Headmaster’s Report 2023/24

Mr Chairman, Mr Moates, members of the Board of Governors, our former Principal Mr Pollock, partner Primary School Principals, colleagues, parents, ladies and gentlemen and, most importantly, our prize winners, welcome to Prize Day – it is a privilege to present my tenth Annual Report in Banbridge Academy.

I think we can all agree it is great to be able to gather as a school community in this beautiful building.  A special thanks to the Select Vestry and the new Rector of Holy Trinity, the Rev Willie Nixon for the warmth of their welcome.  The Academy wish you – Willie, God’s richest blessing as you work across our community.

Mr Livingstone will outline later the illustrious career of our Guest of Honour.  Suffice to say that Jordan is a multi-award-winning journalist.  It is great to see our former students excelling in many walks of life.  I ask everyone to give an appropriate Academy welcome back to our Guest of Honour, former student Mr Jordan Moates.

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Prize Day is a happy and joyful occasion when we celebrate success, however, since the last time we met many in our school community have faced health and other personal challenges, we remember them in our prayers.

Anyone who knows the Academy well understands the vital role the support staff play in maintaining our special ethos.  I thank the office, the technical and support staff and record my gratitude to our Financial Administrator – Mrs Neill, for all her friendship and support and we wish her well as she soon leaves the Academy to take up a post with the Church of Ireland, as Finance Manager in the Diocese of Down & Dromore.

We continue to remain true to the Academy’s central aim – for everyone to be happy at school, known personally and cared for individually.  Our special ethos is due to the quality of relationships across our community, and I thank The Academy Association and their Chair, Mrs Audrey Wilson-Reid, for their unstinting support and dedication to the school.

Today I will only be able to provide a brief outline of the academic year.  However, I record my thanks to Mrs Gough and her team for compiling a wonderful record of the School Year in our School Magazine, which will be available later in the year on our website.  I also encourage you to visit the school website and follow us on Twitter / X or Instagram, to keep up to date with the success of our students.

At the end of the year, we said farewell to Mrs Fiona Campbell, Mrs Olga Casey, Mr Tim Baxter and Mr Jamie Farrell who retired.  Mrs Campbell was an outstanding leader and served in many positions across the school, including as a Senior Teacher and Head of Mathematics.  Mrs Casey and Mr Baxter were great Heads of Department, leading the Art & Design and the Physical Education Departments to numerous achievements over the years.  Mr Farrell’s mathematical expertise, humour and dedication to the students has been legendary.  They have given years of outstanding service to the Academy, and we wish them a long and happy retirement.  We also wish Mr McConnell well in his new role as Head of Geography in Kilkeel High School.

We welcomed several permanent appointments at the start of term –

Mrs Joanne Derby (Physical Education), Mr Aaron Keenan (French / Spanish), Mr Owen Magee (Physical Education), Mr Gareth McClintock (Physical Education and Head of Rugby) and Mrs Natalie Reilly (Mathematics).  We welcome them to the Academy and trust they enjoy working in our happy community.

As my colleagues and the community have heard me say repeatedly, high-quality outcomes are secured when leadership is distributed effectively across the school.  There were several internal promotions:  Mr Irwin (Senior Teacher), Mrs Neill (Temporary Senior Teacher), Mrs McKenzie (Head of Art & Design), Mr Jess (Head of Physical Education), Miss Forsythe (Year Head) and Mr Erskine (Head of House).

Our students once again performed extremely well in the public examinations.  At A Level 99.4% of pupils achieved 3 A Level grades, 89.3% of all entries were A* – C grades and 36 students obtained 3 A*/A grades, with Will Egerton and our former Head Boy, Matthew Stevenson, both achieving straight A* grades.

AS Level results were impressive, 84.4% of all entries were A – C grades.  These results provide an excellent foundation on which to build for A Level success in 2025.

At GCSE the students attained terrific results, 98.4% of the students achieved at least 7 A*-C grades, including English and Mathematics – truly impressive results.  59.7% of all entries resulted in top grades A*/A and when B grades are included, this figure rises to 82.8% of all entries.

