyclare Secondary School Kitcar team and after an excellent performance at the regional final in May were very excited to have qualified for the International Final at Rockingham Speedway in Northamptonshire, England.

On arrival at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday morning at 7:45am there was already a real buzz and atmosphere around the circuit, even though it was very early in the morning! Forget Fossil immedi-ately went to garage 11 to get their Kitcar. The kitcar had been kindly crated up by WS Denison the previous week and taken to Rocking-ham by Woodside Haulage. Without their help the team would have had no kitcar to race. After reassembling parts of the car the team went to register and find their paddock/pitt area for the two day competition. Forget Fossil were in paddock 29. They were to share the paddock with two other teams from the USA, one from Huntsville Alabama and one from Boston Massachusetts. The moment they en-tered the paddock they realised this was a huge step up in standard from the regional final! Beside them in paddock 28 was two teams from Poland, and to our other side was a team from Berkamstead School, Hertfordshire. When the Huntsville Alabama team tell you that NASA help develop their car you know you might be slightly out of your league.

At 8:30am the car had to go through its MOT, just like a normal car would. The scrutiniser was very thorough, checking that Forget Fossil had manufactured everything on the car to the correct tolerances and within the regulations of the competition. After a nervous ten minutes the car was given a pink sticker to signify its passing of the test. The team then had an opportunity to have a look at some of the other cars they would be competing against over the two days. We were one of the very few first time teams at the event and it was obvious the majority had been there before. The standard of shell and chassis design was phenomenal. The scope of electronics within

Formula 24 Fundraiser- Bambou RestaurantOn Thursday 17th September a group of staff and pupils from Ballyclare Secondary School ran a fundraising night in the Bambou restaurant, Templepatrick. The purpose of this event was to raise money for the upcoming trip to Rockingham Speedway in England. The students, under the team name Forget Fossil, designed and built an electric Kit-car, which competed in the Green-power regional final at Nutts Corners Race Track in May. The aim of the competition was to get the Kit-car to travel as far as possible in ninety minutes. The team performed extremely well and came away from Nutts Corner with three individual awards including the fastest lap and third place. Raising over £1000, the pupils went to the Rockingham Finals in October. The school would like to thank all the staff, pupils, parents and sponsors who attended the evening and also to all those who generously supplied raffle prizes.

the other cars was way beyond what Forget Fossil had expected. Nevertheless the first practise session was beginning at 9:30am and the pupils were raring to go.

The first practise session brought back some bad memories of our initial tests of the car. The back axle moved slightly and therefore the chain had come off the sprockets. In the build-up to the final the team had drilled holes for locating the axle grub screws to stop this problem but they quickly realised, at Rockingham, it was the grub screw vibrating loose that was the problem. So the team pitted and brought the car back into the paddock were they removed the grub screws from the back axle and put them back on with Thread Lock in an attempt to keep them in place. Just in case they didn’t stay in place the team decided they would Pitt every four laps. This was go-ing to reduce the number of laps we would be able to complete but it meant not having to waste time putting the chain back on which would be more time consuming.

Race One:

As the cars lined up for the start the difference between the regional and now was very clear, with 12 cars competing in NI and 38 racing in Rockingham. The Forget Fossil team were apprehensive and ex-cited for the first race. Crawford Ewing drove the car during the first few laps and Kyle Barr took over after four. The Pitt crew checked all grub screws were tight and the chain was still in line during each Pitt stop as well as assiting in the driver changeover, it’s not easy to get in and out of a small kitcar. At the regional the car averaged 21kph but here it was only reaching 15.6kph. The drivers put this down to the slight but very long incline on the last half of the track which was 1.47 miles long. In the end the car drove for 73 minutes and managed a distance of 19.1km. This put us in 34th place. Although we weren’t near achieving a podium position the pupils all enjoyed the racing experience.

