Newsletter Issue 12 Summer 2011

Another academic year has reached its end and as
pupils embark on a well earned summer break, I
write to introduce this account of the activities,
events and changes that have taken place in recent
months at Glenlola Collegiate.
Reading through the entries for this Newsletter, I
have once again been struck by the number and
range of opportunities that have been made
available to our girls through the hard work and
dedication of our staff. House events, competitions,
trips to destinations near and far, sporting
successes, dramatic and musical productions, social
service (including community involvement) have
been enjoyed by a wide range of pupils. To draw
up a comprehensive list would be too great an
endeavour to complete in the short time remaining
this term and I can only look back (with gratitude
and admiration) at what has been given and what
has been achieved.
As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves
bidding farewell to some members of staff. We
wish Mrs Roberta Patton well, as her eleven years
of service to the School as a most caring and
professional Classroom Assistant comes to an end.
In Cygnet House, we say farewell to Mrs Barbara
Crawford after twenty years of dedicated service
and wish her a long and happy retirement.
The New Year saw the retirement of Mr Ivan
Thompson after more than thirty years as Chair of
the Board of Governors. At a dinner held in his
honour in May, he received tributes from no fewer
than three Headmasters – one current and two
former; Mr R Finlay and Mr J Hagen. The School
owes Mr Thompson a great debt of gratitude for his
contribution over the decades.
In September we will be pleased to welcome a
number of new staff to the School. Miss Catherine
Robinson who is currently teaching in the Royal
School, Armagh, will join the English Department
and Mrs Sharon Wilson will join the Geography
Department in a temporary capacity while the team
in the General Office will be further strengthened
by the arrival of Miss Jackie Spence. Miss Susan
Murphy will also join us in a temporary capacity in
Cygnet House. I should also like to take this
opportunity to congratulate Dr Carolyn Larmour on
her appointment as Vice Principal.
We also congratulate several members of staff on
The English Department sees the retirement of two their new arrivals; Mrs Sinnerton on the arrival of
of its long serving teachers. In her seventeen years her son Alfie, Dr McCorry on the birth of his son
at Glenlola Collegiate, Mrs Anne McClelland has, Patrick and Dr Spence on the birth of Joel.
through the teaching of the subject she loves and
the work she has done as a Pastoral Care Assistant, I hope that you find the items contained within this
secured in equal measure the affection and respect Newsletter informative and helpful. Thank you as
parents for the vital part you play in supporting the
of our girls.
aims and values of the School and may I take this
Dr Carol Baraniuk first joined the staff in 1982 and opportunity to wish you well
during her time with us has helped to awaken and for the Summer break.
nurture a love of learning, both academic and
experiential, in her pupils and has helped them to
see perhaps that the two are not so very far
removed from one another after all.
Their parting will be a great loss to the School and
we have been most fortunate to have had them.
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Summer 2011
In May 2011, Mr. Ivan Thompson, having been Chairman of the Board of Governors for Glenlola Collegiate for thirty years, decided to retire.
His involvement with Glenlola Collegiate began when his eldest daughter joined Cygnet House in 1970
and this inspired him to become a member of the PTA. Following this, he became Treasurer and later,
Vice Chairman. This then automatically assured him of a place on the School Management Committee,
a role he continued in for approximately the next thirty years.
Throughout this time Mr Thompson observed that the role of a school Governor has changed dramatically.
“Currently, Governors are responsible for the entire budget of the School, whereas in the past the Board
would only have met once each month I recall that recently in one of the busiest years, I attended around
thirty meetings!”
When asked what educational change had presented him with the greatest challenge as Chairman, the
one which stood out in his mind was an initiative to introduce all-ability education at post primary level.
Mr Thompson explained that both he and Mr Hagen campaigned rigorously to maintain the Grammar
School ethos of Glenlola Collegiate. It was and is he assured us an ethos that he will always be committed to.
Mr Thompson thought long and hard when we asked him to reflect back on his most vivid memory during his long association with the School.
“One of my greatest memories and indeed achievements will always be seeing the campaigning and
planning for a new school reach fruition. I felt honoured and proud to attend the opening of the new
school building by Prince Andrew on 8 October 2003.”
During our interview with Mr Thompson, we were impressed by his genuine passion for the school,
“ I have spent over thirty years as Chairman of Glenlola Collegiate School, a role I have always enjoyed
and been proud to fill. It has given me tremendous satisfaction during this time to see the achievements
both academic and extra curricular of our girls, achievements that have placed this school deservedly
among the finest in Northern Ireland.
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than attending the P7 Open Evening each year and witnessing the
high calibre of both the teaching staff and the pupils and I should like to take this formal opportunity to
thank every one of them for their contribution to the success of the school.”
Mr Thompson concluded his interview by saying that he is glad to leave the school in a ‘healthy state’.
Hannah McNamara
Bethany Robinson.
Year 13 Journalism Students.
Page 3
Summer 2011
Mr A Lowry began his career as Assistant teacher in Killyleagh High School, where he taught an impressive list of subjects: Geography, Mathematics, Computer Studies and Music. His next move was to
Regent House, where he stayed for three years as an Economics teacher before gaining the post of Head
of Economics/ Business Studies in Glenlola Collegiate in 1987
Mr Lowry quickly made his presence felt in School. By the early 1990s he was a Teacher Governor and
had started his long involvement in the two areas with which he will always be associated - Senior
School and Finance.
He joined the Senior Management team in 2000.
His diligence and eye for detail made the move to the new school relatively straightforward, as he
looked after so much, so well. The provision of all the internal equipment was a huge challenge which
he rose to with an easy confidence. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for the excellent job he did at
that time.
In 2005 Mr Lowry became Head of Senior School, a position which he often described as ‘the best job
in the school’ and the respect and affection with which he is held by so many is testament to what he
achieved there.
He was appointed Vice Principal in 2008, and it is a matter of deep regret that he had to take early retirement on health grounds in January 2009 but we wish him all the very best for the future.
S Beck
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Summer 2011
It is hard to believe my year as Head Girl has come to an end, together with my time at Glenlola, but what a year it has been! I have
been involved in numerous events; Prize Night, the Year 14 Formal,
Carol Service, P7 Open Night and the Spring Concert to name but a
few. It is fair to say it has been a very busy year!
Each year it is the responsibility of the senior officials to decide
upon the charities they wish to support and this year we selected five
charities. Year 8 supported Guide Dogs for the Blind, Years 9 and
10 chose Garden of Hope, a charity with which Hannah Love, Deputy Head Girl, was closely involved Year 11 supported the MRI
Scanner Appeal, Year 12 the Marie Curie Cancer Fund and Years 13
and 14 the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. The Year Prefects
- Bryony Gray (Yr 8), Sarah Jackson (Yr 9), Erin Greenfield (Yr
10), Shannon Montgomery (Yr 11) and Victoria Speers (Yr 12)
have worked tirelessly with the Head of Year for each year group
to organize fundraising events to support each chosen charity. There were numerous events such as
the Year 8 Tea Towels, Year 11 and 12 Cheerleading Competition, and the Year 10 Teacher Uniform
Day which raised over £500.
In the Autumn Term, the school held a Craft Fair. Mrs
Flannigan approached us with the idea of creating a Blue
Stall which would sell everything from blue buns to a blue
dustpan and brush set! With the aid of Mrs Flannigan’s
expertise in Business Studies and help from the girls in
senior school, the stall helped raise £180.
The next event on the school calendar took place at Christmas and gave us an excuse to decorate the Sixth Form Centre with tinsel and fairy lights! In festive spirit Mrs Beggs
agreed to roast a few dozen turkeys, peel a few hundred
brussel sprouts and prepare a Christmas charity lunch for
the Year 14s fit for Santa himself! The event was a huge
success and throughout the lunch, Christmas carols could be heard echoing around the corridors. The
afternoon helped raise £200 for our charity. A huge thank you must go to Mrs Beggs and all her
kitchen staff for preparing such a lovely lunch!
Every year it is traditional for Year 14 to put on an Extravaganza for the school. This year was no exception! The show took on a television theme
and featured everything from Crimewatch,
Sky Sports News to Glenlola Collegiate’s
very own Glee Club!
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Summer 2011
DVDs of the Extravaganza were sold to the girls in Senior School and
members of staff, bringing the total amount of money raised from the
Extravaganza to £945.
Our final major fundraising event took place on May Day when we
entered eight teams consisting of forty Year 14 girls to run relays in
the Belfast City Marathon. All eight teams finished the marathon successfully, if only a little tired and sunburnt! The total amount of sponsorship raised was £770. In addition to the girls running for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice, Dr McBride managed to round up another troop of forty, willing Year 13 runners to participate in the Marathon for Transplant Sport UK, a charity which former teacher and
Head of Senior School, Mr Lowry, had encouraged us to support.
With Dr McBride’s motivation and the girls’ enthusiasm they managed to raise a whopping £3000! Well done!
This year we have managed to raise a grand total of £2,750.00 for the Northern Ireland Children’s
Hospice. I would like to thank all the girls for their hard work and enthusiasm towards the fundraising
events and to Hannah, Philippa, Mai together with all the senior officials in helping to raise such a
large amount of money for our charities. Special thanks must go to Mrs Patterson for over-seeing all
the charity work that goes on within Glenlola and for taking the time to meet with the Senior Officials
on a weekly basis. Your work has helped us greatly.
Looking back on my year as Head Girl, it has been one filled with
challenges, experiences, laughter and smiles but I know I am leaving
Glenlola with some of my happiest memories. Although it is a little
sad to leave behind the girls and teachers who have helped make my
time at Glenlola such a brilliant one I look forward to what the future
holds, knowing that GCS will always be a part of me.
Suzanne Hamilton
Head Girl
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Summer 2011
The race for the much coveted House Shield was passionately pursued once again this year. With six
highly enthusiastic, committed and eager Houses hot on each others heels, the House competitions
proved both exciting and tense.
Hamilton House won the shield by a mere 15 points, much to Miss Gregg’s delight. Weir came second
with an impressive 380 points, just behind Hamilton’s 395 points.
The competition between the Houses started off as usual with points being awarded for GCSE, AS and
A2 results. The following Houses were awarded first place points: Hamilton for their GCSE results,
Ward for their AS results and Harte for their A2 results. Alongside this, points were also awarded for
last year’s penny collection. The competition started for Weir when they were awarded first place for
their 2009-10 penny collection total. A most generous House indeed!
