Junior Prize Evening Report
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Good evening. You are all very welcome to this our second Junior Prize Giving
Evening at Wallace. May I extend a particularly warm word of welcome to our
invited guests, our Chairman, the Board of Governors and to Reverend Dr Maurice
Elliott, our Special Guest this evening. An old boy of Wallace, Reverend Dr Elliott is
most welcome back to Lisburn and to his alma mater. He is currently Director of the
Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin, a position he took up in 2008
following his role as Rector of Shankill Parish, Lurgan which is one of the largest
parishes in the Church of Ireland made up of approximately 1,400 families. I am
delighted that he has found the time, in what I know is a busy schedule, to come to
Wallace this evening as our special guest.
This is our second Junior Prize Evening. The purpose of this event is to allow for a
spotlight to shine on the successes of our junior pupils and to recognise the efforts
and expertise of our teaching, support and coaching staff. The senior school in
Wallace has year after year outstanding successes; we must strive, however, as a
school community to celebrate the successes and achievements of our junior pupils
to encourage them to reach even greater heights than our seniors of today. This
evening is about both celebration and aspiration.
I am now delighted to introduce our Soprano solo Aimee Bassett.
The school year of 2009-10 was permeated by success; as a whole school we raised
the ‘Core on Wallace’ banners high on three occasions, twice at Ravenhill for the
School’s Cup Semi Final and Medallion Shield Final, of which we are the joint holders,
and again at the All Ireland Senior Boys’ Hockey finals, where our boys were runners’
up. We celebrated these events at Assembly, through the local and national press
and in the corridors of our school. This evening we seek to delve much deeper into
the successes of school life in our junior school, to celebrate much more widely
everything that so many young people, teachers and other staff achieve together to
broaden the experiences of our young people, to prepare them for life beyond
school, to nurture our future leaders, researchers, politicians, professionals and
entrepreneurs; to provide the Wallace experience.
Charitable giving, mirroring the generosity of spirit exemplified in the life of our
founder ‘Sir Richard Wallace’ continues to be at the heart of this school’s ethos.
Memorable events such as “The Time Warp” performed by the teaching and support
staff to a packed Assembly Hall of highly amused and somewhat shunned pupils; the
wigs, the make-up, the dancing, the stilettos and tights… and all that was just Mr
McGeown, filled this Hall with laughter but importantly too, a sense of doing
something for those less fortunate than ourselves for “Children in Need”. A
memorable morning indeed. But such charitable events would not happen without
the dedication and hard work of Miss Grace Bill, her charity committee and the
support of the student body; the school is soon to be presented with a trophy from
the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund to mark the gargantuan fundraising efforts of this
school, for a charity so close to many of our hearts, of an amazing £89,300. I am
proud to say that with this generosity of spirit many families and children will benefit
from the support of this wonderful charity.
Such efforts would simply not be possible without the enthusiasm and dedication of
so many of our pupils. As a staff we recognise the great benefits of listening to what
is referred to as “the student voice”. In preparing our young people for life beyond
these walls, in building capacity in our future leading citizens, we facilitated their
development and involved in a wide range of decision making through The Wallace
High School Council.
Dr Carol Fulton, our recently retired Head of History and Politics, and Senior Teacher,
laid the foundations for this meaningful engagement between pupils and teachers.
Mr Alastair Craig, one of our Vice Principals, worked enthusiastically last year to keep
the momentum going. Our Year Representatives met and brought a range of issues
to the Executive Council which represents all year groups. I was very impressed by
the range of issues discussed, the realistic and respectful nature of the discussions
and am delighted to report that a complete refurbishment of the pupils’ toilets and
some of our locker areas was a direct response to the requests of our Council. I
should like to thank all those who, not only, served as Council Representatives last
year, but to the student body who contributed ideas. Of course my thanks on behalf
of all of you is extended to Mr Craig and the Heads/Assistant Heads of Year, without
whom, this would not have been possible. The energy and enthusiasm of those on
the Student Council shocked us all last year – their energy reminded me of a story a
friend told me of their son who rushed from upstairs to talk to his father who was
overseas on business. “Hello Daddy”, the seven year old said. “Hello son, you sound
out of breath”, replied my friend. The little boy replied “It is okay Dad, I have more
left”.