The afternoon was the F24+ race. The cars in this race were very impressive hitting speeds of up to 40kph, using the same motor and batteries as we had. It definitely inspired Forget Fossil and showed them what was possible with the right engineering. Getting to see the engineering Graduates from Land Rover Jaguar and Cummings compete was fantastic. Some of the F24+ teams had live transpond-ers to feed information back to the Pitt crews to analyse their cars performance. Our pupils were so impressed by the technology these teams had in their cars.

Before the team left for the evening there was another practise ses-

sion when we gave the whole team the opportunity to have a drive round the track in the kitcar. For some of the team this was their first time behind the wheel.

Sunday International Race:

There were 78 competitors in the F24 International Final on the Sunday. It really was a magnificent sight. The paddock area was a hive of activity as teams from across the whole of the Uk got ready for the race. The team were much better prepared for this race, having charged up the batteries from the night before, pumped the wheels to their max PSI and worked out a quicker Pitt stop routine. Thankfully our kitcar managed an extra lap around the track. We finished 72nd.

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE

Although Forget Fossil didn’t finish high up in the field, none of the group will forget the experience of going and competing at Rocking-ham. The sight of all 78 teams lining up on the race track, the shapes and sizes of the other cars, the camaraderie they had with their own teammates and other teams will stay with them for a very long time. Getting to see the quality and standard of the other schools and what is capable when time, effort and expertise are all utilised to the maximum. Can Forget Fossil Mk2 improve on Forget Fossil Mk1? Of course, now that they have witnessed the standard at the very highest level it will be much easier to know the next step: a lighter chassis, thinner and smaller wheels, a belt drive to replace the ex-isting chain one, a motor speed control unit, a throttle rather than a switch. The possibilities for Forget Fossil MK2 are endless and we at Ballyclare Secondary School are looking forward to the next year and the challenge that it will bring for the next group of students.



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Belvoir Park - Science Field TripThe Double Award Science classes took part in their GCSE Field from Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th October. The day started at the Field Studies Council NI office at Titanic Quarter, where pupils learnt the theory of what they would be investigating in the field. Pupils then travelled to Belvoir Park Forest in Belfast, where they used belt tran-sects to investigate the effect of changing environmental conditions, such as light intensity and temperature on the distribution of plant species.

The weather was fantastic and we were able to have a picnic lunch in the forest. After lunch we used pooters and nets to capture invertebrate organisms. The Field Trip was really useful in helping pupils understand the theory they had been learning in class.

Scripture Union SU is open to all pupils in Years 8-14. We begin our meetings by having lunch and chatting to our friends. The rest of our meet-ing usually consists of a talk from a visiting speaker who teaches us how the Bible is relevant in our everyday lives.

The programme for each term is organised by the SU teachers and a very enthusiastic SU committee. A team from Crown Jesus Ministries visited us at the beginning of the term and challenged us to look at what being a Christian is all about. Ricky Mehaffy from Ballyclare Youth for Christ also spoke to us in October and was invited back to take our ‘Shine’ events.

SHINE Events

Ricky and Scott presented ‘Wednesday lunchtime takeaway’ where we had a new Ant and Dec encouraging pupils to take part in ‘rare’ challenges e.g eating a blended Jonny Whites Chip, red sauce and coke or acting out movie titles.

Another feature this year was a special movie entitled ’I’m a teacher get me out of here’. Pupils got the chance to see another side to their teachers! These events created a lot of fun and laughter but also encouraged pupils to ask questions such as ‘How can you believe in a God you cannot see? Or Why does God allow so much suffering?

If you haven’t been along to SU call in to the lecture theatre on Thursday at lunchtime. You will be very welcome.

Upcoming Events

SU Weekend

Our SU weekend is planned for Friday 15th until Sunday 17th April 2016 in Cultra Residential Centre. This will be a time when pupils can get to know each other and learn how they can grow deeper in their faith. Booking Forms can be obtained from Mr Beckington after Christmas.

SU Hoodies

SU hoodies will also be available to order after Christmas.

