Omagh High School
14 Crevenagh Road
NEWSLETTER
Omagh, Co Tyrone
BT79 0EQ
Tel: 028 82242656
May 2015
Fax: 028 82251568
Email: info@omaghhigh.omagh.ni.sch.uk
Website:www.omaghhighschool.org.uk
PUPILS OF THE
MONTH
OMAGH HIGH TEAM FACE
INVEST NI DRAGONS
The team were naturally disappointed;
however they agreed that the experience
was a good one and that they had
developed valuable skills that they
would be able to use again in the future.
Year 8 - Courtney Sawyers
- Nicola Moore
- Sylvia Chen
Year 9 - Joel Charters
- Zara Preston
- Alexandra Monteith
Year 10 - Frazer O'Brien
- Lyndsey Fleming
- Kira Schneider
Year 11 - Adam McCollum
- Adam Short
- Jill Alderdice
-Romy Kerrigan
Year 12 - Cameron Turner
- Jonnie Woods
- Kyle Richards
Year 13/14 - Tamara Doherty
- Kelsey Glass
- Lee Kelly
RUNNING HOUSE TOTALS
Auchinleck - 3987
Crevenagh - 3873
Strule - 4594
SCHOOL CLOSURE
The school will be closed on Monday 4
May and Monday 25 May 2015.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
A recent DENI circular has advised
schools to inform parents that it is vital
that they let schools know if their child
has suffered any head injury involving
concussion and any restrictions placed
on their child’s activities as a result of
advice from a medical practitioner.
This letter has been given to each
pupil for parents’ information.
Please return the attached slip to
acknowledge receipt of this letter by
Wednesday 6 May 2015 at the latest.
and serious questioning from the Invest
NI Dragons.
We will keep an eye on these budding
entrepreneurs in the future …. watch
this space!
March was very busy for one group of
Year 10 students. After completing a
Year 10 ‘Dragon’s Den Workshop’
with
Paul
McKnight
from
Eye4Education, just 5 students were
selected to go through to represent
Omagh High School in a province wide
competition run by Invest NI and
sponsored by Irish Football Association
(IFA).
Leading the team was the originator of
the idea, “Keys Please” a key tracking
and location device; Andrew Ferguson,
Managing
Director,
along
with
Aaron Chambers, the Design Manager,
Rebecca Hewitt the Advertising
Manager, Ella Small, the Marketing
Manager and Jake Hannigan who was
Finance Manager. Jake and Ella were
also responsible for creating the
product’s advert, which formed part of
their successful Facebook advertising
campaign, with their advert reaching
over 10,000 people.
Our “Keys Please” team were visited by
an Invest NI ‘Dragon’ and they
successfully pitched their idea to win
the area final, an ipod each and secure
their place in the final 5 teams out of
the 42 teams who competed provincewide.
The team travelled up to Belfast and
were graciously hosted by Invest NI.
Sadly our team were narrowly defeated
in the final, however, they gave an
outstanding presentation and should be
extremely proud of their perfect
performance under such high pressure
OMAGH DISTRICT COUNCIL
YOUNG ACHIEVERS AWARDS
The annual Omagh District Council
Young Achievers Awards took place on
Friday 6 March at Omagh Leisure
Complex. The awards were held in
recognition of all the young people
from the Omagh Area who have
achieved notable success in the past two
years.
In terms of Sport, Omagh High School
had representatives at the awards across
various sporting disciplines. Namely:
- Zoe Marshall: Ulster Girls Rugby
representative honours
- Laura Jones: N Ireland Ladies
Football Representative honours
- Jake Hannigan: Competing at
International level in Judo
- Darnell Moore & Calvin Moore:
Competing at Ulster and International
Cycling events with notable success.
- Kyle Swann & David Clements:
Representing Omagh High School as
the Winners of the N Ireland Schools
U15 Football Trophy 2013.
