SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF PORTADOWN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN 2009/2010
Whilst examination results are the most quantitative measure of achievement, we do value and celebrate a wide range of achievements in other fields. Here are just a few to give you a taste of the variety of successes:
Art –
Emma Kenny’s AS level Art and Design coursework was selected to be exhibited at the True Colours Exhibition. This display is run by CCEA and is designed to showcase the very best of Art and Design at GCSE, AS and A2 levels.
Biology
– the school was the top school in Northern Ireland once again in the UK Biology Olympiad. Rachel Calvin won gold, Stephen Hyde silver and Daniel Clarke and Christopher Goodland were presented with Bronze awards; Sarah Lavery, Adam Montgomery, William McLean and Chloe McMurray were also successful.
Charity
– in addition to their community service projects, such as the annual concert for local senior citizens, Lifeline raised over £6000 in the 2008/9 school year for a wide range of local and international charities. In December they also co-ordinated a very successful Santa Trail where a range of festive activities were organised free of charge for local primary school children. A single Assembly raised £2780 for the Haiti earthquake victims; a Christmas Tug of War competition resulted in almost £1000 being presented to Help for Heroes and Year 11 English students raised an impressive £2410 for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children through the Read-On programme.
Chemistry –
Stephen Hyde won a gold award and Daniel Clarke was presented with a bronze at the Royal Society of Chemistry International Olympiad.
Debating
– the Senior Debating Team of Emma Kenny, Jane Balmer and Richard Hill came second in the UK in the Business and Professional Women’s Debating Competition in England. The team also swept the board winning all prizes in the Northern Ireland finals. As an AS level Politics student, Richard was one of a panel of three young people invited to speak on Radio Ulster in reaction to the Prime Ministerial candidates’ debate on the BBC.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme
– bronze and silver awards were achieved by a total of forty students: twenty in each category.
Environmental and Land-Based Science
- Louise Halliday and Emily Bell of
Year 11 visited Stormont to give a presentation on Areas of Special Scientific Interest to MLAs and the Minister for the Environment, Edwin Poots.
Home Economics
– Sandra Meredith and Mrs Willis travelled to the Royal College of Physicians in London where the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor John Beddington, presented Sandra with a special award to recognise her achievement of the highest mark awarded by CCEA for Home Economics Module 2 at A2 level.
Mathematics –
Megan Foster, Stephen Aiken, Ben Fraser and Chuer Zhang were Northern Ireland runners-up in the Mathematics Team Competition organised by the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Moving Image Art
– Kathryn McClure, Year 14, was first overall in both the AS and A2 level CCEA examinations for her AS animated film. Kathryn’s film received a commendation from the SELB and was showcased at a special event in the Waterfront Hall.
Physics
- Daniel Clarke was presented with the prestigious gold medal at the Irish Physics Olympiad and both he and Rachael Johnston were awarded coveted Silver Award Certificates at the British Olympiad. Daniel will take part in a further competition where he has the potential to represent Ireland at the International Physics Olympiad in Zagreb, Croatia, following in the footsteps of David Cox who achieved the same prestigious honour in 2009.
Politics
– John Graham and Matthew Wright were selected to be on the Northern Ireland Youth Assembly for a year. This is a group of thirty 16-18 year old volunteers who debate issues in the chamber at Parliament Buildings, mirroring the work of the local Assembly at Stormont.
Trips
– in the past year students have taken part in a wide range of educational visits. The Religious Studies students visited Auschwitz & Krakow; there were language trips to Barcelona and Berlin; the History students went to Rome and Mr Hunter led an expedition to Peru as part of World Challenge. The Travel and Tourism class, under the guidance of staff, also planned and went on a trip to Barcelona as part of their course. There were numerous outings to places closer to home linked to different areas of the curriculum and extra-curricular activities.
SPORT
Athletics - Emma Willis of Year 11 broke the school Intermediate Girls' 100m record at the Ulster Athletics Championships in May 2010 with a time of 12.07 seconds. She then made it through to the Irish Championships in Tullamore. Adam Magowan came fifth in the Intermediate Boys' 800m race, in a field which contained the UK Schools' Games Champion, and broke the school record with a time of 2.05 minutes.
Cricket
– Jamie Matthews was selected to be wicketkeeper for both the Ulster and Irish U18 cricket teams.
Cross Country
– Adam Magowan finished third in the District Cross Country Championships. He qualified as an individual for the Ulster Cross Country Championships where he finished seventeenth.
Equestrian
– Alex Buller competed in the European Championships. The school team came sixth in the Schools’ Team Jumping Competition run by North Down Pony Club at Balmoral.
Football
– Luke McCullough, Year 12 and captain of the school team, was included in both the Northern Ireland U16 and U17 teams. Luke will begin pre-season training with Manchester United this summer in the hope of pursuing a career in professional football.
Golf
– the school team beat St Patrick’s, Armagh, Banbridge Academy, Coleraine Inst. and Rainey Endowed to win the Darren Clarke Schools’ Golf Tournament. The team were: Jack McClean, Emma Kenny, Neil Gilmore, Chris Fearon, Jonathan Beattie, Andrew Steele and Nathan McConnell.
Boys’ Hockey
– Neil Gilmore (Year 12) is on the Irish U18 squad and played for Ulster in the U16 Inter-provincial tournament in Belfast where his team finished in second place.
Girls’ Hockey
– Rachel Calvin was selected for the Ulster U18 team which won the Inter-provincial Hockey Championship in Dublin. Penny Joyce and Emma Willis were selected for the SELB U16 squad who were joint first at the SELB Tournament. Lucy Joyce and Claire Newell were selected for SELB U18 squad who were runners up at the SELB Tournament.
Rowing
– Stefan McIlveen is on the Irish Rowing Team. Stefan rowed in a double at the Home Internationals in Cardiff and finished third. Stefan rowed in both a four and an eight man crew at a later international competition in Nottingham and came second in both challenges.
Rugby
– the First XV won the Northern Bank Schools’ Trophy. The Medallion team reached the quarter-final of the Medallion Plate. David Busby, Ryan Calvert, Alex Forbes, Nathan Montgomery and Matthew Trouton have all been selected for the Ulster U17 training squad where they will train and hopefully represent Ulster at U18/19 level. David, Alex and Matthew have already been selected for the initial U18 Ulster Schools’ squad.
Volleyball
– the U16 boys are Northern Ireland Schools’ Champions and all-Ireland Champions. Ryan Caddell, Jack Clark, Nathan Heyburn and Stephen Irwin are on the Northern Ireland U18 Schools’ Team and they were Northern Ireland Schools’ runners up.