Productive term for Horticulture PupilsOccupational Studies Environment & Society Studies, Horticulture, have had a busy first term. Year 11 developed their floristry skills early, creating arrangements for the MacMillan coffee morning. This was followed up with a few weeks of preparing for the school’s annual Business Dinner and more creations were designed. Both year 11 and year 12 played an integral role this year, in our annual Presentation Evening. Year 11 designed the planters, propagated from cuttings, which decorated the front of the stage. Year 12 took a big step, to design the flowers for the stage, entrance hall, table arrangements and gift for our guest speaker Mrs Agnew. This was a daunting experi-ence, carried out to a professional standard, big thanks to lead floral designers, Jack

Bowden, David McConkey and Jenny Hunter.

Early November, saw the creation of a Poppy display by Jack Bowden to support Armistice Day. Year 11 completed a visit to retail out-lets on 19th November and gained valuable ideas and products for their up and coming plant stall in December. The highlight of the visit, was purchasing our three new resident BSS fish. The fish will hopefully move to their new Eco friendly home in the internal garden, at Mr Beggs corridor in the spring of 2016, so watch out for them!

OS horticulture is supporting the Rotary Purple Crocus Project, to raise funds to help eradicate the disease Polio in chil-dren throughout the world. Year 11 have

planted 850 purple crocus bulbs in the front bed, the significance of the purple crocus is, every child vaccinated, gets a purple spot of dye permanently on their finger.

Year 12, are rolling out an Eco project from last year and are now selling paper fire bundles for burning in your open fire over the winter months, very cheap heat energy! This is a pilot scheme, to recycle our schools excess paper waste. If you would like to purchase any paper bundles please speak to Mr Hill. The proceeds of our events through-out the academic year will go towards new fleeces for Year 11, continuous resources for projects and this year’s charity, Rotary Crocus Project. We thank you for your con-tinued support in our projects.

GCSE Home EconomicsThe main focus for Year 12 Home Economics since the start of September has been the completion of the GCSE practical exam. A wide range of exciting dishes were made to showcase how we can eat lots of fruit and vegetables in our diet. This included tasty soups, delicious stir fries, pizza, chicken curry, cheesecake, fruit tartlets and home-made breads.

The standard of presentation was very high and the pupils are to be congratulated on their hard work.

In Year 11 two GCSE classes and an Occu-pational Studies class had a visit from Liz Brown, a Home Economist from the Live-stock and Meat Commission. She explained to us the importance of buying farm quality assured beef and demonstrated a variety

of healthy meals for us to sample. These included Oriental lamb stir-fry, Italian Beef stew and Curried lamb in a Pitta pocket. The classes really enjoyed sampling new dishes and getting new recipes to try at home or in class.

Two Year 11 GCSE Home Economics classes visited ASDA to help complete their research section in the controlled assessment task. Christine Craig, Community Life Champi-on showed us around the ASDA store in Ballyclare and pointed out all the effective marketing techniques that ASDA use during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Pupils were very impressed with the layout of the store and the relevant examples of price promotions that they can now use in their controlled assessment task.

Food Prep students refine their culinary skillsThis term the Year 11 Food Preparation classes have been very busy. Pupils kicked off the year looking at starters, the pupils had to quickly grasp the principles of res-taurant style presentation and being able to cook two things at once! Their chef jackets arrived and we have to say they really look the part. In October the classes started work placement in the Templeton Hotel. The pupils were transported to the hotel for 4 hours of work with Ivan O’Neill and his brigade of staff. Ivan conducted master classes in scrambling eggs, scone making, pasta making and haute cuisine presentation. The pupils have been lucky enough to sample a wide variety of dishes from the menu includ-ing duck, lamb, fish and risotto.