All in attendance received momentos
from Omagh District Council. Well
done to all
SUMMER EXAMS 2015
Internal exams for Years 8-10 will be
held from Tuesday 26 May to Friday 29
May inclusive. Year 11 pupils will
follow an alternative timetable of
classes during exam week which will
be issued to them nearer the time.
Revision booklets have already been
issued to all Years 8-11 pupils outlining
the times of exams, the topics for
revision and a planner to schedule
revision sessions over the next few
weeks. It is critical that all pupils plan
their revision properly. Revision
booklets are a very helpful guide for
parents. They should be initialled as the
revision sessions are taken and the
guide should be kept in schoolbags for
house teachers and subject teachers to
check.
External exams for Years 11-14 will
begin on Thursday 7 May 2015 and
will continue until Tuesday 23 June
2015.
Year 11
Due to the modular nature of many
subjects being studied at GCSE level,
most Year 11 pupils will be sitting
actual external GCSE/Key Skills
modular exams in Summer 2015 in the
following subjects:
 Agriculture & Land Use
 Business Studies
 English & English Literature
 Geography
 Health & Social Care
 History
 Home Economics – Child
Development
 Hospitality
 LLW – Employability
 Mathematics
 Science – Double Award &
Single Award
 Technology & Design
As the results of these modules
(available when pupils return to school
in Sept 2015) contribute towards the
final GCSE subject grade to be awarded
in Summer 2016, it is imperative that
these modular examinations are taken
very seriously in Year 11. In addition to
the preparation and revision which will
take place in class prior to the
examinations, it is vital that thorough
revision/preparation also takes place at
home and parents are asked to facilitate
this as much as possible.
Years 12, 13 & 14
Years 12, 13 & 14 pupils will shortly
commence study leave in preparation
for GCSE, AS and A2 external
examinations. During study leave,
revision classes will take place in
school with subject teachers and pupils
are required to attend all of these
classes in school uniform. A timetable
for the revision classes will be
distributed to all pupils in Years 12, 13
& 14. In addition to the preparation and
revision classes which will take place in
school, Year 12, 13 & 14 pupils need to
spend the maximum amount of time at
home
carrying
out
thorough
revision/preparation during study leave.
Please note:
Years 11, 12, 13 & 14 pupils have
already been given their individual
examination timetables for their
external Summer 2015 examinations.
Examination preparation/revision for all
year groups must take priority over
other commitments such as part-time
jobs and social events to ensure
maximum potential is reached by all
pupils at this crucial stage in their
education.
Good Luck To All
LOCAL STUDENTS ADVOCATE
FOR GRASSROOTS CHARITIES
AND GIVE AWAY £3,000
Year 10 students from Omagh High
School became powerful agents of
change in their community, awarding
£3,000 to a local charity and advocating
for many more. Year 10 students took
part in the Youth and Philanthropy
Initiative, which aims to grow
compassionate communities through the
teaching of strategic philanthropy.
The
ground-breaking
programme,
running for the third year in Northern
Ireland, aims to create the next
generation of passionate and committed
philanthropists by providing real life
experiences of charitable giving.
Working in teams to identify the social
needs of their local community, pupils
selected a local charity that best
addressed their chosen issue. They
interviewed staff and beneficiaries
before preparing a presentation for a
‘Dragon’s Den’ style judging panel,
with the best team winning a £3,000
donation for their charity. The judging
panel was made up of Mr R Hussey,
Mr McConaghy, Mrs M Bradley and
Macaulay Killen. The winning team
was the Northern Ireland Children’s
Hospice Horizon West. The team
members
were
Hollie
Jordan,
Naomi Connell, Greta Rukaite and
Emma Livingstone.
TASTER DAY
Year 6 Taster Day took place on
Thursday 26 March 2015 when Year 6
pupils from 14 contributory primary
schools joined Omagh High School for
the day. After being welcomed by the
Principal and having refreshments on
arrival in the dining hall, the Year 6
pupils had an opportunity to sample
what life at Omagh High School is like
by attending a series of subjects or
‘classes’ and moving around from
room to room at the end of each
‘period’.