The pupils, parents and teachers of the Academy are to be commended for all of their efforts over the past two years.  These excellent results in the public examinations will ensure that our young people have the opportunity to continue with their chosen careers and they richly deserve their success.  We wish the Class of 2024 every success in the next stage of their educational journey.

The education of our young people involves a partnership and I pay tribute to my colleagues in our primary schools who have created the foundation for the success our students enjoy.  I also pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Academy; their professional approach has undoubtedly underpinned this success.  Likewise, the ongoing support provided by our parents and the wider community is to be praised.  I ask the pupils to show a token of appreciation to their parents and my colleagues.

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The Academy continues to be at the forefront of Education in Northern Ireland.  We again hosted an Education Minister, when Mr Paul Givan MLA visited the school.  The Minister discussed a range of issues including the flourishing extra and co-curricular life of the school and the exemplary curricular offer for the students of the Academy.  Minister Givan also viewed the recent rollout of C2k / EdIS devices enhancing the digital learning experiences for students, emphasising the importance of technology in modern education and future career pathways for young people.  Prior to Christmas, I concluded my work as a member of the Independent Review Panel of Education, a commitment by the Northern Ireland Executive in New Decade, New Approach.  The Panel published our Report, highlighting the 10 key areas which will form a roadmap for the NI Executive and the Department of Education of how to improve our Education system over the next 20 years.

Through our partnership with the Confucius Institute at Ulster University, we thank our former Mandarin teacher, Ms Rui Zuo for the language and cultural classes she has led across our community.  Rui’s expertise resulted in six of our students finishing 3^rd in the UK finals in London.

We continue to foster an environment of innovation in careers education, utilising the PeopleHawk platform – offering pupils the chance to reflect on their personality, competencies, values and cognitive abilities.  Pupils have also been able to avail of practice in video interviews, which has been valuable to so many applying to competitive courses.  The school was awarded the NI Young Enterprise Centre of Excellence.  This prestigious designation acknowledges the school’s exceptional commitment to developing critical thinking skills, fostering responsible decision-making, and preparing students for future success.  In Year 8, pupils enjoyed the chance to explore their employability skills as they transition from primary school with ‘Step Up’.  In Years 9 & 10, they flexed their entrepreneurial muscles with ‘QuickStart’ and the ‘10X Challenge’.  In Year 12 we used the ‘You’re Hired’ programme to help pupils understand the job market and produce winning CVs.  Numerous Year 13 students took part in the flagship Young Enterprise company Programme and ‘Bee Buddies’ won the regional competition to progress to the NI Finals at a Gala Dinner at Belfast City Hall.  Several of our Young Enterprise students were also part of a delegation to host the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland – Mr Joseph Patrick Kennedy III.

Our Year 9 students, VisionNI, qualified as one of the top 6 teams in the prestigious Northern Ireland Sentinus Digital Futures App Design competition, learning so many life skills as they presented and fielded questions from industry experts in front of a live audience – quite a feat for Year 9 students!

The wider community continues to support the Academy, we thank the James Kane Foundation for awarding the school a grant, which enabled us to offer bespoke support to disadvantaged students.  We also had the privilege of hosting a book launch, detailing the war service of our former Vice Principal, Mr Irwin Knight.  Mr Knight was a distinguished English teacher in the Academy and is fondly remembered.

The Academy’s ethos continues to focus on care and concern for others.  Many of our Sixth Form students signed up to our volunteering activities, including community support, environmental teams, digital leaders and anti-bullying and wellbeing ambassadors.  Anti-bullying assemblies were led by our wellbeing ambassadors, who also offered daily peer mentoring and hosted an information point in the Atrium to share emotional health and wellbeing information with their peers.  The students and my colleagues were also incredibly generous, donating approximately £10,000 to various charities and providing numerous shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

We continued to supplement our extensive pastoral curriculum with a range of external speakers and guests, covering many important topics, such as, gambling, alcohol & drugs misuse, online safety and relationship & sexuality education.  A range of bespoke ‘Skills for Life’ Personal Development days were also arranged to ensure our students develop resilience and the skills to become successful confident young adults who can progress and become contributors to society.

Students continued to participate in the vast array of extra-curricular activities and House Competitions on offer, with Crozier winning the fiercely contested House competition.