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NEBSSA Cross Country Champions!The NEBSSA Cross Country Championships took place on Tuesday November 24th at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. The Year 9 Boys Cross Country Team dominated their race Jamie Bell had a fantastic run narrowly missing out on becoming NEBSSA champion, placing 2nd and it was a Ballyclare 2-3 with Seth McCracken claiming the bronze medal. Bradley Yip placed 9th to give Ballyclare three top 10 finishes and guarantee the overall Year 9 Boys Team title.

Team: Jamie Bell, Seth McCracken, Bradley Yip and Jamie Wharry.

The Year 11 & 12 Boys Cross Country Team were also crowned NEBSSA Champions. Some great individual performances helped the team to secure the overall team title with Isaiah Close placing 5th (while running

a year up), Aran Lynch placing 7th and Leon Smiley close behind in 8th position, three top ten finishes in the race was enough to secure the overall team title for the boys. (A special mention must also go to Philip Maybin who was in contention to win the race but unfortunately due to illness had to pull out, a huge effort from the rest of his teammates made sure they finished what he had started).

Team: Philip Maybin, Aran Lynch, Leon Smiley, Isaiah Close, Kofi Balmer and Jack Buckley

Pupils are looking forward to competing in the District Championships taking place on January 21st 2016. We wish them Good Luck!

Travel & Tourism Flybe Cabin Crew VisitOn Friday 13th November Eva Gage, a mem-ber of Flybe’s Cabin Crew based at Belfast City Airport, came to speak to Year 13 Travel and Tourism students as they study Flybe as a case study at AS Level.

Eva’s talk covered entry requirements for a job in Cabin Crew, details of the 4 week intensive training course at Flybe’s Training Academy in Exeter and a detailed description of a typical day at work.

The main focus of the visit was to ex-plain the importance of delivering good customer service at Flybe as this is a key part of the A-Level syllabus. Eva stressed the importance of good communication between different departments to ensure the smooth and timely departure of flights, high standards of personal presentation, making the customer feel valued and being able to answer customer queries.

Year 13 students were also interested to learn about ‘Internal Customer Service’ at Flybe (how Flybe value their employees). Eva gave a very positive report on work-ing conditions at the airline and explained company benefits such as commission, discounted staff travel for friends and family, free car parking, bonuses for exceeding sales targets, provision of a tailored uniform, extensive refresher training, extra pay for working away from her base airport and promotion opportunities.

Pupils were given an opportunity to ask any additional questions and were particularly interested to hear about dealing with difficult passengers and emergency landings.

The Coca Cola ExperienceAs part of their Event Management module at A-Level, Year 14 Travel and Tourism students were set the task of organising an educational school trip for Year 10 pupils to the Coca Cola Visitor Experience in Lisburn.

In order to decide which lucky pupils they would take, the Year 14s set the Year 10s the challenge of achieving 100% attendance during the first 6 weeks of the school term. Incred-ibly, nearly 100 pupils achieved this target and were entered into the draw for one of the 33 places.

On the day of the trip pupils were treated to complimentary drinks on arrival and then shown a film on the history of the Coca Cola brand. They were then given a ‘bird’s-eye view’ of the production process before having some time free in the interactive zone to play games, quizzes and purchase merchandise. To top off a great trip the pupils had the opportunity to visit McDonalds for lunch as a special treat on the way back to school!

Congratulations to the Year 14 Travel and Tourism students on leading a successful and enjoyable trip!

Young Enterprise Visit St Georges MarketOn Wednesday 2nd Dec a group of year 13 and year 14 students attended ‘The Big Market’ in St Georges market Belfast. The students have been participating in Young Enterprise as an extra curricular activity from September. In Young Enterprise the students created their own company; Knit ‘n cosy. The students each have a specific job role in the company and together they created products such as mug warmers and winter warmer packs. The Big Market gave the students an opportunity to sell the products they had worked so hard to create. The day was very well organised by Young Enterprise NI and students enjoyed the chance to sell to real

customers as well as take a look at what some of their seventy competing schools had to offer. There are a few products remaining so please see a member of Knit ‘n cosy to purchase a mug warmer or winter warmer pack.

