Issue 55 Nov 2019

Dates for your diary

School Exams Friday 6 - Friday 13 December Years 11-14

Monday 9 - Friday 13 December Years 8-10

Wednesday 18 December, 7.00pm Carol Service Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church

Friday 20 December, 11.50am finish Last Day of Term

Monday 6 January First Day of Term

Saturday 18 January Open Morning

Monday 20 January School Development Day

Tuesday 4 February Spring Concert

Thursday 6 February Friends of BHS Annual Quiz

Trampolining Success Congratulations to Jack Prior on his silver medal at the British League qualifying competition held in Nottingham. Jack also competed in the British League Finals in Derby in November.

Prize Distribution 2019

Prize Distribution was held on Tuesday 22 October. Congratulations to our special prize winners, subject prize winners and to the choir, chamber choir and orchestra who performed on the evening. The Guest of Honour was former pupil Kirsti Adair, Deputy Editor of BBC Newsround. Details of special prize winners can be found on pages 9-12.

Congratulations to the 1st XI who defeated Antrim GS 2-1 on Saturday 16 November to reach the final of the Ulster Hockey Superleague. The final, against Carrickfergus GS, took place on Wednesday 27 November at Stormont. A super effort from every member of the team and goals from Charlie Smyth and Chloe Bingham secured the 2-0 victory. Well done girls and thank you to everyone who supported the team throughout the tournament.

Hockey Success

The Crucible Congratulations to everyone involved in the school’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 November.

Top Candidates in CCEA Summer 2019 Exams

GCSE Spanish Congratulations to Elena Eickhoff-Fernandez who was placed 2nd in Northern Ireland in GCSE Spanish. A fantastic achievement since Elena completed the exam while in Year 10.

GCSE Art and Design Congratulations to Year 13 pupils Katie Marshall and Cameron Tucker who were awarded maximum marks in their GCSE Art & Design examination. Maximum marks are achieved when both full raw and full uniform marks have been attained.

Holocaust Memorial Day On 24 October our Year 13 History students visited Methodist College to hear Susan Pollock MBE speak. Susan was speaking as part of Holocaust Memorial Day. Susan grew up in Hungary in the 1930s-40s and spoke of the anti-semitism she experienced. She spoke of how she was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp where she saw her mother taken to the gas chambers. She described the unimaginable horror of life in the camps and also how she was able to put her life back together after the end of the war. Susan is a truly remarkable women and it was a privilege for our students to be able to hear a first hand account of this most shameful episode in human history. We are very grateful to Susan and to Methody for giving our students such a memorable experience.

Year 8 - Principal's Challenge Congratulations to class 8E who won the first Principal's Challenge this year for taking part in several activities based on our code of conduct.

Year 8 and Year 9 Form Captains 2019-20 Congratulations to our Year 8 and 9 Form Captains: 8P Yash Chacko and Hope Laughlin 9M Zara McVeigh, Matthew Winters 8T Jacob Murray and Leah McGregor 9C Sophie Cates, Ruby Cawood, Riley Montgomery 8W Jenna Ritchie and Ben Gardner 9G Daniel Harvey, Nicole Patterson 8M Jake Pattison and Anna-Mae Considine 9S Jovial Vincent Gigiy, Fahriye Onur 8E Oliver Stewart and Aimee Green 9R Grace Harris, Caitlin Peel, Caitlin Steenson

Sentinus R&D Our 2019-20 Sentinus R+D team (Amy Armstrong, Emily Bisp, Katie Marshall, Taylor Mayne, Leo Milligan) attended a workshop at Queen’s University recently where they gained an insight into the work that goes into cleaning and purifying water in developing countries. This insight will help them in the coming months as they work with SAFEWATER and post-graduate students from Ulster University to develop new, innovative solutions to the world's water crisis.

Year 14 Geography On 14 November our Year 14 geographers enjoyed taking in the sights of Belfast as part of their study of segregation in ethnically diverse cities. In particular, pupils had the opportunity to see the peace walls which divide the city and observe the way in which areas are marked out by flags, murals and other symbols.

Chemistry Department Celebrates Mole Day The Chemistry Department held its annual Bake Off on 23 October to celebrate Mole Day. Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6.02 am to 6.02 pm, Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 1023), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Pupils were asked to bake their cakes with a Periodic Table theme as this year is the 150th anniversary of the Periodic Table. There were some fabulous cakes on display and judging was difficult but congratulations to our junior winners Caitlin Peel, Caitlin Steenson and Grace Harris and runner up Aimee Green and senior winners Hannah McKinney, Kirsty Mitchell, Drew Mulholland and Jonathan Mullan and runners up Joseph Lismore and Conor Anton.