To give Year 8 pupils a flavour of the fun and sense of healthy competition in the House System, a Year
8 Rounders tournament is held each year. Dufferin’s Year 8 definitely hit home with this one and gained
a mighty 30 points whilst Hamilton scored a close second place. Weir once more claimed victory in the
Junior Knowledge quiz, again pursued by Hamilton in second place.
The competition started to heat up, especially in the weeks before one of the highlights of the House
Calendar, the Middle School Dance competition. This is one event that never fails to draw spectacular
support and is not to be missed. However, there was one clear winner, with choreography close to perfection, a very unique routine and a massive amount of sassiness, Clanmorris stole the show. Weir
gained a very admirable second place this time and Dufferin secured third place. However, I must admit
each dance team astounded the supporters and Heads of Houses with their impressive displays of talent.
Page 7
Summer 2011
The annual Choral competition is another event that generates a tremendous amount of interest and support. This year performances were set at such a high standard that the judges awarded Harte and Ward
House joint first place. Harte’s harmonious ‘Proud Mary’ and Ward’s beautiful rendition of ‘Higher and
Higher’ captivated audiences and made it impossible for the judges to decide which House could be
named the overall winner.
However, the talent within the Houses does not stop at dancing or singing- each House also has its stars
of the public speaking stage as well as its sporting stars.
At this point, it is also important to mention how Hamilton were comfortably leading with 225 points.
However, all was soon to change. Weir were still hotly pursuing the leaders and were keen to increase
their score of 175. Increase it they did by winning both the Junior Public Speaking and the Senior Netball competitions and gaining a whopping 60 points. Hamilton came a respectable forth position in both
events but in true Hamilton spirit, they felt that they needed to win another event so that the House
Shield could stay firmly within their sights. The Hamilton Junior hockey players came out in force to
secure joint first place with the equally talented Junior Hockey players from Harte House.
The next sporting events to heighten the increasing sense of competition between the Houses were the
Junior and Senior Netball events. Clanmorris and Weir came a respective first and second place in the
Senior Netball competition, scoring goal after goal, whilst House fans supported with rapturous House
cheers and chants. Weir once more was beginning to threaten Hamilton’s lead as they, yet again, secured
another victory in the Junior Netball Competition and Dufferin gained second place.
With sixteen competitions completed, the scoreboards were as follows: Hamilton with 330 points, a
mere five lead over Weir’s 325 points; Clanmorris and Harte in joint third third position with 285 points;
Dufferin were in fourth position with 305 points and Ward were in fifth position with 250 points.
With such a close lead, the final result was dependent on the outcomes of the last three competitions:
The Swimming Gala, the Car Trials and the Tesco vouchers scheme. Harte House effortlessly swam its
way to success in the Swimming Gala and Clanmorris glided in at second place. Hamilton came third
just before Weir who were gaining momentum on them in fourth place. With Mrs Sinnerton keeping
very tight lipped about the final totals for the collection of the Tesco vouchers, it was now all down to
the Car Trials.
This is the final event of the House calendar and boy did it matter for Hamilton and Weir! The Car Trials bring Year 14 together to test their practical and theoretical driving skills, as they try to manoeuvre
themselves in and out of some tricky positions.
The event was over, the results were being kept a closely guarded secret by Miss Byrne and Mr Hamilton.No amount of bribery would work! The next day the Heads of Houses and the House Captains were
on stage nervously awaiting the result of the 2011 House Shield winners. Mr Hamilton with the results
in hand approached the microphone.The tension was rising and silence could be heard far and wide. Finally the winners were announced. Hamilton House had secured their third victory in a row. What a
year!
At this point I would like to thank all the members of staff involved in the House events: Miss Byrne for
her dedication to the House Staff and overseeing the competitions, Mr Hamilton for his efficiency in recording all the points awarded to each House, and finally I would like to say a special thanks to my fellow Heads of House Mrs Hughes, Mrs Sinnerton, Mr Armstrong, Mrs Spence and Mrs McAfee. Each
staff member’s commitment and enthusiasm to the House system makes it the roaring success it is.
Miss Gregg
Head of Hamilton House
Page 8
An early start preceded the visit of A-Level
Business Studies to Prague. 7AM in front of the
school meant bleary eyed girls arrived with
suitcases that suggested that perhaps it wasn’t just a
four day visit and traipsed onto the bus as if they
were zombies.
Summer 2011
company that produced bicycles and then they
moved onto motorcycles before attempting to
become a company that produced cars that the
everyday person could afford to buy.
The first night in the hotel we got settled and then
enjoyed a meal at one of the restaurants in the
hotel, where most of the students cautiously
avoided the local foods in favour of chips!
The agenda was a mixture of educational visits and
sight-seeing and everyone was very excited about it
all. The first day we went to the Rukl Crystal
Factory which was situated outside Prague. We
learnt about the process that the glass had to go
through in order to become the ornate crystals
which are sold worldwide.
Škoda’s production practices were inspiring as they
combined skilled manual labour with very short
processes. The cars were constantly moving on a
conveyor belt at which teams of workers would
carry out certain jobs so that each car was made to
the same level of quality. The cars that we saw
were already sold to countries all over the world.
After the factory we decided to go into central
Prague in order to get some dinner. Around an hour
outside the city, our bus broke down! We all
suspect that it was because we had run out of petrol
but our bus driver could not speak English and was
not appreciative of our helpful comments. A new
bus collected us an hour later and took the thankful
girls to the city.
Hand blown at 1400ºC, the glass was blown into
the shape of a beehive and then put into an oven to
bake. After this they used lasers to cut off the top
of the beehive and then polished them and sent
them up to the design room where they cut them
into various styles and shapes with blades that were
worryingly close to their hands!
The trip then proceeded on to the Škoda factory for
a tour of the museum and factory.
After a very typical Czech lunch in the museum
restaurant, we had a tour of the museum and the
factory. We learnt that Škoda was originally a
After walking through the stylish Old Town Square
with such marvels as the Astronomical Clock
Tower and Týn Cathedral, we came across Hard
Rock Café and any thoughts of experiencing the
local cuisine were abandoned.
Deciding that we were all now locals, we decided
to get the metro home. Unfortunately, when we
got off the metro the direction to the hotel was no
longer clear and we ended up going in the wrong
direction! We walked in a giant circle that took us
an hour to get the hotel when it should have been
Summer 2011
Page 9
ten minutes. We were helped by a friendly local
called George who told us that he helped us out
because no one would help him in London and he
didn’t want us to go through the same thing!
The Saturday of the trip was for sightseeing and we
enjoyed looking around Prague Castle where we
experienced the cathedral in all its intricate beauty
and saw the equivalent of our crown jewels. After
this we walked along Charles Bridge in order to get
into main part of town where we did some souvenir
shopping and everyone on the trip either bought a
witty “Czech Me Out!” t-shirt or a “I ♥ PRG”
that we had visited. It was a very successful and
hoody.
enjoyable trip to Prague!
A day of shopping and sightseeing was concluded
by a relaxing cruise along the river. We ate from a Cathy McGowan-Smyth
buffet and listened as an old man played the Year 14
accordion. After this we went up on deck and sang
along to songs from the 90s and waved at people
on the bridges.
When we returned to the hotel there was a folk
festival going on – people were everywhere either
in traditional costume or evening wear. It was a
spectacle to behold! Originally, one of the students
believed that it was a traditional wedding! We
participated in a hilarious quiz and then went
people watching downstairs looking at all the
different people in their various costumes singing
the folk songs and throwing each other high into
the air!
We returned to Dublin Airport exhausted, wellcultured and knowledgeable about the businesses
Page 10
On Monday the 28 February, thirty Year 13 and 14
girls arrived at Glenlola, unnecessarily large
amounts of luggage in tow, far too excited for
three days in London! Miss Harkin, Mrs McMillan
and Mr Armstrong were just as excited, if a bit
stressed. After a quick but busy flight to Luton,
we checked in at our hotel before departing on a
quick recce to confirm the opening times of the all
important Tesco. It was then straight to bed to prepare for a very busy few days!
Tuesday 1 March began with the purchase of some
very vital, krispy kreme doughnuts. We then took
the tube to Westminster, the first trip on the underground ever for some of the girls! Guided by Mr
Armstrong’s supreme navigational skills, we eventually made it to 11 Millbank, the home of the
Northern Ireland Office. Here we were met by Mr
Mark Larmour and taken upstairs to the rather palatial office of the Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland, Owen Patterson. Mark Larmour spoke to
us about his duties within the NIO, before a recount of a day in the life of the Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland, explained to us by the Permanent Secretary. We then heard about how ministers are briefed for Questions in the House of
Commons and meetings in Northern Ireland, and
how new legislation is carried through. Hugo
Swire (Minister for State) then joined us to answer
our questions on his position, which was very interesting, although by this point some of us were
getting a little tired… However, 11 Millbank is
also the home of government organisation MI5,
and we were treated to a talk by one of its recruitment officers, the suspiciously surname-less,
‘Judith’, to help perk us up! We can’t give you
anymore details on the talk… its top secret; but
MI5 just gained 33 future applicants!
We had a delicious lunch in Pizza Express before
heading to our next stop, Portcullis House. There
we visited a Committee Room where Stephen
Knott (Lady Hermon’s Research Assistant) helped
set us up for our meeting with Lady Sylvia Hermon, MP for North Down, and Owen Patterson the
SOS NI. Lady Sylvia was very happy to have us,
and encouraged our involvement in a somewhat
Summer 2011
heated debate with Owen Patterson. We had the
opportunity to ask questions on university fees and
corporation tax in Northern Ireland, and Lady Sylvia was happy to argue with Mr Patterson’s answers. When they were both called away on
House business, Lady Sylvia lent us her ‘Stephen’
to take us down to the galleries in the Houses of
Parliament. In the Houses of Commons galleries
we caught a glimpse of Mark Durkan, former
leader of the SDLP, David Blunkett, Cabinet Minister under Tony Blair and Harriet Harman. While
the debate in the House of Lords wasn’t too exciting, we did get to see Lord Jeffery Archer, Baroness Floella Benjamin, better remembered for her
‘Playschool’ days for the teachers. We also saw
Lord John Prescott strolling through the central
lobby but thankfully no eggs were thrown!
After leaving the Houses of Parliament, Stephen
accompanied us to Downing Street, before finally
leaving us. We had a lovely photograph taken outside the door of number 10 Downing Street. We
then headed back to the tube, where we learnt not
to ‘take flash photography on the platform’ as it
‘obstructs the driver’s vision’ thanks to a very
helpful underground announcer. On Tuesday night
we saw Wicked at the Apollo Theatre. The show
was brilliant, and having a photo taken after with
the male lead was nearly as brilliant for some of
the girls! We then had a speedy Chinese meal in
Leicester Square and sang Happy Birthday to
Grace Smith who was celebrating her 18th.