U12 HockeyThe U12 Hockey team competed at the U12 Blitz Tournament at Downshire on Friday the 4th December. All girls played extremely well, especially Katie Conway who captioned the team to success. The girls drew with Carrick Grammar 0-0 and beat Carrick Col-lege and Downshire 4-0 and 1-0 respective-ly. The U12 team will commence matches in early January playing in the East-Antrim League.

Year 12 High Schools’ Trophy RugbyThe Year 12 Team started their season with the Pollock Cup qualifiers at Ballyclare Rugby Club. Ballyclare Secondary defeated Abbey College 15-0 with tries from Jordan Birnie, Jack Milton and Ross Warren. Their second group match they drew 7-7 with a talented Downshire team, unfortunate not to win it in the dying moments. Philip Maybin scored our only try, which he also converted. Ballyclare then went on to defeat Ashfield Boys’ 38-0 and topped the group on points difference to progress to Pollock Cup Finals. The win was secured with tries from Jordan Birnie, Aran Lynch, Bradley Russell, Ross Warren, Philip Maybin and Rhys Cobain. Philip Maybin added four conversions.

The Pollock Cup finals, which Ballyclare Sec-ondary were runners-up in last year, consists of two groups of four, followed by a Final and a 3rd/4th Place play-off. Ballyclare were drawn alongside St Euanan’s Letterkenny, Sperrin Integrated and Craigavon Senior High School. Ballyclare defeated St Euanan’s

5-0 with Johnston Kirkpatrick scoring the only try. Ballyclare then lost 12-0 to a strong and well organised Sperrin side and then defeated Craigavon SHS 19-0 with Owen Brobyn, Matthew Dougan and Johnston Kirkpatrick all scoring tries and Philip May-bin adding two conversions. This set up a 3rd/4th place play-off with Downshire which Ballyclare won 28-0 with Philip Maybin scoring twice, Jordan Birnie and Johnston Kirkpatrick also scoring tries. Philip Maybin converted all four tries.

Ballyclare Secondary were then seeded on the back of their Pollock Cup campaign and received a bye in the first round of the prestigious U16 High Schools’ Trophy. Bally-clare Secondary have been drawn at home against Castlederg High School which will be played on Thursday 17th December 2015. This current team will be keen to emulate last year’s team and make it to the final at The Kingspan Stadium in March.

Squad: Matthew Dougan, Adam Elliot, Robert Dunbar, Ethan Corry, Bradley Russell, Aran Lynch, Joshua West, Jordan Birnie, Rhys Cobain, Johnston Kirkpatrick (Captain), Philip Maybin, Jack Milton, Ross Warren, Kofi Balmer, Jake Semple, Owen Brobyn, Adam Clarke, James Wilson, Joe McCabe, Samuel Wilson.

Coaches: Mr. A Cowden and Mr. S McGuigan.



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Football FocusIt has been an extremely busy term for all football teams at Ballyclare Secondary School. Ballyclare Secondary School has all year groups from Year 8-12 competing in the East Antrim League and Cup Competitions. Further the Year 8, 10 and 12 teams all compete in the Northern Ireland Cup too. A fantastic season has produced 4 out of our 5 teams gaining a place in the East Antrim Cup Final, which is due to take place on Wednes-day 16th December.