The subjects included
PE/Games, Home Economics, Drama,
Music, Art & Design and Science.
Year 6 pupils had the opportunity to
participate in activities, assisted by
some Omagh High School pupils and
staff. After a busy morning, the Year
6 pupils and staff were ready for lunch
which was served in the dining hall
before making their way back to their
own schools. Thanks must go to all
Omagh High School staff and pupils
who assisted with the event and to both
the pupils and staff of the primary
schools for attending. An enjoyable
time was had by all.
SITUATIONS VACANT IN
BOOMING NI FILM
INDUSTRY
This week Omagh High School
welcomed a visitor from PSI
(Production Services Ireland).
Mr
Rainer Pagel, Head of Training, came in
to speak to Year 10 and Year 11 drama
pupils about the multitude of jobs
available in the Creative arts sector, in
particular, his area of expertise, lighting
and rigging, but he was also in to talk
about an exciting new apprenticeship
scheme, which will be on offer from
August this year.
OHS BAKE-OFF
The following contestants took part in
the bake off this year.
Kirsty Ewing and Erica
Faulkner
Zara Preston
Natalia Rejkiewicz and
Sarah Walker
Curt Stevenson
Isabella Shaw and Lily Small
Rebecca Stewart and
Emily Clarke
Sam Smyth
Kyle Mc Kernaghan
Luke Beattie
Rheanna Gilmore and
Emma Spence
Nathan Wilson
The pupils’ effort and creativity
produced amazing bakes in all 3
sections –
-Signature Bake - Bite - size bakes,
-Technical challenge –Scones
-Show stopper – a cake for Mothers
Day.
Winners:1st Rebecca Stewart and Emily Clarke
(£20 and a Mary Berry cookbook)
2nd Kirsty Ewing and Erica Faulkner
3rd Zara Preston
QUEENS ACADEMY
Three 6th form pupils have been
selected unto this prestigious academy
that
works
alongside
Queens
University.
Congratulations
to
Lee Galbraith, Ged Rahman and
Lorraine Patterson who have all been
selected to attend the Academy.
It is enough to look at the credits at the
end of a film to see the vast job
opportunities that exist in this field and
with Northern Ireland now hosting the
filming of Game of Thrones and the
latest Dracula film, and now with the
recent BAFTA success of local short
film, Boogaloo and Graham, it is easy
to see why the industry is looking for
people with technical skills in this area.
So, this new apprenticeship scheme has
as its main aim to train local people for
the jobs that exist in this area, rather
than having to look for expertise outside
of Northern Ireland.
PSI have worked behind the scenes at
some major local and worldwide events,
providing equipment and manpower;
most recently, providing the lighting
and staging for the Carl Frampton fight
and Michael Bublé’s Christmas
concerts.
We would like to thank Mr Pagel for
coming in and highlighting the
opportunities in this area and if you are
interested in a Career in the creative
arts; film, tv, theatre or music and
would like to find out more about the
apprenticeships
and
opportunities
available, then go to the Creative &
Cultural
Skills
website
at
www.ccskills.org.uk . To find out more
about PSI, visit the PSI website at
www.productionireland.com
DRUGS AWARENESS TALK
Constable Thompson visited our school
to give all Year 10 pupils a talk on drug
awareness. He started off with the
definition of what a drug is. A drug is a
chemical substance which changes the
function of the brain or body, which
alters the way a person thinks, feels and
behaves. People take drugs due to peer
pressure,
medical
reasons,
experimenting or for relaxation. Drugs
can be classified into 4 groups.
The policeman explained that drugs
work like a car:- Stimulants - speed you up, like
accelerating in a car.
- Depressants - slow you down, like
braking.
- Hallucinogens - blurred vision, like
oil smeared on your windscreen.
- Opiates - ease the pain, like an airbag
in an accident it protects you from
getting badly hurt.
Taking prescribed drugs and illegal
drugs can cause serious health risks
such as mood swings, aggression, fits,
nose bleeds, depression, anxiety and
even death.
