Speech Transcript - Victoria College Belfast

Headmistress s
Address
17/09/15
SENIOR PRIZE GIVING
Remarks of Ms. Patricia Slevin
Victoria College Belfast -Annual Report
Cranmore Assembly Hall
Thursday, 17th September 2015
Dr Gregory, Dr Mountford, Governors, Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen and girls. You
are all very welcome to our Senior Prize Distribution, an opportunity for us to
celebrate the outstanding achievements of Victoria College pupils both inside and
outside the classroom
In a week where the College has been awarded for the fourth time the International
School Award in recognition of the attention to the global dimension within and
beyond the curriculum, a week where the NI Children’s Commissioner visited the
College reminding us of our duty to protect and safeguard young people, and a
week where a heightening refugee crisis and political crisis closer to home dominate
the news, I am more than ever aware of the huge responsibility we have to equip
our pupils with knowledge and skills, the aptitudes and behaviours which will
prepare them for success in a rapidly changing world. A world where
understanding global issues has become ever more important, a world where digital
technology continues to develop at a phenomenal rate offering hope and
opportunity but also presenting huge challenges, a world where a global perspective
is all important.
I hope that my report this evening will provide you with some sense of the many
achievements of our pupils and of the multifaceted nature of education in Victoria
College which goes far beyond academic results. I am conscious that the girls
present in the Hall tonight are but a small representative group of all our pupils each
of whom makes a really valuable contribution to the success of the College.
We are the Best Ulster Girls’ School in Cross Country, Ulster Grammar Schools
Swimming Champions, Ulster Novice Squash Cup winners, finalists in schools Tag
Rugby, winner of the Best Kept Large School, Young Entrepreneurs and winners of
a Democracy Award. Our girls have supported local and global charities, given time
to the elderly and supported those in need; they have taken part in Tall Ships
expeditions and completed Duke of Edinburgh Awards at Bronze Silver and Gold
levels.
Alongside all of that the girls have achieved outstanding academic results with
45.6%of grades achieved at A level being A*/A, 92.5% of grades achieved being A*
to C, and 23% of the year group obtaining 3 or more A*/A grades at A2.
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Victoria College
Belfast
Senior Prize Giving
Rachel Hanley and Emma Gilmartin obtained an outstanding 4 A* grades, Sophie
Stewart achieved 3 A* and 1 A grade and Ellen Beattie, Megan Halliday, Chloe
Haylett, Emma Saulters and Kathryn Shane, achieved 4 A*/A grades while Anne
Henderson and Rachel Milligan achieved 3 A* grades.
At AS level 19% of our pupils achieved 3 or more A grades and 60% of grades
achieved were A-B. Eve Bannon, Amy Brennan, Tara Fry, Jane Kenny, Charmaine
Kwok, Rana Tahoun, Eve Wilson, Aishlyn Wong and Anna Wylie each attained 4
grade As.
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17/09/15
At GCSE more than a quarter of the year group achieved 9 or more A*-A grades
and 47% of grades achieved were A* and A.
Amy Edwards and Katie Lynn were awarded an outstanding 11 A*s and Zehra
Majeed obtained 12 A*/A grades. A further 12 girls: Anna Darling, Alexandra Dick,
Gina Gilmartin, Sophie Gormley, Sara Gray, Arez Hassan, Sophie Hunter, Nikki Li,
Nicola Maxwell, Sophie McConn, Caitlin McCormack, and Sisara Pettagam
achieved 11 A*/A grades and 13 girls achieved 10 A/A* grades.
Anne Henderson achieved full marks in both A2 Art & Design and Religious
Education and eighteen GCSE pupils achieved full marks in a range of subjects with
Amy Edwards obtaining full marks in History, Religious Studies, Biology and Spanish
and Erin Burnett being awarded full marks in Religious Studies, Mathematics, ICT
and English Literature.
In Sport pupils from the College competed at Ulster, Irish, British, European and
World level.
The 1st XI hockey team reached the semi-final of the Ulster Schools’ Plate
competition. Amy Edwards was selected for the Ulster U18 Hockey team and Amy,
Caitlyn Harvey and Rebecca Lobo were selected for the Belfast Area U17 team.
Caitlyn was also selected for the U16 Ulster team and Beth Walker was selected for
both the U16 Ulster team and the Belfast U15 Area team. Hannah Beattie, Caitlin
Murphy and Emma Conlin were selected for the Ulster U16B Development Squad
and Caitlin was then further selected for the Ulster Under 17 Development Squad.