Year 8 The Year 8 Football team has had an extremely busy term with the completion of 12 fixtures in the East Antrim League, East Antrim Cup and the Northern Ireland Cup. They are unbeaten in the East Antrim League and Cup with impressive wins against Abbey Community College (5-1), Boys Model (8-0) and Larne High School (2-0). While they have also progressed to the final of the East Antrim Cup with emphatic wins over Down-shire (13-1) and Abbey Community College (7-0). They will play Carrickfergus College in what promises to be a great final! In the Northern Ireland Cup a first round home tie resulted in Ballyclare winning in extra time 3-2 against Rathmore Grammar School. The second round opposition St Killians College, Garron Tower produced a great game of entertaining football resulting in a 4-2 victory for the Ballyclare boys and progression into the third round of the tournament. The third round ties featured all of the seeded teams for the competition and Ballyclare drew a home tie against Edmund Rice College, Glengormley. Ballyclare went behind early in the game and fought their way back to lead 3-2 with only two minutes of normal time remaining, unfortunately a defensive mistake cost the boys their lead and at full time the match was tied at 3-3. Extra time resulted in end-to-end football and Ballyclare were caught on the counter attack twice resulting in Edmund Rice progressing with a 5-3 win AET. The team have scored an impressive 47 goals with Max Greer and Jack Montgomery leading the charge up top with 14 goals

each! The team has conceded 15 goals giving the boys an impressive +32 goal difference. We wish the boys all the best in the East Antrim Cup Final!

Squad: Aiden Boyd, Scott McAuley, Blair Sawyer, Corey Houston, Jamie Murphy, Paddy Gallagher, Jonny Yip, Adam Cope (Captain), Jamie Stewart, Max Greer, Jack Montgomery, Matthew Ferguson, Darren Hawe, Cameron Entwistle and Dean McIn-trye. Coach: Mr. A Blain.

Year 9 The Year 9 Football team has competed in both the East Antrim League and Cup this term. A 4-1 victory over Ulidia Integrated College in the East Antrim cup quarterfinal set up a semi final tie between Ballyclare Secondary and Glengormley High School. The match was extremely close and with nothing separating the two sides after both normal time and extra time the tie was de-cided on penalty kicks. This nail biting semi final did not effect the nerves of penalty takers from either school and the first 10 penalties were all successfully scored! Sud-den death loomed and finally Ballyclare were victorious winning 8-7 on penalties! The boys will have to successfully win a Bally-

clare derby if they are to lift the East Antrim Cup as they face neighbours Ballyclare High School in the final!

Squad: Oliver Hill, Ryan Henry, Jamie Wharry, Jamie Bell, Seth McCracken, Aiden McGarvey, Carson Todd, Matthew Patterson, Craig McAuley, Bradley Yip, Michael Murphy, Anthony Gillianders, Ryan McWilliams, Adam Warren, Sam Gardiner and Justin Forsythe. Coaches: Mr. P McCausland, Mr. S Hen-nessy and Mr D. McKean.

Year 10 The Year 10 Football team opened their East Antrim League campaign with a home win against Boys Model and an away victo-ry against Ulidia Integrated College. The Northern Ireland Cup then took preference where the boys were unfortunately knocked out in the first round against Carrickfergus Grammar School losing 3-0 the team is now competing in the plate competition and are due to play Dundonald in the next round. In the East Antrim Cup quarter final, Parkhall Integrated College were the opposition and after a close match, Ballyclare progressed into the semi final winning by one goal. The semi final brought another dramatic penalty shoot out, this time the Boys Model were the opposition. The game ended with neither team able to score and therefore went to penalties. Accurate spot kicking from Bally-clare ensure their place in the final winning 5-4. Good luck to the Year 10s in the final when they will be up against Glengormley High School.

Squad: Colin Graham, Jack Moore, Daniel Livingstone, Jack Milton, Ross Warren, Luke Brobyn, Max McAuley-Brown, Peter Grimley, Ethan Adams, Jack Rodgers, Josh Steele,

Balmoral Show Jumping Show 2015Ballyclare Secondary School looks forward to this event every year as it is the biggest competition on the academic calendar. This year we took both a Novice and Open team consisting of: Hannah McCartney, Emma Ewing, Samantha Billings, Natasha McKer-non, Ross McCullough, Robyn McConnell, Alexandra McConnell and Jessica McCon-nell. The standard of this competition is very high with a large quantity of both grammar and secondary schools competing.