Legal highs are a big problem at the
moment as there is no law yet to ban
their use. Young people are losing their
lives to these drugs as they contain all
sorts of dangerous substances in various
quantities which are not suitable for
human consumption. Legal highs need
to be banned.
At the end the policeman let us try out
the “drunk and dangerous glasses” to
see what it feels like to walk about
which is the same as taking 6 pints of
beer.
I learnt a lot from the policeman’s visit
and it is up to us as teenagers to be
really careful and make sensible choices
and say NO TO DRUGS.
It is really important to remember it’s
your body, it’s your choice.
Vladamir Dat-Ay
SEAMUS HEANEY
COMMENDATION AWARD
MOTHER’S DAY LUNCH
Year 11 Occupational Studies pupils
hosted a Mother’s Day lunch on
Wednesday 11 March 2015. Pupils
invited their mothers to lunch as part of
the Healthy Living topic for their
Prince’s Trust Qualification.
They
planned a healthy menu, shopped for
the event, cooked food and served it up.
A great afternoon was had by all and no
one left hungry. Well done Year 11
OSP! Thanks to Mrs Cresswell for the
use of the facilities in the Home
Economics room and her expertise in
the preparation of the food.
mental health issues and to reduce the
stigma associated with mental health.
The Young Minds Matter conference
incorporated three sessions during the
course of the day, each facilitated by
renowned
Communications
and
Lifestyle Consultant, Billy Dixon and
featured a short screenplay entitled
‘Baggage’, produced in association with
NIAMH and performed by the
Performing Arts students from South
West College.
LORD LIEUTENANT’S CADET
FOR TYRONE
The English Department are proud to
announce that Dawid Chybowski was
awarded
the
Seamus
Heaney
Commendation
Award
for
his
progression in poetry during the
Community Arts Partnership Poetry in
Motion workshop.
Dawid received his award at a
prestigious event which took place in
the Ulster Hall in March. 600 School
children from schools around the
province were present!
Congratulations also to Lily Small and
Ryan Cairns who were invited to recite
their poems at the Ulster Hall at the
launch of the Poetry in Motion 2015
anthology.
SWC TO TACKLE YOUNG
PEOPLE’S MENTAL
HEALTH STIGMA
Several other year 8 pupils also had
their poems published in the anthology
including: Nora Vegh and Nicola
Moore.
CYCLING
Darnell Moore (Year 14) has now
moved into the top racing category A1
in Ireland due to his success in
numerous races this year. This weekend
he will compete in a 4 day race, starting
on Friday at Stormont and finish on
Monday. Throughout this four day race
Darnell will be cycling up to ninety
miles a day. Well done and good luck
Darnell.
Louise Maclaine (Year 13) has been
appointed to the role of Lord
Lieutenant’s Cadet for the County of
Tyrone. She received her award from
Mr Robert Scott, Lord Lieutenant for
the County of Tyrone. Louise will be
one of nine Lord Lieutenants' Cadets,
taking on a role which is largely
ceremonial. The 17-year-old student
can expect a busy year ahead,
accompanying Mr Robert Scott, Her
Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for the
County of Tyrone, on major civic
occasions. In recognition of the award,
Louise will wear a special insignia on
her uniform throughout her year in
office.
Year 11 pupils attended a mental health
awareness conference entitled ‘Young
Minds Matter’ on Wednesday 25
February at SWC Omagh. It was
organised as part of the College’s
Outreach Programme in association
with NIAMH (Northern Ireland
Association for Mental Health), PSNI
(Police Service of Northern Ireland) and
WHSCT (Western Health and Social
Care Trust).
Sadly the society we live in can be
detrimental to the mental health of
children and young people, with the
impacts of family breakdown, the rise
of social networking, violence, peer
pressure and substance abuse often
leading to mental disorders, anxiety,
depression and conduct disorders.