Wednesday was our last day, but not until we had
visited the Globe Theatre, a recreation of the theatre where Shakespeare showed the majority of his
plays. There was hardly any time for the essential
trip to Oxford Street but we managed some
express shopping. On behalf of all the girls, I
would like to say thank you very much to Miss
Harkin, Mr Armstrong and Mrs McMillan for accompanying us on this trip, and for all the hard
work they put into organising it. We all had a fantastic time!!
Victoria Speers
Year 14
Summer 2011
Page 11
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Summer 2011
On Thursday 27 January 2011, Year 10 pupils took part in a Maths Roadshow which focused on profit,
loss and the pressures of working in a business.
Some pupil comments:
“The BP Maths Roadshow was really enjoyable! We learnt about the current oil market and the comparison between demand, supply and price. It was really challenging and exciting. The BP team were really
helpful and explained everything clearly. It was really encouraging and gave us all a sense of business
in real life. It was great fun working in teams and working under pressure. I would thoroughly recommend it.”
Colleen Aspinall 10F
“We were split into teams of three four, and jobs were assigned
within each team – an accountant, a chairman, an analyst and a
trader. We then completed a series of Trade Rounds with the aim
of getting the highest profit. It was a fun day out for everyone and
we learnt new skills. The BP team was very helpful and although
we were confused at first, they were quick to explain. The aim of
the game was to buy and sell shares depending how much you
thought it was going to change in price. There were six rounds designed to help groups make the biggest profit. At the end of the
game the company with the most money won.”
“All in all, it was a fun day and I’m sure Year 10 would like to see the leaders and do the challenge
again.
Holly Armstrong 10F
“The BP Maths Roadshow that came to our school was really enjoyable. We learnt different skills and got a real taste of what it would be
like in the business world. It was challenging and required us to work
in teams. It wasn’t only Maths related as we learned how to stay calm
in stressful situations and think logically under pressure. The BP team
was very helpful and really made the experience very enjoyable. I had
so much fun and would love to do it again.”
Page 13
Summer 2011
Lucy McKinty participated in the NI final of the Soroptimists’ Public Speaking Competition at Lurgan
College. Lucy was awarded 3rd place and was presented with the Margaret Gregg Salver and book tokens to the value of £50.00 for school.
Fourteen pupils from all over Northern Ireland participated in this prestigious and highly competitive
event. Following the presentation of her main five
minute speech, ‘Natural Disasters -Mother Nature’s Revenge?’, Lucy was given five minutes to
prepare a 1 to 2 minute extempore speech on the
topic ‘The Best Time Ever….’. She spoke on the
topic of her voluntary work at the Bangor Special
Paralympics Group.
Congratulations to Lucy on her excellent performance and on her most thorough and conscientious
preparation for this event. The McKinty family set
a record in the history of the Competition on Saturday, as Lucy was following in the footsteps of her
eldest sister Rebecca, who was also a Glenlola
Prizewinner in March 2009. Rebecca, who is a
first year Law student at Queen’s University, was
able to join the family at the event and celebrate
with Lucy.
Thank you to the McKinty family, the Bangor Soroptimists’ Club and Miss Harkin for all their support. Our strong tradition of Public Speaking at
Glenlola, in the annual House Competitions and in
the work of the English Department, is reflected in
the successes of these pupils.
L McCombe
The Junior Public Speaking House competition took place on Friday 4 March in the school Assembly
Hall and was watch by Year 8 and 9 pupils. Each House was well represented and pupils spoke on a variety of topics including Water Availability, Role Models and Facebook. It was good to see each of the
speakers researching their topic and engaging the audience.
The final results were:
Joint 1st:
3rd:
N Sinnerton
Rae O’Dowd (Year 9) for Weir
Bethan Edge (Year 10) for Harte
Kyra Gourley 9Year 10) for Dufferin
Page 14
Summer 2011
On Tuesday 12th April four Year 13 pupils attended the Sentinus R&D Celebration Day at Queen’s
University in Belfast. The team was made up of Becky McCready, Jayne Winter, Melissa Dempster
and L-J Watson. The scheme aims to
give young people an insight into the
world of professional engineering. The
team was set a research and development
project by local company Whale Pumps.
The challenge was to design a rainwater
harvesting system for use on a caravan or
motor home. The water had to be collected on top of the caravan, filtered,
taken to a tank either on board or underneath the caravan/motor home and then
be used for shower water. With assistance from their link engineer Chris Ragg,
the students developed a solution to the
problem through on-site visits, work in
school and a residential workshop day.
The programme culminated with an Exhibition and Presentation Day, where the team
exhibited their project and presented their
work to a panel of experts. The pupils presented their work with confidence which
was due to their conscientious and thorough
preparation for the day. As well as being
presented with Sentinus R&D certificates for
their participation in the scheme, the team
has also gained a prestigious Gold Crest
Award for their project. Well done.
Mrs J Milligan
On Thursday 24 February, ten Year 13 pupils were invited to act as Science Ambassadors as part of the
Science Fair taking place at Clifton Special School. Mr Dominic McCartan from Sentinus organised a
number of different experiments which the Clifton pupils completed under the direction and guidance of
the Year 13 girls. It was a tremendous experience for all the pupils involved who experimented with
“real-life” science whilst having fun at the same time. Activities such as “Design and Build”, “Rockets
into Space” and “Formula 1 Car Racing” all took place during this action packed and extremely busy
day. Dominic was glowing in his appreciation for the Glenlola girls who gave freely of their time and
efforts to ensure that all the Clifton pupils enjoyed this science day.
Mr B Montgomery
Summer 2011
Page 15
On Saturday 26 March, P7 pupils from many of the local Primary Schools attended a STEM event in
Glenlola Collegiate which was organised by Sentinus.
The aims of the programme were to promote better understanding of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics and to excite and inspire Key Stage 2 and 3 students about these subjects.
The Family STEM event engaged pupils in exciting hands on, interactive science, technology and
mathematics within an exciting and ‘fun’ context. Participation in the activities was structured in such a
way as to ensure that they had a range of experiences throughout the day. For the practical activities they
formed family teams and the competition was steep as they set to building bridges from paper. Some
very nail-biting moments were spent watching eagerly to see which bridge could cope with the greatest
weight.
P7 pupil, Cara Ryan from Ballyholme Primary School
was on the winning team and commented,
“I was very nervous when I was waiting to see if our
bridge could hold the greatest weight but I was really excited when ours won. I thought it was great fun working
with my mum and with pupils from other primary
schools.”
Her mother, Andrea also said that the day was very enjoyable,
“The practical activities were exciting and stimulating and it was a really good way of working with
Cara on something that was fun and educational. I learned a lot myself about some of the science and
technology that was taking place in the activities.”
Glenlola was one of 3000 schools to take part in this challenging national competition, held on Thursday
3 February 2011.
Congratulations to all the award winning Year 11 pupils who took part in IMC and particularly to
Megan Wilson who is the top award winner this year.
The following 14 girls also obtained IMC certificates
Ashleigh Brimacombe
Chloe Brown
Chloe Budd
Emma Cameron
Olivia Cooney
Claudia Davis
Claire Dunn
Mrs M Wolsey
Rachel Ireland
Lee-Ann Kennedy
Jessica Magee
Jan Montgomery
Lauren Mulligan
Niamh Reid
Sarah Walker
Page 16
Summer 2011
Year 13 Pupils at Glenlola Collegiate in Bangor have put
together no fewer than 11 relay teams to take part in the
Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon - including 50 pupils and 5 staff. They are showing their support for the official charity Transplant Sport UK and Mr Richard Lowry,
retired Vice-Principal who received a liver transplant last
year.
In Northern Ireland today, there are 300 people currently
waiting for a transplant, eight of those are children! Only
26% of the population in Northern Ireland are actually
signed onto the register and Transplant Sport UK are keen
to increase this. Not only are Transplant Sport UK one of
the official charities for the marathon, they are also bringing
their flagship event to Belfast in August, The Westfield
Health British Transplant Games, will see 800
athletes and around 1000 supporters come to
Belfast to take part in 18 sporting activities
during the four day event.
Year 13 pupils would encourage you to join
the NHS Organ Donor Register now and help
save lives in Northern Ireland - visit
www.organdonation.nhs.uk
Glenlola Collegiate Year 14 pupil Megan Wilson was recently selected as a finalist in the Catherine
Judge Memorial Award Competition 2011.
This award was created by the Bank of Ireland in memory of Catherine
Judge, one of its employees who passed away in 2005. Catherine loved
music and believed that young people should have more opportunities to
achieve their potential.
The Award is presented annually to an exceptional solo classical musician who wishes to pursue third level musical education. It is open to all
students in Northern Ireland who have achieved Grade 8.
Megan received a finalist's certificate from Una Hunt (Head of the
Judging Panel) and Pat Byrne (Bank of Ireland).
Mrs D Johnson
Summer 2011
Page 17
On Friday 25 March, Year 11 pupils held a bun sale to raise funds for the Carrickmannon children’s MRI scanner appeal. This is the charity the pupils have chosen to support this year. The
amount of effort shown from the Year 11 pupils was fantastic and every shape, size and flavour of bun was produced for the sale. Having lost count, we think that over 900 buns were
made for the event and sold at Break and lunch-time to the hungry hoards of pupils and teachers. In total, £401 was raised through the sale and by the end of lunch every bun had been sold
and eaten.
A huge big thank you goes to all the pupils (and parents) who made the beautiful buns, to
those pupils who helped to set up and clear the stalls, and to those who helped to sell. Thanks
must also go to those who bought buns and contributed to the Year 11 charity.
A kaleidoscope of buns
Setting up for the event
UK Junior Mathematical Challenge 2011
On Friday 6 May 2011, Year 9 pupils took part in
UKJMC, which is a prestigious national competition run by the UK Mathematical Trust, testing pupils’ problem-solving skills. The top achievers are
presented with gold, silver and bronze certificates.