Almost 100 students travelled on the annual ski trip to Austria.  The extremely successful English & History departments’ biannual trip to Boston toured Havard University, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum and Quincy Market.  The Geography Department travelled to Iceland exploring the wonders of geothermal energy and the Northern Lights, even having some time to improve their skin care routines at the world famous man-made wonder – the Blue Lagoon.

A multitude of departmental and co-curricular trips and activities also took place.  These activities and visits nurtured our students’ understanding and provided crucial opportunities to develop key life skills.  For example, several Year 13 pupils entered the National Competition – Young Reporters for the Environment.  They investigated and researched the impact of blue-green algae in Lough Neagh, producing a report entitled ‘The (Real) Lough Neagh Monster’.  After two years of hard work and determination, by the students, led by Mrs Dreaning and Mrs Tully, the school was awarded the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag Award, recognising outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability.  Beth Morrow qualified for the NI Springboard FutureChef Finals at the Titanic Kitchens, following weeks of mentoring by a professional chef, Beth prepared a wonderful two-course meal for the celebrity judges.

Students across the school continued to learn languages, enabling them to become aware of different cultures, develop a greater understanding and appreciation for other people and customs.  Lucy Grossmann, was NI winner in The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators, organised by the Queen’s College.

Following weeks of rehearsing a group of Sixth Form students participated with considerable prowess in the prestigious Bar Mock Trial competition at the High Court in Belfast.

Approximately 300 pupils were involved in the professional and truly wonderful production of The Wizard of Oz, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the entire school community.  The acting, music & dance routines were exceptional, and the show was an explosion of colour, sound and light – it was no surprise that tickets for all four performances quickly sold out.  A school musical sees pupils from across the school, work together to develop essential life skills in a fun and inclusive environment.  We were delighted, when in recognition of the school’s drama and musical expertise, we were selected as one of The Lyric Theatre’s Affiliated Schools.

I thank our Music Department, under the leadership of Mrs Munton and Mrs Qua for the musical items we will enjoy today.  We had an amazing 42 pupils offered places in the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland, equating to 63 Choir offers across the Junior, Girls, Training and Senior Choirs.

Due to time, I will only briefly outline another amazing year of sporting success for the Academy, with many Ulster and Irish titles secured; alongside 35 students receiving either National or International Caps across 11 different sports.  As the Chair outlined earlier it was amazing to see 6 of our former students perform at the Paris Olympics – Susie Berry (Eventing), Bronze medal winner Dr Philip Doyle (Rowing) and in mens’ Hockey, coach – Mark Tumilty and players – Peter Brown, Kyle Marshall and Jonny McKee.

In recognition of their talent and achievement at international level, numerous Academy pupils and coaches were shortlisted for the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Junior Sports Awards.  Amazingly, 13 nominees out of the 50 shortlisted nominees were Academy representatives.  The U14 Girls’ Hockey Team once again clinched the Junior School Team of the Year.  Adam Green was awarded Junior Male of the Year following a fantastic sailing season.  Connor Magee lifted the award for Youth Male of the Year after an unforgettable season on the rugby pitch and Alana Burns-Atkin was awarded Youth Female of the year following a very successful season in the swimming pool.  In addition, four of our students were presented with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) Future Stars Awards, recognising the Province’s most promising young athletes across the University’s 5 priority sports – Isabella Copeland (Rugby), Alyssa Somerville and Ruby Johnston (Hockey) and Sam Leslie (Rugby).

Over 40 athletes competed in the District Athletics Championships and 4 qualified to compete in the Ulster Championships: Daisy Douglas 800m, Emma O’Neill Triple Jump, Grace Hamilton 400m, Anna McKernan 800m.  35 athletes competed in the Co Down cross-country District Championships and 4 qualified to run in the Ulster Championships – Emma Rankin, Emma Stewart, Daisy Douglas and Alex Moran, with Emma Stewart progressing to the Irish Championships.

In their first year entering the NI Archery Schools’ Cup, the Academy came away with many individual successes and were crowned overall NI Team Champions – many congratulations to Isaac Smyth, Emily Smyth, Irene Ding, Thomas Purdy, Eamon O’Duil, Melina Kinkaid and Caitlyn Topping.