The College had another successful year in Cross Country, winning both the South
Antrim District and the Ulster Cross Country Championships. The Mini and Senior
teams were crowned Ulster Champions and the Junior and Intermediate teams
were placed second in their respective events. The Senior team was placed 6th in
the All Ireland Championships and Jane Matthews, Year 14, was placed 14th as an
individual competitor. The College was crowned Best Ulster Girls’ School in Cross
Country for the second consecutive year.
In Athletics pupils achieved success at the South Antrim Championships, with a
large number of pupils from all age groups qualifying for the Ulster Championships
where Jane Matthews was placed 6th in the 800m and Emma Henderson 4th in the
Discus; Amy Edwards was placed 1st in the Javelin and Zoe Jane Dickson, 2nd in
the Triple Jump. Both Amy and Zoe Jane qualified for the Irish Championships and
Amy was selected to compete at the Sainsbury’s 2014 School Games which were
held in Manchester last September. Amy, Zoe Jane and Emma were also selected
for the Inter-Provincial Athletics team.
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Victoria College
Belfast
Senior Prize Giving
Caitlin McCormack and Hannah Beattie achieved 3rd place in the All Ireland
Lifesaving Championships in the 15-17 age division.
And the Senior Swimming Team – Emma Henderson, Esmée Hall, Evie Dougan,
Hannah Beattie and Sophie Hunter - won gold medals in the Freestyle and Medley
relays at the Ulster Secondary Schools’ Championships. In the Ulster Schools’
Swimming Championships Emma won gold in the 100m individual medley and silver
in the 50m backstroke. Esmée won silver in both the 100m individual medley and
the 50m butterfly. The relay team was placed second in both the medley and
freestyle and the Senior team won the overall trophy for the fourth consecutive year.
Emma was selected for the Inter-Provincial team for swimming and was one of only
six girls to represent Great Britain at the World Pool and Beach Surf Championships
and at the Spanish Surf Lifesaving International, during which she won one silver
and two bronze medals. She captained the Ulster Schools’ Swimming team which
was victorious in the All Ireland Interprovincial Championships and was selected to
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Address
17/09/15
receive an International award. She has recently been selected as Captain of the
Great Britain Youth Team for the Junior European Pool and Ocean Championships
to be held in Spain next week. Well done Emma.
The Senior Tennis team - Lauren Russell, Megan Halliday, Sophie Hunter and Lucy
Hamilton - reached the semi-finals of the Ulster Senior Tennis Cup. The Under 17
Squash Team was placed first in the Ulster Novice Squash Cup and the College’s
Tag Rugby team reached the final of the Schools’ Cup, held at Kingspan Stadium.
Sophie Robinson competed in the World Pairs Competition in Mounted Games in
Newark, Nottinghamshire in September. Sarah Brittain represented the College and
won a range of awards including the Supreme Working Hunter Champion in both
the Pre-Balmoral and Armagh County championships and the Blugrass Working
Hunter Champion of Ireland at the Equifestival of Ireland.
Ara McCartan, Year 11, won the Ria Kenny Irish Golfers’ Union Cup, was a member
of the Ulster Junior Golf Squad, a semi-finalist of the Norman Drew All-Ireland Golf
Competition and was first in the Ulster Girls’ Schools’ Championships. The
College’s Golf Team was placed third in the Ulster Girls’ Golf Championships under
the Captaincy of Susie Rankin.
In April Emily Hobson, was selected to compete for the Belfast Rowing Club at the
Strathclyde Park Regatta and Jodie Dowling, represented Northern Ireland at the
IJS Open Ice-Skating Championships. We have also just received news that
Rebecca Getty has been selected to play for the Ulster Senior Badminton team in
the English County Championships against Lancashire in Huddersfield this
December.
We are very grateful to our Miss Stewart and our Sports staff and coaches who
provide the girls with so many opportunities to participate and to compete.
Drama and Theatre Studies students attended Theatre visits to the Grand Opera
House and The Mac, and watched live streamed performances of ‘A Streetcar
Named Desire’ and ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Year 12 performed ‘Hamlet’ at The Mac as part of the Shakespeare in Schools
Festival and were invited to reprise their performance at the Hilton Hotel during the
Rotary Conference. In school the girls participated in workshops and performed
their devised work, plays,monologues and duologues to delighted audiences.