Special congratulations to Megan McCann and
Emel Yavuz who were the top achievers and to all
the award winners listed below (in alphabetical
order):
Gold – 3
Megan McCann
Leah Montgomery
Emel Yavuz
Silver – 10
Sarah Box
Jordana Bunting
Jade Cullen
Sarah Gilbert
Charlotte Hamilton
Rachel McKee
Shannon Murdock
Charlotte Neill
Emilie Vose
Bronze – 24
Amy Bloomfield
Maana Chipawa
Corrie Doran
Victoria Dougan
Anna Henry
Holly King
Aimee Lennie
Holly Magee
Laura McDowell
Zara Mulholland
Rachel Murray
Rae O’Dowd
Emily Osborne
Shannon Palnoch
Hollie Picking
Ellen Robinson
Aimee Sheldon
Sinead Smith-Teer
Rachel Walls
Emma Warden
Erin Watts
Kirsten Weatherup
Rhiannon Wells
Sarah Wong
Page 18
Summer 2011
During a week that the Telegraph released new statistics about Facebook, Mr Pat Jamison from
Sentinus, gave a talk to Junior and Senior school about the dangers of social networking.
The social networking site Facebook has now more than 30 million British users with the average profile
linking to 130 friends with members generating 90 pieces of content every month.
Mr Pat Jamison warned pupils that they need to be careful and act responsibly whenever they are online.
He highlighted the dangers of talking to strangers and divulging too much personal information in chat
rooms and on Facebook/Bebo accounts. He explained how personal information and in particular the use
of photographs can be easily misused. Mr Jamison also outlined the law regarding social networking
sites and advised all pupils to make their Facebook accounts private.
Childnet has produced 5 key SMART rules which remind young people to
be SMART online.
Safe:
Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information - such as your
full name, email address, password, phone number etc, either to people you are chatting
with or by posting it online where other people can see it.
Meeting: meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous.
Accepting: Accepting emails, instant Messenger messages or opening files, pictures or
text from people you don’t know or trust can lead to problems—they may contain viruses
or nasty messages!
Reliable: information you find on the internet may not be true, or someone online may
be lying about who they are.
Tell:
Tell your parent/carer or trust adult if someone or something makes
you feel uncomfortable or worried, or if you or someone you know is being
online.
J Herron
Summer 2011
Page 19
Car keys? Check! House t-shirt? Check! An array of house coloured balloons strung to your car roof?
Check! ¼ tank of petrol? Check! Most importantly a glove box packed full of sweets? CHECK!! Let the
car trials 2011 commence!
There’s nothing more exciting in the Year 14 calendar than the eagerly anticipated annual car trials and
this year was no exception! As the final house event of the year, competition was fierce. Every year
there are numerous drivers with accompanying navigators who are baffled by the maps used in the navigation task, with a few lost souls even finding themselves making their way down the windy coastal
road towards Portavogie and venturing through the agricultural wonder, which we now understand are
the Craigantlet Hills! The young Columbus explorers within the year group who managed to successfully complete the navigation task on time, were then faced with a series of gruelling tasks back at
school, testing their manoeuvrability skills (or lack of), their driving awareness and their knowledge of
the Highway Code.
Once we all had found our way back to school safely, we were rewarded with a well-earned hot dog and
burger as the scores were counted. Clanmorris was announced as the winning house this year, courtesy
of Ciara Beattie and her trusty navigator Rachel Innes! A special thanks to Miss McAuley for organising the safe driving competition and to Helen Black and Paul Symington from the PSNI for their support
and the generous prizes they donated.
Suzanne Hamilton
Head Girl
Page 20
Summer 2011
What a year it’s been at Junior SU! Staff and pupils have thoroughly enjoyed the chance to meet together on Wednesday afternoons this year and study God’s word, play games, sing songs and consume a
phenomenal amount of juice and biscuits.
The first few SU meetings of the year were a
chance for the Year 8-10 pupils to get to know
each other and the staff. We kicked off the year
with the traditional Junior SU Olympics which
involves a variety of events not found in the better
known Olympic Games such as “How many pegs
can you attach to your face?” and “How fast can
you eat an After Eight placed on your forehead
without using your hands?” Rachel Blackmore
scored highly in the peg stakes, with Miss Moody
putting in a very respectable performance in the
After Eight arena. We then had our first guest
speaker of the year, Stephen Jones from Bangor
Elim who challenged us about what true service
was.
Every other Wednesday SU is taken by Year 13 volunteers,
who this year took small bible studies with each year group.
Topics they looked at included an overview of God’s story
through the bible from Creation to Resurrection. In the new
year they began looking at aspects of Spirituality including
Bible, Prayer and Worship. The junior girls have really appreciated the time and space to chat together and learn from
the older girls, and we staff have also very much appreciated
the time given by Year 13.
At Christmas Year 13
joined us for a party
and quiz provided by Mrs Aiken with a challenging round on her
specialist subject, the Chronicles of Narnia. After the Christmas
break, sensing reduced enthusiasm for singing, we looked at the
whole area of worship through praise, giving the girls the opportunity to create their own worship songs. We finished our look at
worship with a time of praise led by Mr Shanks and Mr Dorman.
Above the noise of thrashing acoustic guitars, some fine singing
was heard from the junior girls.
Dr Spence followed this with an introduction to “The Lost prophets”; minor prophets from the Old Testament. This was continued
by Mr Dorman with a look at Jonah and how he responded to
God’s will for the people around him. A highlight of that particular week was a spectacular drama performance by the Year 10s,
complete with a variety of comical accents. Special mention goes
to Sophie Hipson for her portrayal of the sea captain and to Sarah
Palmer’s interpretation of an east Belfast sounding Jonah.
Summer 2011
Page 21
In the run up to the Easter break, Junior SU began looking at what God says about injustice in the world.
Miss Moody helped us focus on the area of chocolate and how the choices we make when buying sugary
treats can affect the lives of children around the world. We learned that some children are used for slave
labour in cocoa plantations and that one way we can stand against this is to buy Fairtrade chocolate.
Most of us at Junior SU enjoy a bar or three of chocolate so we decided to hold a Fairtrade chocolate
party as a fun and tasty way of standing up against child trafficking for slave labour in the chocolate industry. The girls invited friends, raised around £60 for the charity “Stop the Traffik” and created a fantastic hand print banner. Judging by the amount of chocolate on satisfied Junior SU faces, the event was
a success and has hopefully encouraged pupils and staff, to think more carefully about the sweeties they
choose as part of a balanced diet. Thanks go to the Co-operative for supplying some of our goodies on
the day and to Leanne Dunlop, the new SU schools’ worker for Bangor, who gave us a great Easter message about what God has done for us, from John 3:16.
Our final SU before Easter was a chance for the girls to say
goodbye to the Year 13s, and also a chance for the Year
13s to impart some final wisdom. Dr Spence hosted “Grill
a Christian” where the juniors had the opportunity to field
questions to the senior girls about Christianity and life in
general. This was a good time of learning for both the juniors and seniors, with staff commenting on the high standard of questions and answers from the girls present; a
very worthwhile afternoon.
As the end of the term is fast approaching we have only a
few Junior SU times left and will round up the year with our usual action packed weekend to Killyleigh
Outdoor Education Centre in June. Last year’s weekend highlights included spectacular banana boat
posing, eagle eyed archery performances and quality ice lolly enjoyment. We look forward to seeing
what this year has in store.
Thanks go to all staff, Year 13s and outside individuals who have supported Junior SU this year. Thanks
also to the many Year 8-10 pupils who faithfully attend each Wednesday and made the year so memorable. Looking forward to a new influx of Year 8s next year, we bid farewell to our Year 10s and send
them on their way to Senior SU. We thank God for all He has provided this year and look forward to
what He will do next year with Junior SU.
God bless
GCS Junior SU
Page 22
Summer 2011
Summer 2011
Page 23
Over fifty staff from school took a uniform approach to the Easter fundraising campaign by displaying
some of the most outrageous interpretations of the school uniform dress code.
Led by Headmaster Mr Thompson, and supervised by Vice-Principal Mrs Beck, staff provided pupils
with a unique opportunity to sign Uniform cards for any obvious signs of infringement. Heads of
Section and Year Heads proved the most popular offenders with queues of girls competing to add their
signatures to mark the growing number of misdemeanours which ranged from unnatural hair colours,
tattoos, missing top buttons and even nose piercings! Some pupils adopted a highly disciplined
approach by asking some teachers to kneel down in an effort to check if their hemline was actually
touching the floor.
Page 24
Summer 2011
The Geography field trip to Streamvale Farm has definitely
been one of the most enjoyable highlights of Year 8. All of the
classes got to visit the dairy farm in Dundonald and it was great
fun for everybody who went.
When we arrived, we went straight to meet Judith, our guide,
who showed us around the farm. We all went to see the conservation area, which is home to native plants and animals from all
around Ireland. Everyone loved it and someone even thought that
they spotted a squirrel!
Our favourite part of the farm was definitely the petting corner.
It gave off quite a pong but all the animals were adorable (apart
from the big smelly pig in the corner.) We got to stroke Shetland ponies, newborn calves that were only two weeks old, little
lambs, baby goats and lots of tiny brown piglets.
Judith then took us to see where the cows are milked. It was
very smelly and there was a lot of high-tech machinery. Afterwards we got to try some of the ice- cream that the farm produces. It was delicious! The milk that is not used for icecream is sent to Dale
Farm to be processed
into other dairy products.
Everyone will remember this visit and that it was one of the
most enjoyable trips in Year 8.
Lucy Canning 8c
This year a new extra-curricular club was introduced
on Monday afternoons to Year 9 and 10 pupils – The
Sewing Club! Mrs Hughes and Mrs Macafee shared
their sewing expertise on a ten week course of sewing skills including, pin cushions, felt hearts, monsters, brooches etc
This was thoroughly enjoyed by a small group of
enthusiasts and it is hoped to return in October!
Summer 2011
Page 25
This year, the Year 11 pupils chose Carrickmannon MRI Scanner appeal as their charity. With the
help of Shannon Montgomery (Year 11 prefect) there were several events organised throughout the
year to help raise vital funds for this children’s charity.
The first event was the House Cheer-leading competition which raised just over £427 and was a great
success. In the run up to Christmas, we also organised an internal postal service which raised a further
£67. In the Spring term, we were given permission to hold a ‘bun sale’ and with a lot of effort from
many of the Year 11 pupils we raised £392 having sold over 825 buns.
The final fund-raiser was held before we broke up for Easter. With the help of parents, aunties, grannies and friends, pupils made and sold Easter chick ‘egg cup’ warmers. Many thanks to all those who
helped to knit chicks or supply crème eggs to go with the
warmers. A special mention must go to Shannon Montgomery and to Ailsa McLarnon and Lucy Stewart who
devoted a lot of time to selling these chicks.
In total, the Year 11 charity events raised £1033.70. Further money from the House Penny Collection and nonuniform days allowed the total amount to reach £1500.