Former Pupil Success Congratulations to Thomas Moore who was selected through the British Council’s Study USA programme to spend a year at Saint Martin’s University in Washington State studying Business and Economics with elective classes in astrophysics and commercial law. Thomas spent a year in the US and was awarded Runner-Up Student of the Year. He has returned to Queen’s University to resume his MSc in Physics and Astrophysics.

Congratulations also go to Ross McClean whose short film Hydebank won Best Short Documentary at the Galway Film Festival and Best British Short Film Competition at Leeds Film Festival. The film had its international premiere in competition at DOK Leipzig and has been screened in Poland, Cork, Edinburgh, Bogota and in the Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast.

UK-German Connection UK-German Connection is a bilateral government initiative for school and youth links. It was established in 2005 and is funded and governed by the UK and German governments, British Council and the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst. UK-German Connection activities are open to the primary, secondary and FE sectors and focus on cross-curricular, thematic involvement.

Year 13 pupil Ruairi Lowery was selected for the UK-German Connection’s Youth Seminar. In early November, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ‘Peacing it Together’ programme saw 50 participants from Northern Ireland and Germany meeting in Leipzig, where the Peaceful Revolution began, to share their experiences of growing up in once divided societies. The idea of the seminar is that we can come to better under-stand how to foster peace and unity in our own country if we can draw parallels between it and other conflicts. Along the way, Ruairi learnt more about post-war and post-wall Germany and spoke to the German pupils about his experiences growing up in Northern Ireland.

Belfast Buildings Trust NI Schools’ Debating Competition BHS hosted teams from Strangford College and St Killian’s College on 11 November in the annual BBT NI Schools’ Debating Competition. All teams debated the motion ‘This house believes that it is wrong to encourage young people to skip school to save the planet.’ Both BHS teams (Reuben Bolton/Joseph Lismore and Conor Anton/Jordan McClelland) won their debates today and have progressed to the second round. Founded in 1993, the BBT NI Schools’ Debating Competition places active participation in civic life and the development of citizenship skills in young people at the core of its mission. With an average entry in excess of 70 teams from across Northern Ireland, it is the pre-eminent debating competition for young people in the region. The competition involves 16-18 year olds and runs from September each year through to the Final, held each April in the Senate Chamber of Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child Thank you to our Year 8 pupils who donated 50 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Since 1990 more than 168 million children in over 160 countries have received shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. Community Service members Ellie Campbell, Talula Reid, Kiera McDermott and Amy McKeown helped pack the shoeboxes on 7 November.

Erasmus+ Programme We were delighted to be able to host the visit of María Jesús Gómez Gómez who teaches English in our partner school IES Los Albares in Cieza in Murcia in October. As part of the Erasmus+ programme Maria spent a week taking part in lessons and meetings and the pupils enjoyed a video call with her class in Spain.

School Council Elections Lots of excitement on 4 October as voting took place for our Year 8 School Council representatives. Congratulations to Rhys Barber, Larissa Chan and Joshua Lyness who were elected as the Year 8 representatives.

First Tech Challenge Our inaugural First Tech Challenge (FTC) team “The Resistance” received their robot kit and instructions from First Robotics and have started work on the design and programming of the robot. The team has also set up their own social media account on Instagram (@theresistance_bhs). Team kit has been designed for competitions, sponsorship has been secured from BL Refrigeration and game-play strategies have been discussed.

Little Princess Trust Congratulations to Year 13 pupil Neve Hutchinson who raised £510 for the Little Princesses Trust. The charity provides free real hair wigs to children and young people with hair loss, and funds vital research into childhood cancers. Since they began in 2006, they have provided over 8,000 wigs and have given grants of over £5 million pounds to childhood cancer research. Neve donated two braids of hair each measuring 17” to the charity.

Prize Distribution 2019 Congratulations to all our Special Prize winners for the academic year 2018-19. A full prize list is available on the school website.

