17th August 2016

Senior Debating Society 2015/2016

Suzanne McAuley Uncategorised 0 Comments

This year was marked by a flourish of new debating talent within the school – after the departure of a very talented group of Upper Sixth debaters made way for a whole new wave of Speakers from Year 11 to Year 14! Reigning Queen (teacher-in-charge) of the Senior Debating Society, Miss Turner, spent her sophomore year at the heart of the Club, ensuring, through her passion for arguendo, that the year was a very successful one for all involved. This year I had the pleasure of assisting in the role of Student President, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my year at the helm of the Debating Society.

17th August 2016

Year 10 Public Speaking Competition 2016

Suzanne McAuley Public Speaking 0 Comments

Year 10 2016 Public Speaking

On Wednesday 22^nd June 2016, five boys and five girls from Year 10 competed for the Jonathan Logue Public Speaking Cup. Each year, the standard is extremely high; however, this year it was exceptionally so, presenting the judges – two previous, and much missed, members of the English Department, Mrs Marion Hadden and Ms Hilary Timmons – with great difficulty in awarding the top three places.

17th August 2016

Year 9 Geography Fieldwork June 2016

Suzanne McAuley Geography 0 Comments

On the 2nd of June, Year 9 pupils boarded the buses (where many McCandless seatbelts were put in place) and hit Ballycastle and The Causeway with a bang. Firstly we arrived at the Causeway and got into our form class groups and were handed out our booklets. After a quick toilet stop and a browse round the gift shop and information centre, we were soon ready for a long walk; or were we? We found out a variety of facts and historical events that never crossed our minds. There was a collection of monuments and rocks formed by geographical processes into shapes like a camel, organ, duck, boot and even old women! Promptly after that we ate a well-deserved packed lunch and took in the landscape. We learnt about rocks, formation, erosion and many other interesting geographical settings. One by one we boarded our buses and headed for Ballycastle. Each person had a group of three that they got into and started the trail on our designated spot. We walked round many places in Ballycastle and found out clues to fill in our booklets. Ballycastle was a lovely place we saw the beach, shops and other eye catching places. Overall Year 9 really enjoyed the trip and came home with a lot of new knowledge about a variety of topics, and something unusual for a June day-a little sunburn!

By Amy Woodall 9T

12th May 2016

Support our School via online shopping

Administrator 2020 Vision, Friends of Dalriada 0 Comments

In the tech savvy world of today, online shopping has been booming to the tune of £52 Billion in sales for 2015.

The convenience and user friendly nature of online shopping has seen its popularity skyrocket in recent times but did you know that by shopping online you can help to support our School?

Dalriada is pleased to announce that we have partnered with easyfundraising.org.uk so that every time you make a purchase online, you can help provide the school with an average donation of 2.5% of the total you spend.

There is no catch, the average 2.5% is not an added cost, it is donated by the selected group of online retailers who also work in partnership with easyfundraising.org.uk.

Here is a short video that explains it all.

For further instruction click the read more link.

12th May 2016

Dalriada invites Ballymoney community to become record breakers

Administrator 2020 Vision, Friends of Dalriada 0 Comments

The Principal and Vice-Principal of Dalriada School, Mr. Tom Skelton and Dr. Ian Walker, are inviting the entire Ballymoney Community to the school’s playing fields on May 28th to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Human Currency Symbol.

Dalriada School has an eye on setting a brand new world record and is calling out to the Ballymoney community to get involved.

The School is launching a new fundraising and event initiative called the Dalriada 2020 Vision on May 28th and plan on starting it off with a bang by breaking the Guinness World Record for the Largest Human Currency Symbol.

The current record sits at 800 people who formed a Rupee in India in 2015, so 801 people will see to it that Ballymoney sets a brand new one.