The Music department enjoyed another busy and successful year with polished
performances at the Prize Distribution, the APT Neil Shawcross event and the
prestigious Inclusion Quality Mark award ceremony at Stormont in November.
The Carol Service and the Spring Concert in the Waterfront BT Studio provided
opportunities to demonstrate the exceptional musical talent in the College with
individuals, choirs, ensembles and orchestra performing to a very high standard.
And packed audiences thoroughly enjoyed the excellent joint VCB and RBAI
musical performance of Hairspray in November.
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Victoria College
Belfast
Senior Prize Giving
The international dimension is a really important feature of school life allowing girls to
experience and develop that global perspective and understanding and we are
delighted to have had our International School Award renewed. The College
participated in the European Studies Programme, Comenius project, Global Schools
Partnership and the Eco Schools Initiative. The College has retained the highly
prestigious Green Flag status and our Eco Committee were finalists in the All Ireland
Eco-Unesco Environmentalist awards and the Brighter Belfast Environmental
Awards. The Committee also developed a new eco game Green Options and an
Eco Mural for the school library. Aisha Rahman our Eco Prefect was interviewed on
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17/09/15
Radio One and the school year came to a close with the College being awarded
‘The Best Kept Large School’ in Belfast, the College’s tenth success and third in the
last four years.
Sixth form pupils engaged in debate with local MLAs participating in the EurVoice
and Mock Council events at Stormont organised by the European Commission
Office and the British Council. Two pupils, Francesca Drumm and Perrie
McMahon-MacKeever, represented VCB in the UK Youth Parliament elections in the
South Belfast Constituency –and the College received the Democracy Award to
acknowledge the high level of participation and support in that election.
Pupils participated in a number of visits and trips including Geography fieldtrips, a
Scripture Union retreat, a joint Italian and Latin trip to Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and
Rome, a hockeytrip to Gibraltar and a ski trip to Italy.
Our Charity Prefects encouraged the girls to fundraise for The Alzheimer’s Society
and Tiny Life. And in addition to the ongoing community work of the College’s
Voluntary Services Group, Health and Social Care pupils were involved in a number
of intergenerational projects with older people in residential care , organising a tea
dance and lunch, interacting with residents with dementia, playing Boccia and
completing a digital age project .
Year 13 pupils, Eve Bannon, Elizabeth Brush and Daire McCotter, worked with the
National Citizen Service, and were awarded “100 hours” certificates from Volunteer
Now.
Special congratulations are due to last year’s Deputy Head Girl Ellen Beattie who
has achieved the amazing feat of 100% attendance record since she started
primary school.
In these challenging economic times expert careers advice and guidance is more
important than ever and the Careers Department provides ongoing assistance and
support to all ourpupils through work placements, CAO and Oxbridge seminars and
conferences, attendance at open days, higher education fairs, careers conventions
and seminars in specific careers areas, as well as invaluable one to one support.
Sixth Form students participated in the ‘Fantastic Females’ event and the ‘Create
2014’ event, and Year 11 pupils were successful in the Inspire/Aspire competition
Over seventy exhibitors attended our Higher Education and Careers Fair in February
and Year 14 pupils attended a Mock Interview Evening. We are very grateful to the
many parents and friends of the school who gave up their time to interview our
students during this important event.
The College’s Young Enterprise company, ‘Sophistiglass’, won the Belfast and
Castlereagh final for Best Overall Company and qualified for the Northern Ireland
Final at Belfast City Hall where they won an award for Best Marketing. The team
also won a competition run by Forestside Shopping Centre and Hannah Nicholl and
Perrie McMahon McKeever were selected to compete in the Entrepreneur of the
Year competition.
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Victoria College
Belfast
Senior Prize Giving
In February, a group of Year 12 pupils participated in a personal development
course at the SKYtrek outdoor activity centre and over 100 Year 10 girls completed
their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions in June. Ten of our Senior pupils will be
awarded their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award this evening.
We are indebted to Mrs Hart, who co-ordinates the Award scheme within the
College,along with her team of assistant leaders.