I was left in no doubt last year that pupils in our Junior School can express their
opinions. The great tradition of public speaking in Wallace continued last year,
Charlotte and Sarah Martin took part in Lisburn City Council’s Environmental Youth
Speck in March and discussed what they would do if they were fortunate enough to
become “Northern Ireland Minister for the Day…” Sarah was awarded first place and
went on to compete in the Northern Ireland final in Omagh.
The ‘student voice’ in Wallace, however, is multilingual. Last year the Modern
Languages Department, as well as leading Assemblies during the week of celebration
of European Languages, organised a ‘salsa’ dance session for Year 10 and 11 pupils.
Renowned Salsa instructor Chris Scullion and his dance partner Helen visited Wallace
to join in the celebrations. An initially reticent student body was, by the end of the
session, enthusiastically engaged in some expert salsa dancing. The teachers tried
hard to keep up too!
The enthusiasm for all this Spanish continued with a trip to Catalonia for 48 pupils.
The wonderful trip included visits to well known sights of Barcelona and the
surrounding area.
The student voice of a different kind had a very successful year. Our Junior singers
“Cantabile” met on Fridays after school last year and rehearsed, among other things,
music for the Carol Concert last December. This group was made up of Year 8, 9 and
10 girls, the sound was powerful and I am delighted to report that many of these
girls then took part last week in our highly successful school production of “Fiddler
on the Roof”. The summer concert took place in June, it competed well with “World
Cup Fever” and those who did manage to drag themselves away from the television
screen were rewarded with a complex baroque piece, a duet from Wicked and a
joint Year 8-11 rendition of a piece from ‘Glee’.
Musical endeavour was alive and well last year. The junior strings and junior band
groups continue to grow in number. The junior strings under the expert guidance of
Mrs Boyce, produced a fine programme for the June concert; the Junior band
combines flutes, clarinets, brass and percussion all under the baton of Ms Benson.
The band had a varied repertoire last year performing pieces from The Simpsons and
Pirates of the Caribbean.
Confucius, China’s most famous teacher, philosopher and political theorist, defined
success as “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full
potential… these are the keys which will unlock the door to personal excellence”. It
is crystal clear that our young people in Wallace last year were able to open those
doors. In the Doodle 4 Google Competition Gillian McCausland was the Northern
Ireland winner of the My Hero Competition, Lauren Berryman also excelled in her
artistic endeavours and was a finalist in The Lagan Valley Arts Competition.
The bigger philosophical and spiritual questions are explored by our Junior Scripture
Union. Last year about 70 of them met each Wednesday in A35 and invited a
number of speakers to inspire debate and reflect on their beliefs.
The year’s activities were punctuated by two very memorable events: the weekend
residential in Annalong and the Christmas Party.
A famous German proverb reminds us of the immense potential of our young
people; as teachers we are greatly humbled when we see what they can achieve, the
quotation is as follows:
“He who teaches children learns more than they do”. I certainly felt like that at the
side of many sports pitches last year, the talent, self-discipline, determination and
power of so many of our young athletes is truly inspiring.
Girls’ netball continued to thrive last year with Year 8 A and B teams, the Minor A
Team and a Junior Team. The Year 8 A and B sides started the season as they meant
to go on, defeating local sporting rivals Friends’ School. The Year 8 A team continues
to dominate the Lisburn area, and held the Year 8 Development League title for the
fifth consecutive year. The Minor team ended the season on a high defeating Mount
Lourdes in the Plate Final and the Junior Side reached the final of South Eastern Area
competition.
