Achievements
Athletics
After the unprecedented
success in Athletics last year the potential for disappointment was all
too real. However once again the competitors rose to new heights. 95
athletes took part in the NEBSSA heats with 26 qualifying for individual
finals as well as seven out of eight relay teams. Robbie Burns won gold
in the junior 100m and the intermediate boys’ team was placed second. In
the district championships 20 athletes qualified for the Ulster finals
with Lauren Bell, John Houston, Jamie Magee, the senior boys’ relay team
of John Houston, Lee Millar, James Mitchell and Alex Christie, David
Swann, and the junior boys’ relay team of Sam McWhirter, Robbie Burns,
Connor Weir, and Kevin Leitch all returned with gold. 7 athletes
qualified from the Ulster Championships for the Irish finals, one more
than last year. Lauren Bell was crowned Ulster Champion at both 200 and
400 metres, John Houston had a gold and silver, Jamie Magee took silver
while the Senior Boys’ relay won the Ulster title for the first time in
the schools history. David Swann picked up a bronze. In the Irish
finals at Tullamore, Jamie Magee won a bronze in the triple jump while
John Houston took silver in the 200m. However the senior boys relay
again took pride of place as the school became only the 3rd
team in the 60 year history of the event to retain their title. Overall
the senior boys team finished 2nd in Ireland another first
for the school.
The Larne Grammar 4 X 100 m Senior Boys’ Relay Team was nominated for ‘Young Team of the Year’ at the Belfast Telegraph Sports Awards held in the Ramada Inn in January 2010. Larne Grammar School was the only school to be nominated for any award.
Duke Of Edinburgh
Seven pupils have this
year received the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. A further eleven
pupils are completing the Award despite having experienced extremely hot
and uncomfortable weather conditions in the Antrim Hills in June.
Maths
Challenge
In November 24 pupils took part in the Senior Maths
Challenge against 90,000 other participants with Timothy Edwards coming
out on top. Sarah Moore was the best in school in the Intermediate
Challenge and Scott Copeland was best at Junior level.
Dance
The Dance teams had a
disappointing start, returning from the Creative Movement and Aerobic
Championships with a single silver medal. However at the Causeway Open
Championships they more than compensated with a haul of 5 gold medals.
These included the junior and senior dance teams, the junior duet of
Johanna Johnston and Victoria Holmes, the intermediate duet of Gillian
McMurran and Louise Maxwell and Rebecca Strahan who came first in the
senior solo competition. This success was then followed up at the
Ulster Fitness and Dance Championships where the teams returned with 3
gold medals, 4 silver medals and 1 bronze.
Music
At Larne festival the
school won four categories; the Junior Choir, Jamie Johnston with two
individual successes and Johanna Johnston, Olivia Gillespie and Katy
Tweed all took Gold.
Year 10 pupils won the PSNI competition to write a jingle for radio and
basked in fame for a few weeks over the Christmas period as their
jingles rang out over the airwaves.
Equestrian
The equestrian team
continued to progress with the junior team of Kerry McIlwaine, Sophie
McDonald, Zoe Buchanan and Shannon Robinson finishing 15th
out of 26 teams while the Senior team of Amy Fekkes, Ian McCluggage,
Leigh-Anne Rea and Shannon Robinson took an exceptional 2nd
place in the 1 metre class.
Volleyball
In
volleyball
the Senior Boys finished 4th in the Northern Ireland League but were
beaten in the 2nd round of the NI Schools Volleyball Cup.
The U-16 Boys lost in the
semi final of the U-16 NI Schools Cup while the Senior Girls fielded a
competitive team for the first time since 2001.
Hockey
Courtney Burns was
selected for the North East U17 team and Ulster U18 training squad.
Chloe McIlwaine played for the North East U15 team & Regional
Development U14 team where she was joined by Kerry McIlwaine and Ruth
Maguire.
Charity
The charity committee
worked tirelessly throughout the year raising almost £12,000 for Chest
Heart & Stroke, Parents Against Cancer, National Society for Epilepsy,
IRFU Charitable Trust, Red Nose Day, World Challenge, NI Cancer Fund for
Children, CRY, Larne Community Care Centre, Shine A Light, Cancer
Research, UK Macmillan Cancer Relief and Heartstart while Cary Aston
spent 2 weeks in the townships of South Africa with the Niall Mellon
Trust.
Institute of Directors
For several years now a
number of pupils have successfully participated in the Institute of
Directors’ Shadowing Scheme. However, this year Caroline McKane
excelled. Caroline shadowed Michael Murray, Head of Business
Transformation BT Ireland and then wrote a report on what she felt was
necessary to fulfil such a prestigious role.
As a result Caroline was chosen as a finalist for the competition which
was held at the Ulster Bank’s headquarters where she presented her
findings to the Institute of Directors. Her presentation was flawless
and resulted in her achieving overall winner.
