Highlights Issue 32 March 2015

HIGHLIGHTS
News from Belfast High School
Issue 32
April 2015
Hockey Success
Congratulations to Jessica
McMaster on her selection for
the Ireland U18 hockey team.
The team played against
Scotland and Wales at Easter
and Jessica scored in both
matches.
Extreme Physics
Congratulations to Naoise Ellis, Sacha Perry,Yana Ford and Andrew Beggs
(Year 11) who won the Extreme Physics 2015 competition held in Rugby
School. The event involved a series of Physics-based challenges including
a treasure hunt and wiki-trail, building a one minute timer and creating a
model planetary system to demonstrate the discovery of exoplanets.
Professor Peter Watkins (CERN) gave a lecture about the discovery of the
Higgs boson which the pupils described as “mind boggling” and David
Wilkinson gave a very interesting lecture about the use of tasers which was
followed by a challenge involving taser failure. The highlight was a trip to
Airkix in Milton Keynes to do wind tunnel skydiving and rock climbing.
The final challenge was giving a presentation on a Physics topic. Our team
was given ‘Moments and Stability’ to explain and produced a very
humorous presentation involving Naoise being dressed up as Archimedes
and a punch bag!
Debating Success
Congratulations to our to our senior debating team, Peter Bothwell and
Marc Lennon, on reaching the final of the BBT Inter-School Debating
Competition. Congratulations also to Jamie McClenaghan who has
reached the final of the Individual Speaker Competition. The boys will
compete in the finals at Stormont on Friday 24 April.
Dates for your diary
Monday 20 April
Year 8 ‘Amazing Brains’ Event
Tuesday 21 April
Friends of BHS Annual Quiz
Thursday 23 April
Team Photos
Monday 4 May
May Day Holiday
Wednesday 6 May
AQE Information Evening
Saturday 9 May
Friends of BHS Plant Sale
UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge
Congratulations to our Year 11 and 12 pupils who won Gold, Silver and Bronze Intermediate Maths
Challenge Awards:
Gold
Year 12 - Ciaran Barnes, Ben Quigg and Patrick Stocker
Year 11 - Meghan Reid
Silver
Year 12 - Owen Edwards, Jasmine Kerr, Andrew McNair, Carl Mullet and Rebecca Rooney.
Year 11 - Andrew Beattie, Katie Black, Sam Cavey, Naoise Ellis, Arwen Greenwood, Joshua Lockyer,
Joshua McBride, Lucy Mulholland and Jade Rosborough
Bronze
Year 12 - Asia Gordon, Emma Haley, Katie Kirkpatrick, David Lam, Rebekah Logan, Molly Lyness,
Patrick McClintock, Zack McConkey, Ross McKnight and Rachel Mo
Year 11 - Justin Aston, Jack Buchanan-Rolleston, Matthew Cooke, Rob Devine, Jonny Edwards, Imogen
Elliott, Jake Harbinson, Matthew Jenkins, Jamie Kirk, Emma Leckey, Scott McDowell, Rebecca McGrory,
Sarah McNally, Lucy Millar, Heather Morrow, Megan O’Rourke, Sacha Perry, Alex Richmond and
Conor Stevenson
Young Enterprise
Congratulations to our Year 13 Young Enterprise team
who attended their Graduation Day at the Titanic on
26 March. The team won the Best Innovation Award,
Best Social Enterprise Award and Best Overall
Company Award with their products - Henna Candles,
Henna Photo Frames and Henna Canvases and will
represent the NEELB at the Northern Ireland Finals in
May.
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Congratulations to our latest Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Winners:
Fraser Armstrong
Cameron Boyce
Amy Cosgrove
Grace Curry
Marc Donald
Christopher Finn
Chloe Hanna
Natasha Henry
Megan Ferguson
David Lam
Megan Lofthouse
Paige Logan
Gemma Martin
Sophie McCavana
Patrick McClintock
Zack McConkey
Rebecca McKinney
Andrew McNair
Beth McVicker
Aimee Moore
Stella Reynolds
David Wilson
Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Congratulations to our latest Duke
of Edinburgh Silver Award Winners:
Ellen Anderson
Stephanie Beck
Peter Bothwell
Emma Cooke
Emma Curtis
Matthew Ennis
Jordan Ford
Laurie Hogan
Grace Horner
Ryan Huntley
Bailey Hutchison
Myles McConnell
Hannah McIntosh
Connor McWhirter
Andrew Mitchell
Emily Morgan
Monica Neill
Christopher Ringland
Emily Robinson
Volunteer Now
Congratulations to our Year 14 girls who were presented with their Volunteer Now 200 Hour Awards at a
ceremony in the Waterfront Hall on Wednesday 4 March:
Katie Garrett
Danielle Humphreys
Natasha Johnston
Lauren Love
Hope McKnight
Chloe Park
Solar Eclipse
Belfast High School pupils joined millions of people in the UK and northern Europe to observe the best solar
eclipse in years.