Acksen Prize for GCSE Technology/Electronics Samuel Carr

Lynn Gormley Cup for GCSE English Literature Emma Nesbitt

Harry Adair Cup Emily Allen

Jonathan Fisher Cup Cameron McIlwee

Ronald Brown Award for Orchestral Endeavour Abigail Pierce

J Devine Prize for GCSE Science and Kirkwood Prize for best GCSE results Amy Ellis

Christie Cup for Geography Fieldwork and Ferris Cup for Chemistry Rose Dykes

William Cairns Salver for Musical Excellence Erin Peel

Hamill Cup for Outstanding Voluntary Contributions and Lindsay Prize for Classical Civilisation - Talula Reid

Becky McKay Cup Amy Swarbrick

McCormick Cup for Mathematics Niamh Wait

Margaret Lorimer Cup for GCSE Child Development Manon Ellis

Malcomson Cup for Public Speaking Joseph Lismore

Lindsay Prize for Classical Languages Zachary Doyle

Malcomson Prize for Writing Megan McComb

Dr Harte Latin Prize Jordan McClelland

Crawford McKibbin Cup for Racquet Sports Conor Nugent

McNie Music Shield and O’Neill History Prize Alexandra Stafford-Santana

Musgrave String Cup Anna Adams

Donaghadee Bowl Form 8P Ruby Campbell

Governor’s Trophy Year 8 Boys’ Athletics Team

Third Year Cup Natasha Nevins

Audrey Murray Piano Trophy Pippa Hamilton

Newtownabbey Arts Cup Charys O’Rourke

Dunwoody Trophy Aaron Douglas

Thorpe Music Shield Naomh Clow

Shield of Merit Daire Ellis

Wilson Shield Calum Fitzpatrick

Victor Lyness Cup Zane McQuillan

Louise Logan Cup Lara Brines

Liz Young Cup for KS3 Physics - Elijah Knox

UKMT Senior Maths Challenge Congratulations to our Year 13 and 14 pupils on their Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards: Year 14

Gold: Andrew Huey Silver: Jay Ford Joseph Lismore Bronze: Niamh Wait Year 13

Silver: Christian Perry Abigail Pierce Bronze: Emily Bisp Zachary Doyle Anna Lowry Cameron Hutchison Peter Jamieson Taylor Mayne Luke Wray

School Improvements We are pleased to report that work to widen the road to the sports hall and allow for 2-way traffic is complete.

Hygiene Room We are also delighted to report that our new hygiene room is complete. This room, fitted with state of the art facilities is an asset to current and for future pupils.

Bar Mock Trial The Bar Mock Trial competition is a unique opportunity for students aged 15-18 from all over the UK to gain unparalleled insight into the justice system. The competition immerses students in all aspects of a criminal trial as they take on the roles of barristers, witnesses, clerks, ushers and jury members. Students appear in real crown courts in front of real judges and are assisted in their preparations by professional barristers. Every year since 1991, the competition has supplemented traditional classroom learning by encouraging the development of essential skills such as logical reasoning, clear communica-tion and teamwork. The Competition is run by Young Citizens and supported by the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Faculty of Advocates, the Bar Library of Northern Ireland, HMCTS, the Circuits and the Inns of Court. The Bar Mock Trial regional finals took place throughout November in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Chester, Derry, Glasgow, Guildford, Inner London, Ipswich, Kingston Upon Hull, Leeds, Maidstone, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Reading, Snaresbrook, Southampton and Stafford with the national final being held at the Old Bailey in London on 21 March 2020. After months of preparation the BHS Bar Team made their way to Royal Courts of Justice for the NI Regional Heat. The team conducted a mock criminal trial before a judge in competition with schools from across NI. In the 3 rounds of the

competition BHS faced stiff competition from Strathearn School, Banbridge Academy and Dalriada. The team were fantastic in each of the 3 rounds and earned high praise from judges and competitors alike. Unfortunately the team didn’t make the final this time round but the students can be very proud of a sterling performance. Well done to all the members of the team who took part: Barristers: R Bolton, M Henderson, T Reid, J Scott Witnesses: E Kerr, J McClelland, J Lismore, A Pierce Usher: L Eastham Court Clerk: E Kane Jurors: J Corbett, F Green, C Anton Court Reporter: L Acheson Court Artist: S Eastham

Geography Department Iceland Trip Our geographers had an extremely enjoyable trip to Iceland from 1-4 November. The itinerary included a Golden Circle Tour (Hverageroi earthquake exhibition, Gullfoss Waterfall, Geysir geothermal area, Pingvellir National Park). They also visited the scenic Hellisheioi mountain pass, the Eyjafjallajokull strato-volcano and the spectacular waterfalls at Seljalandsfoss and Skogarfoss. The pupils enjoyed a visit to the Seltun geothermal mud pools as well as a trip to the Blue Lagoon - a unique lake with warm mineral-rich geothermal water in the middle of a black lava field. Despite the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis remaining elusive, the pupils had a fantastic trip!