This was presented to Mrs Montgomery, who set up the
charity and who has had a long association with the
school.
Tiny Life
Armbands were sold in the Sixth-Form Centre in support of the Tiny Life Charity which had been the
focus of Senior School fund-raising last year 2009-2010. A total of £126 was raised.
Thanks for Life-End-Polio Now Campaign
In recent years Rotary International has
pursued the goal of completely eradicating Polio from the world. The campaign
has been enormously successful and only
small pockets of affected areas remain in
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Every £1 raised allows 5 children to be
vaccinated.
In March purple armbands were sold at
House Assemblies and this raised £300
which was gratefully received by Mr
David Dunlop on behalf of the Rotary
Club of Bangor.
Summer 2011
Page 26
Page 27
Summer 2011
Year 10 SciArt pupils celebrated the great work carried out by the Y11 Marine Conservation group by
lobbying for a Marine Bill for NI at Stormont. The girls were in the company of pupils from Primary
and Post-Primary schools from all over N Ireland, as well as members of a number of key conservation
groups such as RSPB. Gemma McCamley made up the Glenlola chant “Come on Stormont; come on
please! Support our Bill and save our seas!”
Lorna Rainey, a past pupil, and Carol Moorehead from Year 14 presented the Glenlola Collegiate petition to Alex Atwood, Minister for the Environment. The girls also had the opportunity to talk to Anna
Lo, a member of the Assembly Environment Committee. Lorna designed the petition, which was also
used by other schools in the Province, while she was researching environmental issues on a Nuffield
Bursary placement with RSPB.
All Year 10 pupils participated in a SciArt collaborative project with a marine theme, so their ‘head
adornments’ added colour and spectacle to the Stormont event. Ellie Martin from Y10 said “We enjoyed
feeling involved in doing something helpful for the environment and local wildlife. We also had fun
wearing our ‘special and unique’ hats!”
Thanks are due to the Esme Fairbairn Foundation
and to Deirdre Robson and Ivor Hickey from St
Mary’s University College for funding the SciArt
project.
Mrs J Milligan
Page 28
Summer 2011
On a bright, cheery Saturday morning, 9 April 2011, about thirty girls
and one intrepid Form Teacher, Miss Harkin came to Scrabo to lower
themselves off the top of the Tower to the ground below. What would
prompt any sane person, to get out of their warm snug beds, abandon a
perfectly safe piece of building and dangle below a piece of rope?
Year 12 girls would! Trust me; I have seen it with my own eyes and
there are always the photographs. Miss Harkin was the only Form
Teacher not to be able to think of an excuse to avoid participating in the
abseil, while our Prefect Victoria Speers actually volunteered!
One-by-one the girls were organized into groups and ascended the spiral
stairs. After what seemed an age they emerged and slowly descended to
the lush green grass amidst a clamour of screams, applause and cheers of
encouragement from the mass of on lookers comprising classmates, parents and anxious teachers. While
some abseiled down the face of the tower as if they did this every day,
others took the opportunity to get a grand view of the surroundings.
There were those who milked their applause and there were those
who were able to sustain a scream both of great intensity and volume.
The most immediate concern on reaching terra firma was to doublecheck that any damage to nails, hair, make-up (or dignity) was
quickly repaired before the obligatory photograph.
Altogether the girls managed to raise a total of just over £2,600 for
Marie Curie Cancer, so my thanks go to the sponsors and to the parents for support (and transport). My thanks also go to Mrs Patterson
(Charities Co-ordinator), Mr Spence (Section Head) for their photographs, but most of all to the girls who took part. It was a day to remember. Well done!
Mr I Armstrong
Head of Year 12
The 2nd XI season got off to a promising start with good strong performances in all games. The seconds
played with great effort and everybody on the team seemed to enjoy their hockey. This squad of players
kept all the 1st XI on their toes as they were constantly pushing them for promotion to first team.
This squad was made up mainly of Year 14 who all were very enthusiastic and led the way when it came
to practice even offering to talk tacics in Starbucks on more than one occasion.
In terms of results, we progressed well in the Cup unfortunately losing out to Wallace HS in the quarter
finals.
I should like to thank all the girls for their commitment and especially would like to thank Vicky Speers
and Bethany McNamara for captaining the side so well.
I hope that the girls who are leaving, continue to play hockey for their enjoyment at university.
I Hamilton
Summer 2011
Page 29
On Tuesday 7 June an event organised by the CoOperative Group was held in school for Year 10
pupils who have chosen GCSE Home Economics
or Business Studies next year.
were fantastic and the girls
worked so well in the little
time they had. One chef
commented on how the presentations were some of the
best they had seen in England and Northern Ireland!
“I learnt lots of new things
and tried new foods. It was
really good.” Alex Walsh.
Chefs from the Co-Operative Group supermarkets
staged a healthy cooking and eating demo for pupils studying GCSE Home Economics or Business
Studies from next year. In the morning they were
involved in making dishes including a smoothie,
stir-fry, fish cakes and fruity rice.
“I thought the HE and Business Studies workshop
was really good and interesting.”
Megan Johnston
“I thought it was great getting to try new foods
and I will be making them more at home. I really
enjoyed the marketing activity and I thought it was
The chefs encouraged the pu- really helpful and has given me an insight into
pils to try new foods including next year.” Molly Bret
mackerel and fennel and had a
novel way of doing so – trying “I thought this was a great way to introduce HE
them with a bit of Strawberry! and BS for next year. It was a good opportunity to
encourage us to try new foods. The advertising
In the afternoon session the project helped us learn what we’re doing right and
pupils were given a group what to improve for next year. Definitely have it
‘Apprentice’ style challenge of next year!” Caris Agnew.
choosing a dish that they had
made and designing a new version. They had to design,
name, package and cost
their product and then
pitch their ideas along
with their advertising
strategy to a ‘Dragon’s
Den’ panel who chose
the top team. The ideas
Visit us at
www.glenlolacollegiate.net
Find information on subjects,
extra curricular activities,
current news and events
and much more!
The Annual Report can be read on the website.
Page 30
Summer 2011
Twelve Year 11 girls were
given the opportunity to
attend a Shared Futures conference organised by NDBC and
facilitated by NI Youth Forum at Crawfordsburn Scout Centre
on Wednesday 23 March 2011.
At this conference they were given the chance to discuss with
peers from other schools the many issues that are reflected on
in Learning for Life and Work classes and that affect them today in North Down. These issues included; Anti-Racism, AntiSectarianism, Cultural Diversity, Identity and Self Awareness.
The workshop aimed to give young people an insight into current industry and how organisations from
the public, private and not for profit sectors are dealing with economical and social barriers. Real life
people, from real life organisations participated throughout the day in all of the activities making the
event fully participative and intergenerational, not to mention fun!
After various warm-up activities, the pupils were split into
groups and given an imaginary £10,000 to spend on a project for
youth people in North Down. Each group liaised with members
of the PSNI, Fire Brigade and Rescue Service, local council
members, Town Centre Management, YMCA etc to organise
their project effectively. The ideas were superb, town gardens,
concerts, activity programmes and a very strong music festival
theme appearing!
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and who knows…maybe one of those projects might appear in Bangor one day!
Claire Ferry from the RSPB visited Glenlola Collegiate on 6 May 2011 and read a ‘selkie’ story to our
Year 8 pupils as part of her ‘Love Nature Walk NI’.
Some pupils' comments:
“I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was interesting
and I would really like to read the rest of the book. I
would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books.”
Nadia Coote
“On Friday 6 May a woman from the RSPB came to
school and told us a story about a seal that turns into a
boy. The main character was called Zigit. She came and
told us this story because she is doing a walk around
Northern Ireland collecting myths and stories. I thought
the story was good but some of the names were strange
because it was old and Scottish.”
Caitlin Campbell-McNamara
Summer 2011
Page 31
As the summer holidays approach many of you will be planning on going away for a holiday. You will
be thinking about protecting your children in various ways such as putting on sun screen and making
sure they drink safe water, but it is also important to make sure they are protected against measles.
The Public Health Agency have advised us that although measles is now rare in Northern Ireland because of our very good uptake rates for MMR vaccine it is still common in other parts of Europe and
beyond. In fact popular holiday destinations such as France, Turkey and Spain as well as many other
countries have all had outbreaks this year.
The Public Health Agency has advised that the best way to protect your child is to make sure they have
had two doses of MMR vaccine. If your child hasn’t had the MMR vaccine or has only had one dose
then you should contact your GP to arrange getting them vaccinated as soon as possible.
If your child isn’t fully protected they not only risk catching measles themselves but also passing it
onto others they are in contact with, this could include causing spread within the school. For the sake
of all pupils in the school we would want to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Whilst for many measles is an unpleasant but not serious disease, for some people it can cause serious
complications leading to hospital admission and in some case even death.
The MMR vaccine is a very safe and effective vaccine. The supposed link with autism has now been
totally discredited and shown to be completely false. An enormous amount of research into the safety
of MMR has shown it to an extremely safe vaccine.
We would therefore encourage you to take the Public Health Agencies advice and ensure your children
are fully protected.
Further information on measles and MMR Immunisation available at http://
www.publichealth.hscni.net/directorate-public-health/health-protection/immunisationvaccinepreventable-diseases
Page 32
Summer 2011
Page 33
Summer 2011
From 9th to 10th February 2011, thirty AS Geography students were based at Magilligan Field Centre,
Co. Londonderry, where they carried out fieldwork for their AS course. The girls were studying the
sand dune ecosystem at Umbra Nature Reserve, part of Magilligan Strand, between Benone and
Downhill.
Their aim was to investigate the changes found
in this sand dune ecosystem. Here they worked
along a transect, from the youngest dunes,
nearest the sea to the oldest dunes, several hundred metres inland. They wanted to find out
what was happening to the soil, vegetation species and microclimate as the dunes got older
and compare their findings with the text book
theory.
In order to do this, they were instructed in various fieldwork techniques and each group
gained experience in:
• using a quadrat to record vegetation species
• measuring the gradient of the dune slopes
• recording wind speed, wind direction and amount of light
• taking soil samples
When all the data had been collected, the students returned to the
field centre at Bellarena. After a lovely dinner, and having dried
out, they returned to the classroom where they were all able to use
the data to help achieve their aims.
They were given the opportunity to use equipment to allow them to measure the organic and moisture
content of the soil. They also used statistical methods to compare the relationship between the moisture content of the soil and how it changed with increasing distance from the shoreline. The visit was
extremely beneficial as it has allowed the students to prepare thoroughly for the fieldwork question in
their AS examination.