In recognition of her dedication and exceptional talent, Abbi Harrison, has been awarded a contract with the Senior Women’s Ireland Cricket Team.

Emma Stewart won silver in the intermediate age group at the British Shooting Schools’ Championships.

Over 80 pupils from across the full age range in the school, took part in the NICMAC Dance Competition.  The Junior Dance team won Bronze with a remix of ‘The Little Mermaid’.  The Senior Mixed Dance team won Gold and the trophy for top overall scoring team by performing a stylish and skilful interpretation of ‘One Short Day’ from the musical Wicked, attaining a standing ovation from the entire hall and the judging panel.  A considerable number of duets and trios medalled as well as being placed at the ‘Take it to the floor’ competition.  Year 13 & 14 pupils Erin Lockhart, Amy Davidson and Violet Coen won gold for their performance of a disco routine to Dreamgirls and Reece Wilson and Keisha Moult won silver in the Senior Lyrical duet. Twins Alexandra and Francesca Duffy won bronze in the Intermediate Pairs Dance section and silver in the Intermediate Dance Trio alongside Amy Davidson.  Rachel Pollock and Lauren Wilson also took home a bronze medal in the Junior Street dance pairing.

Our show jumpers had a busy season in a series of schools’ and Balmoral qualifying competitions, our Open Team finishing 3^rd in the Schools’ Show Jumping League.  Tilley Tumilty was crowned EIP90 Irish National Champion with her pony Barnadown Lad.

The Boys’ 1st XI Hockey Team had another impressive season and were crowned Ulster Champions, winning the McCullough Cup but unfortunately narrowly lost in the final of the Burney Cup to RBAI.  The school hosted the All-Irelands and the boys used home advantage to lift the Herbie Sherman Trophy.  The U15 XI won the Richardson Plate. Numerous boys were selected for the interprovincial squads and for the Irish squads – Owen Dobson, Jack Fleming, Daniel McKee, Charlie Taylor (U16), Joshua Baird, Denver Golbey, Lukas Moles, Max Nicholson and Ben Thompson (U18).  Aaron Baxter, James Evans, Adam McKee and Ben Walker were selected for the Irish U21 squad.

Numerous girls were selected for the interprovincial development squads and Ruby Johnston, Alyssa Somerville and Sophie Tate were selected for the Ulster and the Ireland U16, Charlotte Betts, Ellie Cousins and Katie Leslie for Ulster U16 and Mollie Tumilty for Ulster U13.  The 1^st XI Girls’ Hockey Team worked tirelessly throughout the season, reaching the semi-final of the Superleague, quarter-final of the Schools’ Cup and won the inaugural Daphne Hall All-Ireland Schoolgirls’ title.  The 2^nd XI girls made it to the final of the McDowell Shield and won the Mid-Ulster league.  The 3^rd XI made it to their Ulster Plate final and the 4^th XI made it to their Ulster Cup final.  The U14 Girls’ Hockey Team had an incredible season and were unbeaten, winning the Mid-Ulster Cup, Mid-Ulster League, Ulster Junior Cup and were crowned All-Ireland Champions, winning the June Smith Schoolgirls’ Championship!  The U13 Girls won their Mid-Ulster league and were unbeaten all season in competitive matches and the U12 won the Mid-Ulster league and Cup, as well as the MCB & Oxford invitational tournaments.

The U13 Boys’ football team won the South Down Plate and Harry Gough, Year 11 was selected for the NI U15 Football Team.

Netball is thriving as a sport in the Academy, the Senior team won their Senior League Final, the Minor A won the League and two more teams made it to their finals.  Aimee Trainor was selected for the NI U17 Team, who won the U17 European Challenge and Maisie Nicholl represented NI and brought home a silver medal at the Home Nations Championship.