Despite children and young people’s
mental health being high on the agenda
for campaigners, there is still work to be
done to raise awareness of the various
ULSTER RUGBY U18 7S
It is a busy time for Louise Maclaine as
she has also been selected to play for
Ulster Women’s U18 7s at an
interprovincial blitz in Dublin on 18
April 2015. Louise had attended 3
selection days in Armagh where she
became one of 14 to go to Dublin from
45 who had attended the selection. In
Dublin Louise played against Leinster,
Monster and Connaught winning
against Connacht.
SCHOOL ANGLING CLUB
VISIT TO THE LOUGH’S
AGENCY
On the 23 April the School Angling
Club visited the Lough’s Agency
Headquarters at Derry, for a combined
educational and fishing trip. It took
place in brilliant sunshine, matched by
the warm welcome the staff gave us on
arrival.
The most of the day was spent fishing
for Rainbow Trout in the two on-site
ponds; and for some, this was the first
time that they had fished for the real
thing, an exciting prospect. I can say
that by the end of the day, everyone had
caught more than one fish (some a lot
more), and for those of us who had
caught a fish for the very first time, they
are now well and truly, ‘hooked’ into
fishing.
On top of all this, they experienced a
session of Fly-Tying, fish biology and
anatomy (a truly novel experience for
some, as this involved the gorier side of
fish anatomy) and a tour of the site,
which included the Lough’s Agency’s
Laboratory. This was an experience for
all who attended, and despite previous
levels of knowledge, all of us learnt a
great deal and had great fun doing so.
I would like to say publicly, that the
staff headed by Shane Roulston and
Michael Cosgrove, were of enormous
help to us - so a big thank you to them.
Mr Arnold
EASTER SUCCESS FOR
EQUESTRIAN TEAM
On Monday 30 March the Omagh High
School Equestrian Team notched up
some very impressive results at
Drumragh Inter-Schools Show.
Congratulations to Megan Crozier and
Emma Armstrong on their success in
the RDA National Championships.
Their Craft work was placed 5th in the
class at this prestigious event in
Hartpury, England. Really well done
girls.
The day began well with Lisa
McFarland being placed 3rd in the
warm-up class. This was only the taste
of things to come. The Novice Team of
Henry Flood, David Clarke, Rebekah
Jones and Lisa McFarland were
runners-up in the Novice Team Event
and were also awarded the prize for
turnout. Omagh High School ‘cleaned
up’ in the Novice Individual Class
where Bethany Stewart emerged
victorious, Danika Campbell was
placed 2nd and Henry Flood finished 5th.
William Kerr has been awarded the
Most Improved Junior for pupils who
attend equestrian lessons at the RDA
during the school week. This award is
open to pupils from all of the local
schools who attend lessons so really
well done William.
YEAR 8 RUGBY
In the Intermediate Individual Class
Adam Short had a super jump-off round
to finish 3rd out of 38 competitors.
Cara Patterson and Rebecca Crawford
also competed and although not in the
placings this time were yet again
fantastic ambassadors for Omagh High
School.
Well done everyone. We are certainly
an improving squad!
The Year 8 Rugby team competed in
the annual High Schools U12 regional
qualifier at Omagh RFC on Tuesday
10 March 2015. This was the first
outing of the Year 8 Rugby team and
the boys performed very well on the
day.
The most notable match was the game
against Castlederg High School,
whereby the boys ran out winners by 5
tries to 1. The tries scored on the day
were from Christopher Allen, Ryan
Young, and team Captain Joseph Duff.
HOCKEY
On Monday 23 March Omagh High
School U15 played Royal and Prior
Raphoe in the Western Hockey League.
The match got off to a fast pace with
Omagh looking strong from the start.
During the first half Anna Shaw scored
two goals leaving the half time score 20. In the second half Raphoe came back
strong scoring a goal and almost scoring
another. The match finished 2-1 to
Omagh. Player of the match was
Anna Shaw.
attacked through the centre and despite
Omagh’s strong sweeper they scored.