Old Girls’ Association
The Old Girls held a special evening on 4
March to mark the 75th anniversary of the
Association. There was a slide show taken
from old school magazines as well as
reminiscences from some of the old girls
themselves. A special cake baked by Jill
McClean (née McCullough) and decorated
by her daughter Lisa Coombes (née McClean)
was enjoyed with supper. A most enjoyable
evening was had by all - photos are on the
school website along with the slideshow from
the evening.
Replacement Windows
The replacement window project, valued at £491,848, began over the Easter Holidays. The Canteen was the
first area to be completed.
Oxford University Summer School
Congratulations to Year 13 pupil Chloe Bond
who has been accepted to attend a week-long
summer school at Oxford University in
August 2015. This fully funded residential
course in will involve lectures and one-to-one
tutorials in the area of Biochemistry.
Billy Reid Bursary
Congratulations to Year 14 pupil Katie Garrett
who won a Billy Reid Bursary (2nd prize - £250)
from Ballyclare Lions in April. Katie has been
selected for the Ulster Youth Choir and will use
the bursary to help fund her expenses.
Table Tennis News
Congratulations to Year 9 pupil Conor Nugent on his selection for the Ulster
U15 and the Irish Senior Schools’ table tennis teams. The U15 Ulster boys
won gold in the inter-pros held in Cork last weekend. Conor played very well,
winning 8 out of his 9 matches to help Ulster to the gold, including 2 of his 3
matches against Leinster in the final.
Red Nose Day
Red was definitely the colour on show on Friday 27 March as pupils and staff supported RND
2015. Almost £1,000 was raised. Well done everyone!
Football Success
Congratulations to Kyle McClean of Year 12
who has been offered a two year Apprenticeship
in Sporting Excellence at the Nottingham Forest
Football Club Academy commencing in July
2015. As well as vocational and technical
Development, Kyle will follow an award-bearing
education programme throughout the two years.
Netball Success
Congratulations to all our netball teams on their success at the end of season NEBSSA Finals held at
Magherafelt High School on Thursday 19 March.
Year 8
Won their final defeating Cross & Passion 6-1.
Poppy Bleakley, Cara Brennan, Dara Devine,
Amy Ellis, Sarah Gill, Anna MacIntyre, Lucy
Pattison, Ellie Reid, Mollie Swain and Hannah
Young
Year 9/Minor Team
Lost their final to Magherafelt HS but won the
NEELB League in December. Four of the team
selected for the RDA Netball Squad.
Chloe Bingham, Claire Brooks, Niamh Clow,
Ella Hunter, Laura Johnson, Sophie Limb,
Annabel McGrath, Hannah McKinney, Kirsty
Mitchell, Anna Taggart, Aylin Tezcan and Zoe
Wray
Year 11/Intermediate Team
Won their final defeating Magherafelt HS 17-12.
This team has won the NEBSSA League 4 years
in row. Eight of the girls are on the RDA Squad.
Rachel Campbell, Hannah Craig, Yana Ford,
Emma Leckey, Amy MacIntyre, Megan
O’Rourke, Sacha Perry, Lara Rossi, Selin Tezcan
and Eva Zacharopoulou
Senior Team
Won their final defeating Magherafelt HS 22-20.
Four girls selected for the NEELB team.
Emma Curtis, Emma Haley, Katie Houston,
Jenny Lewis, Hannah McCleery, Sacha Perry
and Eva Zacharopoulou
Hockey Success
Congratulations to Julea Glover, Jessica McMaster and Megan Todd on their selection for the U18 Area Board
hockey team and to Charlotte McCartney, Kate McFarland and Annabel McGrath on their selection for the
NEELB U15 Area board team and the Ulster U15 Talent ID squad.
Rugby Success
Belfast High School hosted the annual
Year 8 triangular tournament on Friday
20 March for U12 teams from Belfast
High School, Carrickfergus Grammar
School and Larne Grammar School.
Congratulations to our U12A team who
won the overall competition, the Hilditch
Cup, and to our U12B/C team, runnersup, on winning the Hilditch Shield. A
great way to end the season.
Well done to all the U12 boys who
participated in the tournament.