Year 11 Printmaking Workshop Visiting artist Robert Peters inspired our Year 11 Art students on 15 October to experiment and develop their technical skills in printmaking.

Careers Department News

Year 13 Interview Skills Day Our Year 13 pupils participated in an Assessment Centre programme organised by Eye4Eye Education in November. They completed application forms followed by aptitude tests and mock Interviews. The pupils were given feedback including whether they would be offered the job!

Catalyst Work Experience Four of our Year 14 pupils (Sophie Arnold, Matthew Johnston, Adam Logan and Dean Logan) recently completed a work experience programme ‘Generation Innovation’ through Catalyst. The aim of the programme was to upskill and empower the young people of this generation to thrive as the next lead-ers, innovators and entrepreneurs of the future. The ‘hands-on’ work experience involved 200 students who were placed in over 40 innovative and well-known companies.

Sophie was allocated to Coca Cola and the group task was to come up with a solution to the problem ‘in an age in which Millennials are constantly connected to the digital world, how can Coca Cola engage with this generation from their products while showing it is more than what is in the bottle’.

Matthew’s work experience was with AquaQ and his group was to solve a real life business problem employing techniques used by large organisations such as teamwork and storyboards.

Dean’s placement was with Allstate where he was put into a team with six other people. Allstate gave the team a problem to solve which was ‘how do we make transport smarter, safer and more useful for everyone in Belfast?’ Over four days the team worked on developing a product to solve this problem and then presented the product to twenty of Allstate's senior staff.

Adam was paired with Liberty IT and given the problem that a contractor spends 23 minutes filling out a time sheet. The group had to find a way to shorten this and pitch their ideas to the company.

W5 Careers Workshops During October 2019, Almac held a series of unique, exciting and interactive workshops at W5 for post-primary schools to provide information about STEM careers in the pharmaceutical sector and offer guidance on education paths from GCSE and beyond. The events provided students and teachers with the opportunity to speak with Almac staff, participate in practical demonstrations and get involved in hands-on activities. On 24 October, 9 of our Year 14 pupils attended the ‘Life in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Which Course? What Career?’ workshop. This event, for Year 13 and Year 14 students who are studying A-level STEM subjects, provided an insight into the diverse range of career paths at Almac, as well as guidance on third-level courses that provide the training and skills required for a STEM career in the pharmaceutical industry. The pupils had the opportunity to speak with Almac staff including graduates, apprentices and placement students, who work in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, IT and Quality Assurance.

Northern Ireland U15 Football Congratulations to our Year 10 and 11 pupils Conor Cunningham, Reece Black, Logan Wallace, Kyle Leighton and Ben Andrews who travelled to Spain on 17 October to participate in the prestigious Football Cup Barcelona, an international youth tournament. The boys represented the NI Football Development Academy U15 squad, based at Ulster University, Jordanstown. The tournament was played at Futbul Salou with 100 teams from 10 countries taking part. The team played 3 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday, finishing runners-up, winning 4 of their 5 matches and loosing narrowly in the final.

Netball News On 4 October we hosted teams from Carrick GS and Sports Academy, George, South Africa. Well done to all girls involved!

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Congratulations to Sophie Cates and LJ Barit on their recent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu success. Sophie won silver at the Junior European Championships held in Wolverhampton while LJ won bronze. At the Irish Open held in Dublin LJ won silver and Sophie won bronze. Both girls have achieved their yellow belts.

Congratulations to our intermediate team who defeated Mount Lourdes, Enniskillen 29-20 and our junior team who defeated Down High School 31-5 in their Cup matches in October. Well done girls!

Danske Bank Schools’ Cup Congratulations to the 1st XV who defeated Banbridge Academy 29-17 on Saturday 16 November in the Schools’ Cup (pool match 2).

Irish Multi Event Championships PBs for Finlay Stewart in the shot putt, 200m and overall pentathlon and for Zane McQuillan in the 200m and 800m at the Irish multi event championships held in Athlone on 9 November. Finlay finished in 7th place overall at intermedi-ate level and Zane in 10th place overall at junior level.

2Bs Hockey Congratulations to the 2Bs hockey team who defeated Lagan College 3-0 on 6 November to finish runners–up in their section of the Gibson Cup. The girls also hosted a team from Severn Vale School Gloucester in October. The girls won 2-0 with goals from Brooke Hylands and Katie Moore.