The school’s rugby club continued to excel.  Connor Magee represented Irish Schools’ U18 in the Six Nations and toured South Africa with Ireland U18 and a first for an Academy student won the Ulster Rugby Schoolboy player of the year award – a truly exceptional player.  Noah Bell played all three interprovincial matches for the Ulster Schools’ U18 and played for the Irish Clubs’ U18 Team.  Ryan Hanna represented the Ulster U19 Squad in the interprovincial championships.  Andrew Jackson played all three matches for Ulster U18 Clubs’ and Schools’ Team in the interprovincial championships, Noah Haughey represented the Ulster U18 Clubs’ and Schools’ Squad, Fynn Niblock represented the Ulster Schools’ U17 Squad, Arturs Jonuss trained with the Ulster U17 Development Squad and Sam Leslie represented the Ulster Schools’ U16 Squad.  Alana Eadie, Eve Hetherington, Rachel Douglas and Isabella Copeland represented Ulster U16.

The 1st XV had an outstanding season and were undefeated in the regular season, reaching the Quarter-Final of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup, winning the Gary Clarke (Lurgan) and the Ian Graham (Grosvenor) tournaments and the rugby sevens team also won the Ulster Schools’ Sevens Trophy.  1^st XV Coach, Mr Brian Leslie deserves a special mention for such an exceptional season, as he steps down from his role as master-in-charge of rugby.

The Medallion XV retained their title by winning the Ulster Schools’ Trophy and the U12, U13 and U14 XV combined to win the Masters Shield (v Dromore) and the U12 XV also won the Down High Tournament.

Six Academy athletes qualified for the Irish Schools’ competition by excelling at the Ulster Swimming Schools’ Cup Championship, 5 different local swimming clubs were represented by the 27 swimmers from the Academy.  At the Ulster competition there were 14 personal bests; Gold medals were won by Sophie Black (100m Backstroke) and Zachary Black (100m Breaststroke) and 200m Medley Relay Team (Girls 15-16 was Sophie Black, Samantha Burns-Atkin, Tara Kennedy, Cara Magee); Silver medals – Samantha Burns-Atkin (100m Breaststroke) and 200m Medley Relay Team (Girls 12-14 Sophie Black, Rose Turley, Rebecca Lane, Hollie Jennings) and 200m Free Relay Team (Girls 15-16 Cara Magee, Nancy McCusker, April McFarlane, Tara Kennedy) and Bronze medals – Tara Kennedy (100m Backstroke) and Anna McKernan (100m Fly).  The 15-16 Girls’ Team brought home the Ulster Team Cup – the first time we have won this Cup.

Sophie Black, Zachary Black and Samantha Burns-Atkin were selected to represent the Ulster Interpro Team.  At the Irish Winter Short Course Gala there were 11 personal bests and 13 finalists.  Alana Burns-Atkin was crowned the 200m Butterfly Senior and Junior Irish Champion, and Alana was selected to represent Ireland at the European Championships.

Finally, we continued to field numerous tennis teams and our table tennis players won numerous individual medals at the Ulster Schools’ Championships.

I feel very humble and proud to lead such a talented group of staff who are highly professional and genuinely caring.  Their enthusiasm and devotion to our students is the reason why the Academy is such an excellent school.  I thank my Vice Principals, Mrs Evans and Mr McFarland, my Senior Leadership Team, the Heads of Department, the entire Pastoral Team, House staff and all of my colleagues for their enthusiasm, support, dedication and friendship – they are the reason why the Academy remains one of the best schools in the country.

I thank Mr Livingstone, our Chairman and the members of the Board of Governors for their support and encouragement.  I can testify to the dedication of this group of volunteers, and I thank them for their willingness to accept their onerous responsibilities.  As we will soon move to a newly reconstituted Board of Governors and a new Chair, it is appropriate we pause for a moment and recognise the huge commitment from all the Governors and in particular: Mr Tom Shields for over 30 years’ service as an Academy Governor; the Chairs of the various Committees; and our outgoing Chair for his dedication – Mr Dennis Livingstone.  I ask everyone to show their appreciation to the Chair and the Governors.

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Prize Day is a significant event in the life of the School and the organisation of the day is a tribute to the considerable expertise of Mrs Evans, Mrs Neill and Mr Clarke.  I take this opportunity to thank them on behalf of everyone present for all their efforts in arranging such a special day.  A special note of thanks to Mr Brown for his expertise in playing the organ today.

In conclusion, we continue to live in an uncertain fast changing world but please be assured that the Academy will continue to meet the needs of the outstanding young men and women entrusted to our care.

Thank you

Mr R S McLoughlin OBE