Cullybackey College’s annual Prize Day returned and we were delighted to welcome parents, carers and members of the community back again this year. Well done to all the prize winners, who we are immensely proud of, and we hope you enjoy the the address that Mr Donaldson delivered, the photos and the link to a highlights video of the day all of which follow below.
Address by Mr Donaldson
On behalf of the staff and the Board of Governors of Cullybackey College I’m really pleased to welcome you once again to our annual Prize Distribution. I would like to endorse Mrs Scott’s welcome to our special guest – Mr Rodney Weir. Rodney hails from Ballymena and is a past pupil of Ballymena Academy, but we’ll forgive him for that. He got involved with Coaching for Christ as a player at the age of 9 before becoming a volunteer coach at the age of 16. After leaving school he started their interim programme to become a staff member.
Currently Rodney is Head of Development at the Coaching for Christ Youth Academy which has over 300 young people participating on a weekly basis. Additionally, Rodney is a senior coach in their Secondary Schools’ Programme.
Rodney’s role within Cullybackey College involves delivering after school football as well as supporting curriculum PE. He has developed and delivered an excellent leadership programme to our Sixth Form pupils which they have benefitted greatly from.
He is a regular face around the school who our pupils look forward to seeing and his commitment to them is recognised and valued by staff and pupils alike.
Rodney, it’s great to have you back this morning, and a real surprise to see you in a suit! We greatly appreciate you giving up your time, and we look forward to hearing what you have to say to us shortly.
In terms of last year’s results, at GCSE level the proportion of students achieving 5 or more GCSE passes stands at an outstanding 95%, the highest in recent years.
At A-Level, a superb 98% of our outgoing Year 14 students achieved A*-E in 2 or more subjects. We were delighted that so many of our students achieved the entrance requirements for their preferred University courses and we wish them all the very best in the next stage of their lives.
I would also like to acknowledge the success of our students in accessing collaborative courses through Ballymena Learning Together – especially with the NRC, where they have been very well supported.
Personally I would like to say a sincere thank-you to the teaching staff of the College who, in the day-to-day busyness of school life, dedicate themselves to making your children their priority. Often it is their determination not to give up on a child – their encouragement, their threats, their persistent hassling and chasing up of work that makes the difference.
In addition, I would like to acknowledge all our non-teaching staff who play such an important role in the day-to-day life of the College, getting on with things so efficiently and effectively in the background. Also thanks must go to our team of Classroom Assistants who provide much valued support for our pupils as well as being a great help to the teaching staff.
In acknowledging our staff, I would like to make personal reference to one in particular, Mr Allan Foster. Allan was our Technology Technician for 11 years before his sudden, untimely death on the 16th March. Allan was, in reality, much more than a technician. He was one of those larger than life characters who was always joking, always laughing, and had a reputation for his constant banter. Allan was very much a part of our College community and was forever on hand to help out a colleague or pupil, regularly going above and beyond what was required. School has not been the same since Allan’s passing. He is greatly missed and today we will present the Allan Foster Memorial Cup for Most Improved Key Stage 3 Technology Pupil in remembrance of him.
In spite of the continued legacy of COVID-19, the last academic year witnessed a gradual move towards greater normality. Boys’ football teams enjoyed a return to the Northern Ireland Cup competitions, with the Year 12 team having the most notable success, reaching the quarter-finals of the under-16 plate competition.
The Boys’ golf team competed in the Mid Antrim finals in Ballymena whilst senior rugby made a return with James Orr and Max Mitchell continuing to excel in the underage Ulster squads, training regularly each week with club and province.
Elsewhere, we had the pleasure of having the Coaching for Christ team run a Coaching and Leadership course for our GCSE and A-Level students, whilst Dr Michael McKillop was our Sporting Mentor as part of the Year 13 Lidl Sport for Good programme. Both these courses provided pupils with the opportunity to develop their leadership skills within the school setting as well as supporting mental health.
Our Years 11 and 12 Netball team triumphed by winning the Ballymena Netball League whilst House Hockey and House Netball proved a big success and it was great to see the girls back competing for the first time in two years.
Ulster’s Rugby Development Officer worked closely with our Year 10 girls in developing their rugby skills. This was a huge success and Jessica Wilkinson, one of the team members, was selected for Ulster rugby trials. Jessica was also selected to play for Ulster’s under 18s during the summer, which was a fantastic achievement.
The Coaching for Christ team coached our Year 9 and Year 10 girls’ football, developing their skills, and giving them greater self-confidence.
Hannah McBride was selected to represent her Gymnastic club, Elite Gymnastics, in a major competition in England.
Show jumping was in operation all winter, with Jessica Mark having represented Cullybackey College for seven years, achieving great success throughout this time. Jessica’s final year saw her finish a superb 5th in Ulster.
The annual Ulster rugby trip returned and was a great success yet again, whilst the ever-popular Sports Day made a welcome return in June.
As ever the school year kicked off with our Year 8 induction trip to We Are Vertigo at the beginning of September, an opportunity for our newest pupils to make new friendships and have some fun.
Not to be left out, Year 13 pupils competed in the Office Olympics at Jungle NI as part of their induction, completing a range of team building exercises. Everyone got drenched, ate too much food, and had a brilliant time.
Due to the restrictions of the pandemic we were unable to host our annual P7 IN-O-V8 event, our 2 Open Evenings or our annual P6 ACTIV8 event. However, staff from the College visited a staggering 750 P7 pupils from 31 local primary schools conducting interactive workshops and shows relating to Science and Technology.