The Year 8 girls’ badminton side had a very successful year also, this time our
neighbours Friends’ had the upper hand defeating Wallace into second place in the
Ulster League and Cup. Such strength in this sport in Lisburn is a real credit to the
schools’ coaches and to the excellent support and coaching at Lisburn Racquets Club.
The Minor Girls’ League and Cup Team made up of Alannah Stephenson, Evie
Dornan, Nicola McIlroy and Zara Kirkwood fulfilled its potential and the girls were
rightfully crowned Ulster Champions and qualified for the All Ireland competition in
Dublin where they also were victorious. The Junior Girls had a successful year losing
out narrowly in the Ulster finals to Hunterhouse.
Boys’ badminton also fielded Year 8, Minor, Junior and Senior Teams. Some
excellent performances were recorded and in both girls’ and boys’ badminton
representative honours are a reflection of the quality of player as is evident in your
programme.
Junior Boys’ Hockey, as is now customary, fielded outstanding teams, the match for
any sides in Ulster. The U13 side reached the final of the Bannister Bowl, the boys
were rewarded with an enjoyable tour to Holland with Years 10 and 11 to finish off a
memorable year. The U14 side defeated a usually impenetrable Banbridge Academy
side and beat Friends’ School in the Blaris Shield. The U15 side also showed great
promise last year recording memorable wins over Regent House, Campbell College
and Bangor Grammar amongst others.
The Girls’ Hockey players were not out shadowed by their male counterparts and the
U14 A and B sides enjoyed a tour to Peterborough after an impressive season of
Junior Hockey. U12 and U13 teams at both A and B levels performed well last year
and are proving formidable opponents for any side.
You may have heard to old adage ‘The main problem with teenagers is that they are
just like their parents were at their age’ – it certainly came true in the positive sense
this year as I shared the sideline with so many parents for whom history was
repeating itself as they enthusiastically supported their son/daughter from the
sideline of the very pitch or field on which they once represented this school.
Support for our junior rugby players was vocal, enthusiastic and well received last
season. Three Year 8 teams represented school with great distinction, such
enthusiasm and interest in rugby in the junior school bodes well for continued
successes in senior competitions. Forty boys in Year 9 played at U13 level and
successes for the A team included emphatic wins over Campbell College and RBAI.
The B team also had some excellent victories including one over Ballymena
Academy. At U14 level the side reached the semi finals of the competition and
looked to the Medallion side for their inspiration this year.
Who can forget the memorable day at Ravenhill for our outstanding medallion side
who were joint winners of the Medallion Shield? Every move was enthusiastically
followed by screaming supporters, the sounds and cheers echoed in the corridors of
Wallace for many weeks to follow.
Boys’ cricket enjoyed a successful season too last year, the U15 XI winning an
impressive 13 out of 15 games and reach the Schools’ Cup Final. The same side,
many of whom were also on the victorious Medallion team, were unbeaten in their
league fixtures. A talented group of young men who represented Wallace with great
pride and to impressive effect.
To complement the academic prowess of so many young people here this evening it
is evident that this school continues to provide as broad an educational experience
as is possible, building potential, instilling values and developing young people for
the world beyond Clonevin Park. The passage to adulthood in today’s society is at
times a complex and challenging one for many. To parents here this evening I trust
you feel that the teachers, support staff and coaching staff of Wallace are doing all in
their capacity to nurture the potential in each young person. It is often said of the
transition from childhood to adolescence:
“You know your children are teenagers when they stop asking where they came
from and start telling you where they are going.”
Mr Chairman, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, young people here this evening,
2009-10 was a very successful year indeed. On behalf of my colleagues may I thank
parents for their support and commend our young people for their spirit of
enterprise, their enthusiasm and their success. In conclusion may I express my
gratitude too, on your behalf, to Mrs Lois Stewart and her teaching committee for
the organisation of this evening.
I am now pleased to introduce our clarinet solo Rachel McGrath.