Dalriada School
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
Dalriada offers both music and drama.
Music
Dalriada has four choirs, an orchestra, string group and wind band, and several other small instrumental groups.[1]
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, e.g the yearly chamber choir trip to London.
Instrumental groups
Dalriada's orchestra, string group, and wind band regularly perform at school concerts. The school also has a number of small groups, including the Irish Traditional Groups, a Dixieland Band, a Jazz Quartet, a tuba club, and several others. [1]
The school holds several concerts each year, including the "Evening of Music", where each choir and musical ensemble prepare a collection of songs, and the Christmas Carol Concert.[1]
Drama
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 due to their popularity, over the past few years they have had a run of musicals continuing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, namely The Sound of Music and Footloose. Most recently, the school returned to the Shakespearean tradition by staging a (somewhat modernised) version of Twelfth Night, which was a huge success.[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. In 2010 this team won the National Bar Mock Trials in Belfast. The team will be hoping for more success in the future.
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 hopefully being revived soon.
Astronomical Society
The Dalriada Astronomical Society was started in 2004 by James Armour (former pupil). 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.
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
 | This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (December 2010) |
- 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.