Year 13 pupils involved in the Sentinus Research and Development project with the
University of Ulster, achieved a Gold Crest Award. Leigh Hutchinson and Eve
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17/09/15
Bannon were selected for the Friends Forever Summer Programme in the U.S. while
Katie Brennan, Eva Davis, Sophie McConn, Maddie Robinson and Helen Francis
were selected to participate in the Tall Ships expedition. A number of Post-16
pupils volunteered for Disability SportNI and Brooklyn Dunseith, Year 13, won a trip
to London to meet Sir Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, sponsored
by the Law Society of Northern Ireland.
In the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge in February pupils were awarded 1
gold , 3 silver and 8 bronze certificates with Lucy Hamilton obtaining the gold and
‘Best in School’ certificate. Lucy also qualified for the Intermediate challenge followon round, the ‘Pink Kangaroo’.
In the Senior U.K. Mathematical Trust Mathematics Challenge pupils won 1 gold , 4
silver and 24 bronze certificates. Ying Ong in Year 13 obtained the gold and was
awarded the ‘Best in School’ certificate.
A team of four AS and A2 mathematics pupils also took part in the regional final of
the Senior Team Mathematics Challenge.
Esmée Hall and Anne Henderson had their GCSE and AS Art and Design work
selected and exhibited at the CCEA True Colours Art Exhibition in the Ulster
Museum. And Year 14 Art pupils, helped with the selection process for the
awarding of the Café Conor Prize for Figurative Work at the Royal Ulster Academy
Exhibition 2014.
Year 13 and 14 Art and Design pupils and staff from the College exhibited and sold
their art work at the Maryville Tearooms on the Lisburn Road.
At an APT event - An Evening with Neil Shawcross - Art pupils had a valuable
opportunity to meet and discuss artwork with prestigious local artist, Neil
Shawcross who has generously donated a beautiful print to the College the sales of
which have enabled the APT to raise more than £14,000 in support of the College.
Recent curriculum developments within the College include the introduction of
Moving Image Arts and Systems Software Development and during the past
academic year pupils met with representatives from the film industry including actor
and screenplay writer, Tim Loane and Helen Sloan, Key Stills Photographer for
HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Product Design students visited The Creativity Hub, an award winning product
design studio, and took part in a Creativity Masterclass.
This academic year we said farewell to two long-serving members of staff. Mrs
Deirdre Turkington, Assistant Principal and Mr Trevor McKee, Teacher of Geography
and Examinations Officer left the College after a combined total of 46 teaching years
at Victoria College. They have given unstinting support to our pupils over the years
and will be sorely missed by us all.
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Victoria College
Belfast
Also leaving the College this year are Mr Ian McCaugherty and Mr Gareth
Whitehead, Temporary Teachers of Science and Miss Suzanne Coates, Temporary
Teacher of Art & Design. We wish them all well and hope that they will maintain
their links with the College in the future.
We welcome our new staff - Mrs Karen Goddard, Head of Art & Design, Miss Roisin
Mullholland, Temporary Teacher of Home Economics, Miss Gabrielle Moore
temporary teacher of mathematics and Mrs Catherine Flanagan, Classroom
Assistant.
Senior Prize Giving
Tonight’s celebrations would not be possible were it not for the total commitment of
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17/09/15
all the staff in the College and their dedication to the girls. I think it would be fitting to
show them our appreciation.
And I would also like to pay tribute to our parents without whose support I would be
unable to present this very impressive report. Parents who encourage their
daughters to always give their best, who bring them to and from training, matches
and rehearsals, who support the school’s policies and who engage in a positive
partnership with staff play a huge part in the whole educational experience and their
contribution is much appreciated.
I would also like to thank our Chairman, Dr Gregory and the Board of Governors for
the invaluable advice and support provided to myself and to my colleagues in the
College.
Girls I am so proud of all of you and of your achievements. On a personal level each
one of you has reached for the stars and has obtained success. But you have also
clearly demonstrated your willingness to contribute to the school, to the local
community and to those less fortunate than yourselves in the wider community. You
have embraced the challenge of learning beyond the curriculum and like the eagle
referred to in this quote from a John O’Donoghue poem, I hope you will always see
the bigger picture.
‘As high over the mountains the eagle spreads its wings
May your perspective be larger than the view from the foothills’
Girls, continue to look outwards, care for others and don’t stand still!
Remember Einstein’s advice
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Dr Gregory, this concludes my report for the 2014 – 15 academic year.
P Slevin (Ms)
Headmistress
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Victoria College
Belfast
Senior Prize Giving