Dalriada School
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55°04′23″N 6°31′16″W / 55.072992°N 6.521241°W
| Dalriada School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Type | Voluntary, Co-educational Grammar School |
| Motto | Labor Sine Cura, Labor Sine Fructu (work without effort is work without fruit) |
| Established | 1878 |
| Headmaster | Thomas Skelton |
| Deputy Heads | Nicola Madden & Ian Walker |
| Number of students | Approx 850 |
| Mascot | Gary S. |
| Website | http://www.dalriadaschool.com/ |
Dalriada School is a mixed voluntary grammar school in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.[1] The school draws its pupils from a wide geographical area and a range of social, religious and cultural backgrounds.[1] Students of Dalriada School are known as Dalriads and former pupils, Old Dalriads. In 2008 the school won the Northern Ireland State Secondary School of the Year award from The Sunday Times.[2]
Past headmasters
Rev. J.B Armour
William Beare
John Ramsey
Alfred Ross (1931-48)
G. Edmund Gordon (1948-75)
Alan Reynolds (1975-87)
William Calvert (1987-2003)
Derek Boyd (2003-7)
Thomas Skelton (2007 - present)
Present day
Music and drama
Dalriada offers both music and drama. The school's four choirs (Junior Choir, Intermediate Choir, Senior Choir and the more exclusive invitation-only Chamber Choir) practice frequently and have both male and female members [1] The choirs perform at several school concerts throughout the year, and attend various competitions as well. Drama is practiced in class, at lunch time, and after school, if a pupil chooses to pursue it.
Dalriada also has an orchestra, string group and wind band. There are many smaller music groups, including the Irish Traditional Groups, a Dixieland Band, a Jazz Quartet, a tuba club, and several other small groups. [1] The school holds several concerts, including the "Evening of Music", where each choir and musical ensemble prepare a collection of songs, and the Christmas Concert.[1]
Dalriada has traditionally staged an annual Shakespearean production. This has been altered to include modern plays bi-annually, and they have also incorporated musicals into the Dalriada production schedule. The school originally alternated musicals and plays but over the past few years they have had a run of musicals continuing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[1]
Sports
All pupils must take part in two periods of "Games" each week. Rugby is the main winter sports for boys with cricket and other types of athletics being practiced in the spring season. Hockey is the main sport for girls at the school. Rugby and Hockey are the main school sports, but Football and Orienteering are also available during the two Games periods. Dalriada football has risen in popularity through the success of the Under 14 team, winning the league twice in a row. Volleyball has recently become rather popular in the school, with the teams doing well in leagues. Other, less well known sports at the school include Archery, Football, Badminton, Fencing, Cross Country Running, Swimming and Netball, with a number of these sports fielding successful teams.
Inter-house sports offer competition within the school. Each student belongs to one of five houses (Ross, Armour, Reynolds, Gordon and Calvert) and competes to defend the name of their house.
Societies
The school also offers student-run extra-curricular societies. Student-run societies have raised money through numerous charity events such as band nights and "World Aid Week."[1] Teams have travelled abroad to orphanages in Romania as part of a charity programme.
Debating Society
There are two debating societies in the school; a junior and a senior one. the Junior debating society is attended by years 8-10 and is the 'training ground' for future competitive debaters.
The senior debating society, Arguendo, is where year 11 and up come to debate, at Friday lunchtimes. Since its revival in 2008 the society has become rather popular, with Dalriada entering teams into the annual Debating Matters competition and the Denny all-Ireland Debating Competition. In 2008 a team from Dalriada were the overall champions of Northern Ireland, Ireland and the British Isles, and in 2009 Dalriada gained the place of first place in Northern Ireland, and went on to represent NI in the all-Ireland final, but were narrowly defeated in a fierce debating battle.
In 2009/2010 Arguendo entered the Northern Ireland Debating competition, a long running competition, for the first time. The upper sixth team of Patrick McIlveen and Sarah Laverty were awarded Team of the Competition at the finals in Stormont after narrowly being defeated in the Quarter Finals, Sarah Laverty also received second place in the Speaker of the Competition.
Vaguely associated with this society are the schools team the take part in the annual Bar Mock Trial Competition. This team of 16 individuals prepare prosecution and defense cases for the competition and spend considerable time training for the event.
Politics Society
The recently formed politics society is an opportunity for pupils to learn, or argue, about current affairs. it takes place every thursday lunchtime and a wide variety of topics are discussed, from the ICP to NWA, from Barack Obama to Bristol Palin, from Conservatives to Liberal Democrats. This society remains as a lively addition to the school, and is fast becoming very popular indeed.
Silviculture Society
Silviculture, meaning the study of trees, is not what it may seem. Treating life as a tree – with many different walks branching out of it – is more what the society is about. It is a discussion based forum, aimed at the presentation of new ideas, the re-telling of old ones and the informing about those areas of life/science/religion that not many have even heard about. Lively conversations are commonplace here and all years are welcome. Currently it is 'on a break' due to lack of leadership, although it is being revived, hoping to start in the second half of the autumn term, 2009.
Astronomical Society
The Dalriada Astronomical Society has been running since 2004. It is unique in the fact that it is the only society to be entirely pupil-run, with a new President elected each year. At regular meetings on Wednesday afternoons, members of the Society hold regular talks on a wide variety of astronomy-related subjects. The Astronomical Society also won a citizenship award for the Orion project, where local primary schools were invited in to learn about this constellation in a fun and engaging way.
Choirs
There are several choirs throughout the school, ranging from the large choir of the younger years to the select few who are chosen for the chamber choir. These choirs meet at lunchtimes throughout the week, and take part in various musical events throughout the year, especially at the Christmas Carol concert. The Chamber Choir has represented the school in school choir of the year in days gone by, and has even started the tradition of visiting other countries to perform.
A spin-off of 'The Chamber Choir', titled "Tuba Club" was planned to attract the attention of players away from their Choir Chamber and into the satanic lair of Tuba. This conspiracy theory began in 1994, the year in which levels of students dropped dramatically due to death and other disease. Chamber Choir was offering little vitality students, so as an opposition to the Chamber Choir, Master Bodwin unjustly decided to set up the club, it's main principal being that no tuba should be played, spoke of or thought of within any of the sessions of the club, of which each session was infinite (in time and breadth). Unfortunately, due to lack of experience and/or sense, further meetings of the Club were postponed. Pundits have predicted for it to make a minor comeback, but Headmistress Ms. Wilton clearly stated, "This is not allowed".
Dalriada Prep
Dalriada Preparatory Department is a fee-paying prep school affiliated to the main school and situated on the same campus.[1] It is co-educational and typically for children aged between 4 and 11 years old. The school has less than 150 pupils and 17 full time staff.
Alumni
Martyn Lewis, presenter, foreign correspondent and newsreader for BBC and ITN.
Darwin Templeton, editor of the Belfast News Letter.
John Bodwin, acclaimed tuba and baritone player.