Summer 2011
Page 34
Pupils from middle school and senior school,
four teachers and a member of the Board of
Governors travelled to Göttingen, Germany
as part of the Comenius Project “A Sustainable Life - Connecting Learning and Living”. The trip lasted five days involving the
same schools from Germany, Portugal and
Denmark that we have been working with for
the past two years.
This meeting in Göttingen was the final one
of the two-year project. During the meeting
we had an overall look at what we had
achieved throughout these two years, individually as schools and as a whole.
A documentary had been made about sustainable issues in each partner country, summing up what we had all achieved together during the project. The German school had recently covered their school roof with solar panels, this provided energy
for their school. Our own school, Glenlola Collegiate, is working towards the Eco Schools accreditation.
During our time in Göttingen, we looked at different aspects of sustainable living in our day-to-day lives. Each
day the activities took place in the German school
(Felix-Klein-Gymnasium), and in local areas. We
learned about German culture and their ways of being
sustainable.
Whilst we were staying in Göttingen, we each were
hosted by a German family. This gave us the insight to
the typical German lifestyle, experiencing parts of their
culture, such as food, school life and language.
We all felt the food in Germany was very different to
our own, consisting of a lot of breads, meat and
cheese School life in Germany was very different to ours in Glenlola, the school day starts much earlier than ours at 7.50 am each morning! The time at which school ended varied each day throughout
the week, sometimes ending at one o’clock other days at
four o’clock. The pupils did not wear a uniform to school
and it was a mixed school.
Our time in Göttingen was a once in a life time experience,
we learnt more about how to make our lives sustainable, to
see what all of the partner schools had achieved in the past
two years and most all we made many new friends from
foreign countries.
Mrs J Milligan
Page 35
Summer 2011
On Wednesday 15 September 2010 a group of Glenlola
Collegiate Senior hockey players (Years 11-14) travelled to Barcelona. The trip was a great success, the
days were packed full of sightseeing,
intensive pre-season training and visits to the Olympic
Stadium in Montjuic.
The girls played the local club “Terrassa” in an exciting
match which finished 2-1 to Terrasa. The weather unfortunately interrupted play but the girls played some
lovely hockey.
The three training sessions were held at
the Terrassa Club which boasts an incredible array of sports facilities, including two astro turf hockey pitches,
one indoor pool, an outdoor pool, an
outdoor badminton court, six astro
courts…the list goes on!
Thanks must go to the staff involved
(Miss Henry, Mrs Chambers and Miss
Vaughan) and indeed the girls, who behaved impeccably – even a member of
the Aer Lingus flight crew commented
they were “the most mannerly group of
school girls they had ever met!”
Summer 2011
Page 36
On Saturday the 12th of February 54 lucky Glenlola girls… and Mr Hamilton, jetted to Andalo Italy for
a week of skiing. We started our journey at 8am on Saturday morning and arrived in Italy late afternoon.
After a 2.5 hour bus journey we arrived at our hotel, Pian Canstello, visited our rooms and watched/sang
to ‘Mamma Mia’ that evening.
After a previous long day of travelling we all woke up looking forward to a preferably large nutritious
breakfast of perhaps bacon, eggs and toast. To our surprise Italian’s prefer eating Nutella in sachets, jam
and cake. It took a while to get used to this but we ended up storing some breakfast goods in a drawer in
our room for snacks.
We then got a bus to the ski hire where we were sorted with skis, poles, helmets and a snowboard. We
were split into groups, met our instructors and were ready to hit the slopes. There was a mixture of apprehension and nerves between the crew but we were all excited nevertheless. The snow was perfect, the
slopes were empty, the sun was shining and everyone was reflecting on how lucky we were not to be
experiencing Northern Irish weather.
Due to our eagerness and lack of skill in my group, we found it hard to follow our instructor’s directions,
therefore phrases such as, ‘in a line’ and ‘teacher...where are you going,’ were frequently used and will
never be forgotten.
An avalanche of hungry and impatient girls hit the restaurants at 1pm. We were all very appreciative of
the chips and coke the restaurants provided and to be having a rest for 2 hours. We took to the slopes for
our afternoon run and finished at 5pm. The last run was always enjoyable because many of our ski
groups passed each other, giving us the opportunity to watch how everyone had improved and there was
at least one supposedly advanced skier who always managed to fall in front of the beginners.
We were always grateful and relieved when the ‘Line D’ bus drove up to take us back to our hotel after
our day on the piste. On arriving back we hit dinner at 7.30pm. Some of us were very excited to see a
salad selection was on the menu whilst others looked forward to the other three courses that were provided.
After dinner there were enjoyable evening activities such as ice-skating, ice go-karting, arcade, movie
nights, a quiz and karaoke. Ice go-karting was so much fun but unfortunately, flooring the accelerator,
stops the kart from moving but that didn’t stop us trying to slide our way to the fastest lap. During Mrs
Chambers, Miss McAuley Miss Gregg and Mr Hamilton’s battle for the fastest lap, there were many
slides, spins and the odd ram to win. After a competitive race, Mr Hamilton won.
One of my favourite nights was Karaoke night, a night where the pupils could see what talents the teachers really had. After a slight reluctance on our part to sing, Miss McAuley and Mrs Chambers, the new
Elton and Kiki Dee, took to the stage to sing a legendary performance of, ‘Don’t go breaking my heart.’
Moments later and without persuasion, Mr Hamilton took the mic to sing ‘The Club is Alive’ by JLS
which consisted of improvised rapping and perfect harmonies…
On the last night we were awarded with a badge and certificate to mark our achievements of the week by
our instructors, Camilla, Andrea or Billy. alberto...the others were andrea, billy and cecilia
One very tanned instructor, who was called Alberto, was named the ‘Italian stallion’ and many were
teary eyed saying goodbye to him.
Overall the trip was such an amazing experience. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone but we all
look forward to the trip next year which will be equally as brilliant.
Joanna Aiken
Year 13
Page 37
Summer 2011
Summer 2011
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The trip to Berlin was really incredible! Visits to historical memorials and museums were interspersed
with sampling German cuisine – Bratwurst and Currywurst among other things. A truly unforgettable
experience and I’d love to go back!
Our first day of touring started with ice-lollies at 10am to give us a boost for the day. The Stasi-prison
was an incredible experience. Learning about what people went through in the days of the Stasi was remarkable. The torture – both physical and psychological – and the conditions that people were forced to
live in. The Story of Berlin exhibition was really fascinating. The run-through of Berlin’s history, followed by a visit to an actual nuclear bunker was incredible! The tours, in addition to the amazing
weather were really quite tiring. Needless to say that we were all very glad to sink into our beds!
The next day was kick-started with a visit to Starbucks, before heading to the Brandenburg Gate. From
that incredible sight, we went to the Memorial for the Jews of Europe which was a really moving experience. Being able to read some of the letters from people at the time of the Holocaust and reading and
listening to the stories of some of these people was really poignant. We then moved on to Checkpoint
Charlie and its museum. It was fascinating to discover how inventive people were in trying to get over
the Berlin wall – hot-air balloons, tunnels and altered cars were just some of the ways! Then we had a
taste of German cinema. Attempting to work out what was going on was interesting, but a surprising
amount was understandable!
Our final day was another fantastic one. In the morning we went to the Eastside Gallery, a long stretch
of the Berlin wall which had paintings along every stretch of it. Images from people to scenery, to encouraging word, it was a spectacular sight in the sunshine. From there we went to the Gedächtnis
Kirche, which had been bombed in World War II. After a tour of the remains of the original building, we
viewed the new building, which has a memorial inside to the war. Being an all-female group, we couldn’t have come back without having had a couple of hours of shopping time in the middle of Berlin, lightening our purses a bit. Then, finally, back to the hostel for a last time to collect our luggage, we set off
for the airport, our bags generally a bit heavier.
From the historical aspects of the
city, to simply absorbing some German culture, it was a really brilliant
trip. The teachers were great, leading us through the German U-Bahn
and various other modes of transport, as well as generally putting up
with 25 crazy, excited, teenage
girls. It was quite simple awesome!
Kathryn Agnew
Year 14
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Summer 2011
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On Saturday 4th June at the Irish Schools’
Finals Sarah Connolly was placed 2nd in the Junior High Jump with a personal best of 1.56m,
winning the silver medal
The Junior Relay team of Molly Brett, Ellen
Robinson, Sarah Connolly and Elleana Hull
were 3rd, winning Bronze medals. (Saskia Greer
(Year 8) travelled as reserve.
An excellent achievement!
Saturday 22nd January 2011
13 girls from Glenlola qualified for this competition as a result of their successful performances at the Northern Ireland Schools’ Finals in November.
U19 Team competition - the team from Glenlola finished in 4th place.
U19 team members -
Kerry Wilson
Ciara McCullough
Tori Browne
Sophie Hegan
Kerry also finished in 9th place in the Individual section of the U19 age group.
U15 Team competition
The Glenlola ‘A’ team finished 5th and the ‘B’ team finished 8th.
U15 ‘A’ team members - Josephine Hammond
Courtenay Patterson
Courtenay Patterson
Ashleigh Reid
In the Individual competition, Jessica finished in 11th place and Courtenay finished 12th.
U15 ‘B’ team members - Lauren McManus
Molly Bret
Michelle Lee
Megan McDowell
U15 Elite section - Jessica Bush finished in 8th place.
Miss K Beggs
Page 41
Summer 2011
Pupils from all Year groups competed in this year’s Ulster Schools’ show jumping league which was
once again organised by Belfast Royal Academy. Throughout the year the following girls represented
the school:
Zara Mulholland
Leach Jackson
Alex Ryan
Rebecca Hendrickse
Messina Harvey
Jessica Matear
Year 9
Year 9
Year 9
Year 10
Year 10
Year 13
They had a mixture of results throughout the
league and finished in 8th place overall.
Thanks go to all the girls who were committed
to competing and to their parents who accompanied their daughters to the events. Your
support is very much appreciated.
Eighteen girls from Glenlola Collegiate School competed in these championships, which serve as the
qualifying competition for the British Schools’ Finals.
U19 Groups:
The Glenlola team gained 1st place and as a result, represented the school and Northern Ireland at the
British Schools’ Finals in May. The members of the U19 team were:
Kimberly Ellis
Amy Howell
Kerry Wilson
Ciara McCullough
Portia Preston
Sarah Connolly
U13 Pairs:
Katie Lyall and Nicole Meier finished in 2nd place.
U13 Groups:
The Glenlola ‘A’ team finished 2nd and the ‘B’ team finished in 3rd place.