In addition, the College also had an in-house Prize Day, produced a new College video, published our first annual College magazine as well as having very active social media platforms to ensure that pupils and parents could keep up-to-date with all that was going on.
Pupils had the opportunity to take part in a wide range of clubs and societies including Scripture Union, STEM Club, Art Club, Young Enterprise, Choir, Debating Society and Drama Club to name but a few.
Our Eco Club was successful in applying for a grant of over £3,000 from Live Here Love Here to establish an Eco garden in the school grounds.
The Young Enterprise Company ‘CC Treats’ had a very productive year culminating in their participation in the North East Business Competition in March. With judges from a range of prominent Northern Ireland businesses, and in a hotly contested field of post-primary schools, ‘CC Treats’ finished runners-up which was a fantastic achievement.
Our Year 10 Technology students competed against all the other local post-primary schools in the Rotary Technology Challenge at Ballymena’s NRC, bringing home the 1st prize in their design of a flashing beacon!
As ever, the History & Politics Department had a busy year with trips to Belfast for a Home Rule tour of the City, visits to Stormont and the Somme Centre in Newtownards, as well as the annual Year 14 trip to Dublin. In addition, a number of successful workshops were conducted by The Navan Centre for our key stage 3 pupils and Year 10 also had the privilege of meeting and hearing the emotive testimony of Holocaust survivor, John Fieldsend.
A-Level RE students had the opportunity to visit Union Theological College, Belfast as part of their studies. In addition, Austin McAleese of Year 9 and Ewan Clarke of Year 10 both won top prizes in the Schools Bible Project national writing competition, resulting in an all-expenses paid trip to London.
Year 11 GCSE and Occupational Studies Hospitality classes attended a Hospitality Awareness & Careers Inspirational Event at Glenarm Castle. Jodie Leigh Greer was the winner of the event’s competition to design a new ice cream flavour called ‘Walled Garden Rhubarb and Custard’ which was subsequently produced at Galgorm’s ice cream shop.
Our Year 14 Art and Design pupils successfully participated in a British Council international exchange project. Pupils’ work was subsequently exhibited in the British Embassy in the Netherlands and the Dutch Embassy in London. In addition, our Year 14 pupils also had the opportunity to work alongside The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, in collaboration with the Ulster Museum.
English successfully introduced new Key Stage 3 awards in the form of ‘Eager Eight,’ ‘Homework Hero’ and ‘Top Talker’ to encourage pupils interest in the subject and Years 8 and 9 pupils also had the opportunity to participate in a really enjoyable workshop with the award-winning author Stuart Reid.
Geography hosted our now annual Jurassic Ark Encounters giving pupils the opportunity to get up close to a range of creatures including a 20-foot python, a Gecko, a monitor lizard and a bearded dragon to name but a few. As Year 9 pupil Adam commented: ‘I held the big snake and its face slithered up my face – it was so scary – I had a really good day!’
Year 8 pupils had fun on Maths Fun Day, competing in a series of challenges and activities requiring them to use their mathematical knowledge and applying it to everyday situations.
Our ‘Cullybooky’ week saw lots of fun activities happening to encourage pupils to read. The event culminated in an awards ceremony to acknowledge our most avid readers.
As a school we pride ourselves on our charity-giving, and last year was no exception. A fantastic total of £3,500 was raised for 3 charities: The Children’s Hospice; Turning Point; and the Macmillan Cancer Unit in Antrim through a combination of events including A Santa Dash, Cullybackey’s Got Talent, a Christmas Jumper Day, a Karaoke and Silent Disco afternoon, and a Sponsored Skipathon.
In addition, we are delighted to present a cheque for £1236 to the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance. This charity was chosen by the Sixth Form Leadership Team with the money raised through a raffle at the school formal and a prize draw throughout the month of May.
A number of our senior pupils also participated in the ‘An Important Year’ Project organised by Mr Colin Hayburn and the Friends of VisPa charity. This involved interacting with students from five other local schools as well as a partner school in Kenya through Zoom workshops. Students explored a range of relevant themes and their contributions were used to create a very worthwhile documentary.
I would like to thank all the staff who have contributed to making this wide range of events, activities and experiences possible for our young people.
Acknowledgement must go to our Parent Teacher Association, a much-valued part of our wider school community. The PTA had a very successful year hosting a range of events for pupils including fundraising Halloween and Valentines hampers and a Doughnut Day. An online auction was also held with 14 businesses generously contributing towards this. Events for the year culminated with the ever popular Pudding and Quiz Night in May. In total, PTA raised a fantastic £1266 with donations being made to the College as well as the Year 11 Diana Award and the charity Cruise in memory of Allan.
I would like to express my gratitude to our Governors in overseeing all the work of the College. Chaired by Mrs Scott and ably assisted by her deputy, Mr Wiseman, Governors invest a great deal of time, effort and energy in supporting the work of the College, something for which we are all indebted.
To conclude, in light of events over the last number of weeks, it was fitting that we were able to host a hugely enjoyable coffee morning in June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Recently I was reading a list of famous statements made by Queen Elizabeth – as you can imagine the list was extensive – but one stood out for me, a comment made on her Christmas broadcast in 2002 which simply stated: “Each day is a new beginning, I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God.”
I’m sure you will agree that those principles are appropriate for all of us in the Cullybackey College community – pupils, parents and staff in how we seek to live our lives.
Please click here to view a highlights video of the Cullybackey College 2022 Prize Day.