I’m delighted to say that the Open team were placed first in their tack and turn out, a fantastic achievement, which demonstrates the dedication and commitment in preparing for such an event. The Novice team were also placed sixth within their jumping which again, is a wonderful achievement as this was their first time working together as a team. All of the pupils involved represent-ed our school to a very high standard and should be very proud of themselves.

Meadows Show Jumping League To date, Ballyclare Secondary School has completed two events within this league. There are a number of individual com-petitors consisting of: Natasha McKernon,

Lydia McLeister, Hannah McCartney, Emma Ewing, Samantha Billings and Zara McCreery and an Open Team consisting of: Ross McCullough, Robyn McConnell, Alexandra McConnell and Jessica McConnell.

I’m delighted to announce that on 10th October the Open team were placed 2nd! A fantastic achievement for a team who have only began jumping in this class during this academic year. Well done! We have high hopes for the continuation of this league!

U14 NEBSSA RUGBYThe U14 Rugby team competed in the NEBSSA Tournament on November 27th at Carrickfergus Grammar School. Placed in the developing schools group the boys were up against Carrickfergus Grammar, Larne Gram-mar and Carrickfergus College. The boys opened the tournament with a dominating 31-5 victory over Larne Grammar School. A close match against Carrickfergus Grammar resulted in Ballyclare winning by 12 points to 5 with a converted try from Ross Warren and a try from James Wilson. Our final group game was against Carrick College who were beaten comfortably after only 7 minutes

being played, three quick tries put Ballyclare 15-0 up and with Carrick carrying a few injuries their teacher had seen enough!

The other table consisted of Coleraine Grammar, Ballyclare High School and Belfast High School. Belfast High placed third in this group and therefore played Ballyclare Secondary for overall third place. With 14 players Ballyclare ground out a fantastic 10-5 victory to earn their Bronze medals (the highest place possible from the format of the competition).

A great afternoon of rugby with three victories over Grammar school opposition! It would have been interesting to see how the boys would have competed against Cole-raine Grammar and Ballyclare High School! A great start to what could be a promising season for the team.

First for School News & Views

inform January 2016

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Ryan Campbell, Bradley Hutchinson, Daniel Stewart, Aiden McGarvey, Andrew Hawthorne and Ryan McBurney. Coach: Mr. S Crothers.

Year 11 The Year 11 team has had a mixed season on the pitch, they completed their East Antrim League season undefeated and were runners up narrowly missing out on clinching the league title by two points. They began the season with a 2-2 away draw to Glen-

gormley High School with goals from Kofi Balmer and Gary McCormick. Next up was a home tie against Larne High School, the boys played some great attacking football and comfortably won 3-0 with two goals from Ethan McKeown and one from Kofi Balmer. The third league match was played against Abbey Community College at home, the boys took an early 2-0 lead but some sloppy defending let Abbey back into the game and eventually they took the lead 3-2. A fantastic free kick from Kofi Balmer saved a point for Ballyclare Secondary with the game finishing 3-3. Unfortunately it would be this match that would cost the team the league title. Further victories were recorded against Carrick College (8-1), Downshire (3-0) and Boys Model (5-4). In the quarter final of the East Antrim Cup, Parkhall Integrated College were comfortably defeated 6-0 setting up a semi final tie against Glen-gormley High School. The semi final game was extremely close with both sides having chances to take the lead, finally just before the end of the first half Glengormley took a 1-0 lead. The second half was similar to the first and Ballyclare failed to capitalise on their chances. The match finished with Glengormley adding another late goal to progress to the final by two goals to nil. The boys were extremely disappointed but are looking forward to getting both the league and cup back next year!