‘A’ team members:
Chloe Emberson
Hayley Halligan
Sophie Oliver
Megan Wilson
Katie Lyall
Nicole Meier
Miss K Beggs
‘B’ team members:
Jade Cullen
Tamsyn Cummins
Bobbi McCullough
Phoebe Preston
Emma Cairnduff
Charlotte Turpitt.
Summer 2011
Page 42
On Friday 11th March the Ulster Schools Golf competition took place at Kirkistown Castle. Despite the
terrible weather, the Senior team of Brooke Hopley, Kelsey Coey and Jessica Ross were 1st, a fabulous
achievement.
This meant that the girls qualified for the Irish Schools at Milltown Golf Club on Thursday 5th May. Despite playing on the course for the first time, the girls finished 8th overall. Congratulations to all the
girls involved.
Mrs H Cole
This year’s tennis season has seen an increase in the number of girls attending after school clubs and
an increase in the number of teams playing competitive matches.
Match Teams and Results:
Year 8 -
Emilia Morrow
Anna Morwood
Samantha Dornan
Kirsten Connor
Nicola Connor
Junior A - Elleana Hull
Lindsey Huddleston
Daisy Lu
Holly Armstrong
Zoe Cooke
Junior B - Leah K. Montgomery
Shannon Vose
Emilie Vose
Rachel Hamilton
Laura Dickson
Brooke Angus
Intermediate -Hanna Geary
Robyn Christy
Jayne Russell
Natasha Ferguson
Sarah Walker
Results
v Down High: won 6-0
v Bloomfield : won 5-1
v Victoria: lost 6-0
Results
v Belfast High: won 4-2
v Carrick Grammar: won 4-2
v Belfast Royal Academy: won 6-0
v Ballymena Academy: won 6-0
V Strathearn:lost 4-2
Results
v Grosvenor: won 6-0
v Regent: drew 3-3
v Sullivan: lost 6-0
v Down High: lost 6-0
v Methody: lost 5-1
Results
v Down High:won 5-1
v Strathern: lost 5-1
v Rockport: won 5-1
As a consequence of these excellent results, the Year 8, Junior A and Intermediate team have all qualified for the Ulster Schools’ Plate Competition.
K Beggs
Page 43
Summer 2011
On Saturday 7th May 2011, Anna Henry and Esther Lau took part in the Under 13 Netball Youth
Games after being selected last September for the South Eastern Regional Development Academy
(RDA).
This was what we had all been waiting for, to finally play the tournament. Months of training had been
leading up to this, and now the time had come to put our training to the test.
The South Eastern RDA squad was split up into two equally matched teams, Anna on the ‘B’ team and
Esther on the ‘A’ team. After several exciting matches and some not so exciting matches against the
RDA teams from all around Northern Ireland (Belfast, Southern, Western and North Eastern), both
South Eastern teams won their section, qualifying for the semi-finals.
The ‘B’ team had their toughest match yet against Belfast ‘A’. It was an extremely close match. Although the South Eastern team were losing in the first half, they managed to get their act together in
the second half and came out top, winning their match by just a few goals. The ‘A’ team’s semi-final
was a much easier match and they too won.
This meant that the South Eastern teams were to play against each other in the final. The match started
out just like a normal training session, but then things started to get serious. The ‘B’s’ were in the lead
in the first half but then the ‘A’s’ started drawing closer. It got so close that there was only one goal
between both the teams and at this point some of the girls from the South Eastern ‘B’ team could not
watch anymore and went outside! However, when they returned they were ecstatic to find the ‘B’
team in the lead and only 15 seconds to go. At the final whistle the South Eastern ‘B’ team had won!
This meant that Anna’s team received gold medals, in first place and Esther’s team received silver
medals, in second place.
We both had a great day at the tournament and have really enjoyed all the coaching sessions we have
attended this year. We are looking forward to putting our new skills into practice for school next year!
Anna Henry
Year 9
Esther Lau
Year 9
The U13 As had a very encouraging season, playing twelve matches and losing only once. Wins were
achieved against Strathearn, B.R.A., Sullivan, Larne, Hunter House, Down High and Regent House.
The single defeat to Victoria College (2-0) was a very harsh lesson in what can happen when you fail
to take chance after chance. Some of the attacking hockey was a delight to watch showing a maturity
beyond their years but the team’s defensive play at times was very poor and this is an area which must
improve next year.
Ellen Robinson, Rebekah Rutherford, Daina Walton and Eve Edmondson played very well throughout
the season and show good potential for the future.
The U13B squad had a mixed season. An inability to score cost them wins in matches which ended in
draws, and silly defensive mistakes lead to defeats when draws would have been a fairer result.
Summer 2011
Page 44
Naomi Phillips, Holly Stephens and Megan Mc Cabe played well throughout the season.
Jaye Tate deserves a special mention. Most Saturdays she played for both teams as was the only goal
keeper in the group. This is a problem which must be addressed for next season.
The U13s are a very keen group of hockey players with very few ever missing practice. They show
good potential but the step-up to U14 hockey is difficult and they will need to work extremely hard
next year to make the transition a successful one.
Finally, a big thank you to all the parents who turned up every Saturday to support both teams. Please
make sure to keep supporting next year.
U13 'A' TEAM
U13 'B' TEAM
Jaye Tate
Esther Lau
Chloe Campbell
Rachel Hamilton (Captain)
Laura Dickson
Daina Walton
Ellen Robinson (Vice Captain)
Niamh Cummings
Eve Edmondson
Rebekah Rutherford
Lucy Houston
Jaye Tate
Holly Stephens
Naomi Phillips (Vice Captain)
Megan Mc Cabe (Captain)
Elleana Hull
Anna Henry
Nadia Douds
Shannon Vose
Rhiannon Osbourne
Natalie Patterson
Claudia Coulter
Amy Bloomfield
Faye Bower
Emmalee Holmes
Kate Aspinall
The U14 Team had a very successful season which culminated in them reaching the U14 Plate Final.
Early performances in the season produced a mixed set of results for the team. Wins over Strathearn and
BRA were followed by defeats at the hands of Sullivan and Regent. A tough first round draw meant the
U14s met Victoria College in the Junior Cup. After a really close and competitive game, we were beaten
1-0. The next challenge was a draw against Enniskillen Collegiate in the plate. A comfortable 4-0 win
was followed by a 2-0 win against Grosvenor. The quarter final was a tough encounter against Carrick
Grammar but we managed a 1-0 victory. The next round against Coleraine High School was another
tense affair. With the score 0-0 after full time and extra time the game went to penalty strokes. After
some heroics from our keeper Caris Agnew and the penalty takers keeping a cool head we were in the
final!
The final was a great occasion with over 300 girls there to support. Despite us taking the lead we were
unable to hold on and the game ended 1-1, so the plate was shared with Dalriada. A massive thank you
to the girls for all their hard work and I know you will keep improving! Player of the season for the ‘A’
team was Lucy Yourston.
Page 45
Summer 2011
U14 ‘A’ Squad
Caris Agnew
Molly Bret
Lucy Yourston
Sophie Boyd
Connie Gray
Claire Morrison
Harriet Bradford
Helen Hooks
Zoe Cooke
Chloe Noble
Sophie Carlisle
Ellen Robinson
Diane Walton
Rebecca Rutherford
14 ‘B’ Hockey Team
The ‘B’ Squad had a fantastic season. They only suffered two defeats and played some excellent hockey
along the way. The success of the ‘A’ team in reaching the final of the plate is largely down to the
strength of the ‘B’ team as they were able to give them such strong opposition in training every week.
Player of the season for the ‘B’ team was Colleen Aspinall. As Captain she led by example and really
improved her skills as the season went on.
U14 ‘B’ Team
Jena Sloan
Georgia Parkinson
Hannah Fleming
Colleen Aspinall
Neve Hodgen
Michelle Lee
Lauren Christy
Sarah Hatch
Grace Hammond
Lucy Burrows
Victoria Craig
Charlotte Sloan
Rachel Milliken
Suzanne Flannigan
The 1st XI this season were a very inexperienced team with the majority of the squad being from Year 13
and below. This showed in some of the matches where we needed just a little bit more experience to
guide us through against tough opposition.
The season started well with good performances from the very start, including a very good victory
against Sullivan Upper. However, we knew that all these matches were just warm ups for the School’s
Cup matches approaching fast. We drew Kilkeel HS in the first round which turned out to be a very
tough start to the competition. We won despite being 2 - 0 down in 5 minutes. This put us into the next
round against Ballymena Academy. Despite being the better team for long periods of the match, we lost
2 – 0.
This defeat meant that we went on to play in the Senior Shield competition and we were to face Larne
Grammar. This again was another exciting game with goals being scored at both ends of the pitch. Unfortunately we didn’t win this one but the girls had nothing to be disappointed about as they have
worked hard all season and improved as the year went on.
Special mention must go to Naomi McKnight who had another outstanding season and, as captain, she
was a great example to the younger girls.
With the majority of the squad returning for next season we hope to improve further and create a very
strong 1st XI.
I would like to thank all the Year 14 girls who have showed a lot of commitment to school hockey in
their school careers; they have been excellent role models for the girls coming behind them. I hope that
they all continue to play hockey at university.
Summer 2011
Page 46
The energy, enthusiasm and commitment of the girls in both teams this year has been second to
none. Practice was twice a week concentrating on basic technical skills and attendance was good,
although the snowy conditions did play havoc with the fixtures in December!
Page 47
2 BXI SQUAD
AMY DAWSON
HARRIET GILLESPIE
SARA PARKINSON
LOREN WARDEN
LAUREN BOYD
CLAUDIA DAVIS
COURTENEY RAINEY
KATHERINE POLLY
HOLLY FAIR
JESSICA BUSH
SOPHIE DEANEY
COURTENAY PATTERSON
REBECCA WILSDON
Summer 2011
3RD XI SQUAD
AMY MCMULLAN
CATHERINE MCAVOY
JAN MONTGOMERY
CATHERINE BOAL
EMMA TAYLOR
SOPHIE FERRIS
EMILY FERRIS
ZOE BROWN
EMMA CAMERON
LAURA DORMAN
EVIE WILLIAMSON
2 BXI
The season began with an unexpected heavy defeat for the 2B XI against Strathearn School, losing 4-0.
After a slow start however results began to reflect better play and wins against Larne Grammar, (won
2-1) Hunterhouse (won 2-0) and Grosvenor (won 3-0) followed.