Omagh fought back with grit and
determination and were unlucky not to
score with two strong shots on target.
The captain Isabel McDowell, also the
team’s keeper, kept her teams head up
until the end with great fight and
encouragement.
Squad: I McDowell(Capt). E Clarke,
C Flood, S Walker, N Moore,
N Rejkiewicz, C Sawyers, I Shaw,
L Small, R Stewart, A Trimble, E
Spence, R McKelvey.
NETBALL
College Dungannon (3-1), Holy Trinity
Cookstown (2-0),
Drumglass High
School (2-1) and lost (4-1) to
Cookstown High School. In the playoffs
for the final Omagh lost (3-2) to St
Josephs, Donaghmore. They then went
on to beat Holy Trinity Cookstown for
the Bronze medal. Player of the
tournament was Courtney Sawyers.
Goal scorers were Rebecca Stewart and
Isabel McDowell.
Squad: N Moore (Capt), A Hill,
C Sawyers, I Shaw, R McKelvey,
N Rejkiewick, E Clarke, I McDowell,
R Stewart.
STRONG PERFORMANCE
FROM OMAGH HIGH AT
YEAR 8 BLITZ IN
ENNISKILLEN
Squad: M Millar (Capt) B Stewart,
J Alderdice, K Ewing, H Lavelle,
H Wilson, A Shaw, S Pinkerton,
R Lavelle,
J
Morrow,
C Jones,
J Gibson, B McIvor.
On Thursday 16 April Omagh High
School U13 Hockey Team travelled to
Royal and Prior Raphoe for their
Annual Hockey Tournament. In the
group stages Omagh played some
outstanding hockey and consequently
drew with Royal and Prior 0-0, won
against Sligo Grammar 2-0 (Goals: H
Wilson
and L Cunningham) and
Strabane
Academy
1-0
(Goal:
S Pinkerton). Omagh High qualified for
the final against Foyle and Londonderry
College, but despite their best efforts in
a really closely contested match Omagh
lost narrowly 1-0 in the last few
minutes of the game, returning home
with the runners up medals. An
excellent achievement for the U13
Team, well-done!
On Tuesday 24 March the Year 8
Hockey team played Castlederg High
School.
Throughout the first half
Omagh dominated and the play was
consistently in Castlederg’s half. The
second half proved more difficult, as
Castlederg came out strong and
On Thursday 12 March Omagh High
School Year 9 netball team competed in
their
annual
regional
Netball
tournament at Fivemiletown College.
The tournament was attended by 10
local teams. The team played well
throughout their section and finished
third, narrowly failing to qualify for the
semi -final. Player of the tournament:
Hollie Wilson. Goal scorers: Sarah
Pinkerton,
Jodi
Armstrong
and
Kaja Szewczyk.
Squad: H Wilson (Capt), S Pinkerton, J
Armstrong,
L
Cunningham,
A
Monteith, K O’Connor, E Galbraith,
K Szewczyk, J Gallagher.
On Tuesday 10 February 2015 the Year
8 football squad travelled to The
Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen to take
part in the annual Under-12 Indoor
Blitz. Ten schools from the Tyrone and
Fermanagh area took part in the Blitz
with the top two from each group
progressing into the semi-finals. Omagh
High had two excellent performances
against Drumragh Integrated College
and Devenish College before finally
losing out against Fivemiletown
College in the group. Ashley Fyffe
captained the team on the day and put in
three outstanding performances playing
every minute of the tournament. Joseph
Duff also had a great tournament in
goal remaining unbeaten until the third
match and even saving a penalty against
Fivemiletown. Overall the entire squad
put in an excellent performance on the
day and played extremely well, doing
themselves proud.
WORDS OF WISDOM
On Friday 20 March our Year 8 Netball
team competed in the annual regional
tournament. The tournament was hosted
by Fivemiletown High School and ten
local schools attended. In the group
stages Omagh High beat Integrated
For everyone studying for exams at this
busy time of the year - remember:
success depends on the second letter.