Squad: Scott Haggan, Gary McCormick, Isaiah Close, Aaron Williamson, Mark Mc-Cracken, Jack Buckley, Ethan McKeown, Kofi Balmer (Captain), Blane Warren, Joel O’Neill, Harry Morrow, TJ Wright, Cameron Kirk and

Dylan McMordie. Coach: Mr. A Blain

Year 12 The Year 12 Football Team captained by Joshua Kerr have enjoyed a very successful season to date, with an unbeaten record in their nine matches. The team started with a 5-0 win over Parkhall in their first league match with Philip Maybin scoring a hat-trick and Jake Semple and Taylor Agnew adding one each. Next up was the first round of the Northern Ireland Cup against Corpus Christi at Dixon Park, which the boys produced a fantastic performance to win 5-0 with Leon Smiley scoring two and Philip Maybin, Jake Semple and Jack Ferguson also on target. Ballyclare Secondary then faced Boys Model, Belfast in the league and triumphed 5-1 with another hat-trick for Philip Maybin and one goal each for Owen Brobyn and Jake Semple. Ballyclare went on to defeat Glengom-ley High School 3-0 in a league match, which then set up a top of the table clash with Abbey Community College, which Ballyclare produced another excellent performance to win 4-1 with Philip Maybin and Leon Smiley both scoring a brace. Next up was the quarter final of the East Antrim Cup against Glengormley HS after receiving a bye in the first round. Ballyclare defeated Glengormley 3-0 with goals from Johnston Kirkpatrick, Owen Brobyn and Philip Maybin. The Year 12 Team then defeated Banbridge High in the second round of the NI Cup to set up a third round encounter against Laurelhill, Lisburn. In what was a very physical game played in difficult conditions, Ballyclare produced a clinical performance to win 5-0, with Philip Maybin scoring his third hat-tick of the season and Jake Semple and Leon Smiley also scoring. Ballyclare Secondary now progress to the last 16 of this very prestigious trophy and will be at home to Lisneal after Christmas. Two days later was an East Antrim semi-final against Carrick Grammar, which Ballyclare won 7-0 to progress to the final on Wednes-day 16th December 2015, were they will be looking to go one further than last year when they lost to Ashfield Boys’ in the Year 11 Cup Final. Philip Maybin scored two, Taylor Agnew scored ‘a goal of the season’ candidate and Jake Semple, Owen Brobyn, Johnston Kirkpatrick and Leon Smiley were also on target against Carrick Grammar. Complimenting the teams natural goal scoring ability, it is important to note that the team have only conceded 2 goals all season which is credit to the defensive duties of

Scott Haggan in goals and a defence led by captain Joshua Kerr, the very talented Kofi Balmer, Aran Lynch, Cameron Lannie and Curtis McCowan. Ballyclare now face a run of very important matches in their quest for silverware and adding to the year groups Year 10 East Antrim Cup and Year 11 East Antrim League titles.

Squad: Scott Haggan, Aran Lynch, Cameron Lannie, Joshua Kerr (Captain), Kofi Balmer, Curtis McCowan, Owen Brobyn, Johnston Kirkpatrick, Taylor Agnew, Philip Maybin, Leon Smiley, Jake Semple, Jack Ferguson, Samuel Howe, Jamie Williamson and Adam Elliot. Coach: Mr. A Cowden

Football Focus Continued

1st XI Hockey UpdateThis was the first year that we decided to put together a 1st XI team that comprises of year 9 -year 14 players. All the girls attend two 45 minute early morning fitness sessions per week and two skill sessions after school with Miss Miniss and Miss Bothwell. The girls have played 3 rounds of the McDowell cup where they obtained 3 victories; 9-1 against Armagh College, 1-0 against Lurgan College – a team that have won the McDowell cup 4 years running and 1-0 against Dromore High. This secures them a place in the quarter finals where they will come up against very difficult opposi-tion – Friends Grammar School, to which I wish them every success in. The team have acquired a diligent and committed approach to training, fitness sessions and games and this should stand them in good stead for upcoming games.

Documents

A Ballyclare Secondary School News Views Year 8 Christmas ...ballyclaresecondary.co.uk/wp-content/themes/ballyclare/pdf/InformJan2016-Web.pdfOn Tuesday 8th December 2015 the Year 8