8th May 2016

Geography Workshop

Suzanne McAuley Geography 0 Comments

During our spring term all Year 8 classes had the delight of receiving a visit from Mr David Thomas who is a volunteer for Christian Aid. During this visit we focused on the earthquake in Haiti, how it occurred, the aftermath and what Christian Aid did to help the citizens of Haiti. Read More

8th May 2016

Transfer Information Evening for P6 Pupils and their Parents

John Devlin General Info 0 Comments

On Monday 9th May at 7.30 pm in the John Armstrong Hall, Dalriada will hold an information evening for the parents of current P6’s who are seeking to join Dalriada in year 8 in September 2017. There will be a presentation outlining the process that Dalriada employs for the selection of pupils into Year 8.

Details of the Common Entrance Assessment run by the Association for Quality Education will be explained along with information about how to apply. Furthermore the Headmaster will outline the timeline involved along with the school’s entrance criteria and how to apply for any special access arrangements that maybe required.

If you require any further information about the meeting please contact the school on 028 276 63066. If you require wheelchair access please also contact us so we can be prepared for your arrival.

24th April 2016

Dalriada win UK Bar Mock Finals at the Old Bailey

John Devlin Bar Mock, Uncategorised 0 Comments

Dalriada’s Bar team over the weekend travelled to the Old Bailey in London to compete in the UK final of the Bar Mock Trial Competition and ended up coming through four rounds against some very stiff opposition to take the Title.

Having won the Northern Ireland title several months ago, extensive practice and indeed fund raising has taken place. Under the careful management of Miss Susan Gregg and technical support of two practising barristers from the bar council of NI the team has worked tirelessly in the run up to these finals.

Saturday saw Dalriada come through three rounds against some very tough English opposition and win through to the final. In the first round they came up against Denbigh High school from Oxford followed by Kesteven and Grantham Girls School from Nottingham, This put Dalriada into the semi-final against a Yorkshire School, Wilmslow High from Sheffield. Again the standard was extremely high but it was the Northern Irish School that got the verdict.

In the final Dalriada would face Clitheroe Royal Grammar School from Preston in Lancashire and this time the trial would be presided over by four Judges. With the celebrity Judge Rinder watching carefully from the balcony it was Dalriada that came out the winners much to the delight of the entire party including Headmaster Tom Skelton who had travelled with the group to London.

It was Dalriada’s fourth time competing at this National level, where twice they had lost in the final but this time they were finally crowned as champions. With some of the team also involved in last week’s BBC choir of the Year win it has been an epic few months for the school competing at the highest level in a number of activities. Some of the party will also travel with the Volleyball teams who on Monday travel south to play in the All Ireland Final after becoming NI champions last month.

21st April 2016

UK National Finals of the RSC ‘Top of the Bench’ Competition

Suzanne McAuley Science 0 Comments

Friday 15 April 2016 saw a team of four pupils from Year 10-12 set off, accompanied by Mr R Johnston and Mrs H Millar from the Chemistry Department, to compete in the UK National Finals of the RSC ‘Top of the Bench’ Competition being held at Loughborough University. Ellen Gilmour, Auriel Guarino (both Year 10), Sarah Hadden (Year 11) and Eason Chan (Year 12) had competed at the Regional finals of the competition held at Queens’ University Belfast in January where they were successful in winning the honour of representing Northern Ireland at the UK Finals. This was only the second time that the school had entered a team in this prestigious competition which is organised annually. Read More

21st April 2016

Geography Workshop

Suzanne McAuley Geography 0 Comments

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear “Geography Workshop?” Most likely you would not imagine making pyramids with toothpicks and marshmallows, would it? I didn’t know what to expect when we walked into the John Armstrong Hall to attend The Christian Aid Geography Workshop. There was the deafening sound of fifty teenagers, rumbling away like Mount Krakatoa on a bad day.

A few minutes later, a man walked in and explained that he represented Christian Aid, who specialises in helping developing countries who have a high degree of poverty. He then told us a very interesting story of a man who had been trapped in a collapsed office building for 2 HOURS after an earthquake hit his city. His resilience to survive was incredible. After this, the marshmallows and toothpicks came into play. He laid them out irregularly around the tables and challenged us to construct an earthquake- resistant structure with it. Our group decided to make a pyramid, which seemed like a good idea, as the pyramids at Giza seemed to have withstood the test of time pretty well. We were quite pleased when it survived the simulated earthquake (a shake of the table), without collapsing.