Katherine Polly and Courtenay Patterson were particularly strong up front and with better fitness
should continue to improve next year. The defensive team of Rebecca Wilsdon, Sarah Parkinson, Lauren Boyd and Loren Warden proved invaluable to the success of the team. Amy Dawson was superb
in goals and I look forward to seeing her represent the 1st XI squad next year. As the season progressed, the girls developed an air of confidence only to be affected by the severe weather conditions
in
November and December. It was the first season that the hockey staff had had to postpone a series of
matches which undoubtedly affected the girls both physically and mentally.
There is room for improvement within the squad; the girls must work on their fitness over the summer
to be ready for another exciting season of senior hockey next year.
3RD XI
The 3rd XI squad was unlucky in many of their matches as again poor weather conditions and lack of
facilities hindered play, however there were wins against Victoria and Hunterhouse in October. The
girls really played as a unit and several key players shone including, Laura Dorman, Zoe Brown and
Catherine McAvoy. Unfortunately with such a small squad, several of the younger players at Junior
level had to play up to complete the team but the girls coped well with this and made them feel very
welcome.
The girls’ attendance was impressive and their enthusiasm even in the rain, sleet and snow was admirable. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking this group of girls and I look forward to seeing how they develop into the various teams next year.
Mrs S Chambers
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Summer 2011
Netball has once again proved a popular sport in Glenlola Collegiate, with girls from all year groups
attending the various clubs after school. Teams from all year groups have been involved in various
leagues, playing teams from schools throughout the South Eastern Board Area.
The Minor A, Junior A, Intermediate and Senior teams all played in the Northern Ireland League, facing opposition from Assumption Grammar, Friends School, Our Lady and St. Patrick’s College, St.
Malachy’s Castlewellan and Wallace High.
Team members:
Minors
Sarah Mawhinney (Captain)
Brooke Angus
Rachel Hamilton
Rebecca Glasgow
Esther Lau
Leah K. Montgomery
Anna Henry
Laura Dickson.
Juniors
Aimee Crawford
Sara Johnston
Helen Hooks
Samantha Andrews
Sophie Boyd
Beth Emerson (Captain)
Sarah Leary
Inters
Rebecca McClelland (Captain)
Emma Matchett
Amy Dawson
Clare Pollock
Sara Parkinson
Courtney Rainey
Amy McMullan
Seniors
Emma Boyd (Captain)
Bryony Gray
Philippa Watson
L-J Watson
Rachel Waugh
Olivia Lucas
Jenny Montgomery
Naomi Gibson
The Year 8 ‘A’ and ‘B’, Minor ‘B’, Junior ‘B’, Year 11 and Year 12 teams have all played in the
TAGSA North Down League, playing teams from Dundonald High, Glastry College, Movilla High,
Nendrum College, Regent House and Strangford College.
Team members:
Year 8‘A’
Minor ’B’
Katie Magee (Captain)
Kathryn Simpson
Samantha Dornan
Emilia Morrow
Anna Campbell
Antonia Bennett
Hollie Ennis
Hayley Walsh
Year 8 ‘B’
Rachel Kennedy (Captain)
Gemma Kane
Anna Morwood
Ruth Cox
Bethany Conlon
Annie Doherty
Niamh McCartney
Terri-Anna Pinkney
Aimee Lennie (Captain)
Olivia Curlett
Laura Dickson
Amy Bloomfield
Robyn Leary
Faye Bower
Lana McWilliams
Georgia Magee
Junior ‘B’
Sarah Montgomery
Lauren Heasley
Amy-Lee Headley
Lauren Wilkinson
Daisy Lu
Jessica Keenan
Billi-Louise Dempster
Olivia Alexander
Page 49
Year 11 Lucy Stewart (Captain)
Emma Matchett
Sarah Armstrong
Brontë Porter
Shannon Patterson
Rhianna Hennessey
Lauren Boyd
Holly Dowd
Jessica Rodgers
Summer 2011
Year 12
Amy Dawson (Captain)
Alice Hamilton
Katie Roberts
Shannon Patterson
Robyn Christy
Hanna Geary
Lauren Boyd
Miss K. Beggs
This year Athletics Club started on Thursday 4 November 2010 when over thirty girls started hard
physical training in preparation for the forthcoming season. The idea behind the earlier than usual start
came from the girls themselves who felt that they could improve on last years successes if they began
their training earlier.
From the start of March, this group of athletes moved to Ballykillare track on Mondays, Thursdays and
Saturdays to make use of the excellent track and field facilities.
On Saturday 7 May we took part in a schools’ athletics match with Strathearn, Bloomfield Collegiate
and Sullivan upper at Ballykillare. This was a great opportunity for our athletes to have proper competitive practice in their events, particularly the Year 8 girls. It also helps with team selection for the upcoming District Championships.
Senior team for districts:
Intermediate Team
Yasmin Patterson – 100M & 200M
Laura- Jane Watson - 800M
Jenny Montgomery –shot
Joanne Canning – 100M
Robyn Christy – triple jump
Kathleen Dunseith - javelin
Shannon Patterson—100M
Clare Pollock-100M
Katherine Polly-200M
Laura Dorman-200M
Sophie Deaney_300m & triple jump
Emily Ferris-300M & shot
Anna Brown – 800M
Courtenay Patterson – 80H & long jump
Holly Fair – 800M
Amy McMullan – shot
Sarah Gamble – javelin & discus
Rebecca McClelland – long jump & triple
jump
Sara Parkinson – discus & javelin
Lauren Boyd – discus
Chloe Brown – high jump
Jenny Cameron – high jump
Relay Team
Emma Tumblety
Joanne Canning
Robyn Christy
Yasmin Patterson
Senior results:
Yasmin Patterson 1st in 100M and 2nd in 200M
Joanne Canning 3rd in 100M
Robyn Christy 2nd in triple jump and 2nd in the long jump
Jenny Montgomery 1st in shot
Kathleen Dunseath 1st in javelin
Summer 2011
Page 50
Intermediate results
Chloe Brown 2nd in high jump
Emily Ferris 3rd in shot
The Junior & Minor districts took place at Bangor Sportsplex on friday 13th May.
Junior team:
Elleana Hull -100M & triple jump
Ellen Robinson -100M & 75 h
Lucy Burrows- 200M
Sarah Hatch -200M
Sarah Connolly -75H & high jump
Daina Walton-long jump
Rebekah Rutherford-high jump & long jump
Esther Lau-shot
Emma Stockton– shot & Javelin
Sian Massey-javelin
Relay – Ellen Robinson, Elleana Hull, Sarah Connolly & Molly Brett.
The junior results were pleasing with a number of individuals and the relay qualifying for the Ulster
Finals.
Elleana 2nd in the 100M and Ellen was 3rd in the 100M
Elleana was 2nd in the triple jump
Minor team:
Saskia Greer – 100M & long jump
Anna Campbell – 100M
Kirsty O’Neill - high jump
Daina was 3rd in the long jump
The relay team were 2nd
Gemma Kane-800M
Joy Eadie-shot
Lauren Brooks-long jump
Relay – Jade Holland, Anna Campbell, Saskia Greer & Gemma Kane.
Unfortunately none of the minors qualified for the Ulster Championships.
Ulster finals - Saturday 21st May
With eleven individuals and one relay team competing, we were hopeful for results which would lead to
qualification for the Irish Schools’ finals. (you have to finish in the top two places in track events and in
the top three in field events to qualify for the Irish schools finals). An excellent performance from Sarah
Connolly saw her finish third and qualify for the Irish championships.
The junior relay team finished second and also qualified for the Irish finals.
A number of intermediate and senior athletes who qualified for the Ulster championships did not compete because of exams. Yasmin patterson finished a creditable 6TH in the 100M final.
Irish schools finals: Tullamore, Co.Offaly
Three excited athletes, Miss Henry and Miss Vaughan set off for the long journey to Tullamore at
9.00AM on Saturday 4th June. (Molly Brett and Sarah Connolly had travelled down the night before as
Sarah’s high jump started at 1PM.)
Sarah produced an outstanding performance jumping 1.56M to claim 2nd place and the silver medal.
This was a new personal best by 5CMS!!
The relay team also delivered an outstanding performance to claim the bronze medal in their personal
best time of 52.20 seconds.
The long 12 hour day is certainly well worth when the athletes achieve results like this!!!
Many congratulations to all our athletes on another very successful season.
Many thanks to Mrs Chambers and Miss Vaughan for their help with all the coaching that took place
throughout the season.
E Henry
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Summer 2011
The Music Department has, as always, been busy through the past term with exams and performances.
On 4th March, Years 10, 11 and 12 choristers delighted the congregation at the Woman’s’ World Day of
Prayer with their rendition of Love Changes Everything.
This was closely followed by forty six girls doing Associated Board Music exams. Congratulations to all
on the wonderful results.
Our own Spring Concert was on 7th April, and as always, was hugely supported. The girls excelled themselves, whether playing a solo or as part of
an ensemble. Highlights include the soloists Amy Dickson on trumpet
(Year 8), Jordana Bunting and Rae O’Dowd on violin (year 9), Jenny
Cameron on piano (Year 12), Karina Magee on saxophone, Hannah Love
on cello and Claire Lucas on oboe (all Year 14). Of course the concert
would not be the same without the valuable contribution of Cygnet House.
Their If I Only Had a Brain had toes tapping and set the standard for
Glenlola’s junior and senior choirs. Not able to relax after, the following
morning, the band, string orchestra, junior choir and junior soloists repeated their pieces for local primary school children.
In April Megan Wilson, Year 14, was highly commended in the Catherine Judge Memorial competition.
This is open to students who have achieved Grade 8 in their instrument and wish to continue their musical studies next year. Megan gained Grade 8 french horn in November and gave a very competent performance and interview in the Island Centre, Lisburn. Well done Megan.
June has also seen forty nine girls take Associated Board Music exams, results
being eagerly waited for at the moment.
To round the off, On Thursday 23rd June a number of junior girls provided music
for a retirement reception for Mr. Thompson, the outgoing Chairperson of the
Board of Governors. Even though it was at the end of term, these girls performed
with the usual professionalism that Glenlola Collegiate has become known for.
I would like to thank everyone for their hard work this year. The girls’ dedication
has made our task very pleasant. Rehearsals have begun at 8am, through break
times, lunch times and after school almost every day of the week!
The tutors have also been tirelessly working, around
165 girls having tuition a week in school. Without the
tutors’ specialist knowledge and time the department
would not reach the high
standards that it has maintained over the years.
We look forward to next
year, with carols starting to
be rehearsed in September
and Associated board music exams in November.
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Summer 2011