Selected excerpts from the 2007-8 School Magazine :

Editorial

After several years of editing the school magazine, I am glad to affirm that Ihave not grown complacent about Sullivan’s extensive range of sporting,musical, dramatic, charitable and academic activities; the successes celebratedin the pages of this magazine.  I am, as always, amazed at theachievements of very many of our school community and I am confident that youwill be also.

Inthis 2006-2007 edition, I have the privilege to proudly inform you about pupilsand staff from past and present.  We have said a fond farewell to many andat the same time, welcomed others to our school, yet it is evident that thereis a continuity of loyalty and affection for Sullivan, that surpasses theboundaries of time.

Iwould like to introduce Andrew Scott, Year 14, who has been a contributor andSub-Editor for this year’s magazine.  I have appreciated his quietlyefficient help and was grateful for his impressive flair.  Many thanks toall the contributors to the magazine, willing or otherwise, and also to Dr.Christina Byrnes who liaises with the advertisers.  As always, I amindebted to Elizabeth McMillan’s intuitive understanding of the school and toher fortitude in the face of mountainous typing.

Ihope you enjoy reading this year’s magazine as much as I have enjoyed editingit.

Mrs.K. Millar (Editor)

Sub-Editorial

Asan aspiring journalist, helping with the school magazine in my final year atSullivan sounded like a good idea.  Little did I know exactly how muchwork goes into the writing and compiling of articles for this mgzine!  Ithas given me a newfound appreciation for my school, the staff and the pupils,as I discovered the astounding array of talent that abounds over a whole rangeof areas in Sullivan.   From sporting heroics to musical brilliance,this magazine has showed me just how hard the pupils of Sullivan Upper School work, and how muchpromise and potenial every pupil has.   As well as theseachievements, the school has also undergone structural changes, includingimprovements to the Sixth Form Centre and the Technology buildings. Editing this magazine has helpd me to see how much work has  gone intothese improvements and how they will positively affect pupils’ time inSullivan.  Editing this magazine, while at times arduous, has also been aninteresting and rewarding experience, which has helped me to undertand moreabout the ‘world of work’ and journalism.  It is an experience that Iwould recommend to anybody interested in a career in English orJournalism.  I hope that you enjoy the magazine and reading about theexcellent achievements by Sullivan pupils.

AndrewScott
14G

Prize Day 2007   Principal’s Report

Mr. Chairman, Baroness Blood, distinguished guests, parents, colleagues, pupilsand ex-pupils of the school, I am pleased to be standing in front of you onthis occasion, for what I believe is the tenth time, to present my report onthe various activities that we have been involved with over the course of thepast academic year. I am particularly pleased to do so in the presence of BaronessMay Blood. This is partly because of her past activities in furthering therights of mill workers which is significant for me because my mother was a millworker. Moreover, Baroness Blood and I are originally from the same part of Belfast and she wasbrought up very close to where my grandparents lived. However, I amparticularly pleased to welcome her here today because I know, that as atireless advocate for the people of Northern Ireland, she will shareour pride in recognising and applauding the achievements and successes of theyoung people that we honour on this occasion. May Blood knows better than most,that the talents and endeavours of the younger generation will determine thefuture for our small country.

Ofcourse, Mr. Chairman, we must also recognise that it is the talents andendeavours of the teachers and staff at this school, which determines thequality and quantity of the educational opportunities made available to ouryoung people. I know that, like me, you and the Board of Governors are proud ofthe way members of Sullivan staff go the extra mile to help and support thepupils of the school and to make the gift of education accessible and availableto them. Robert Sullivan called education a blessing and in recent times NelsonMandela, who was himself the son of farm workers and who rose to lead hisnation, called it the ‘great engine of personal development’. Despite the manychallenges and obstacles in our path and the various difficulties we face, I amalways confident that at Sullivan we have the history, the culture and aboveall the people, to continue to provide top quality educational experiences bothinside and outside the classroom.

Eachyear brings with it a degree of change in the composition of the team of adultsthat we have here at Sullivan. On the teaching side we were delighted that Mr.Eric Thompson was appointed as Vice-Principal at Down High School,yet at the same time very sorry to lose him from our staff. We were also sorryto lose Mrs. Freda McDonald, who for many years had been a stalwart of theMathematics Department.  Both Mrs. Laura Barr and Mrs. Judith Girvin havedeparted temporarily on maternity leave, Mrs. Margaret Smyth is on a year’sleave of absence and Mr. David Matthews has been seconded to CCEA to work inthe area of Employability for a year. We also want to thank and say goodbye toMrs. Rosemary Esdale, who has been helping us out in the music department for anumber of years. Mrs. Wendy McCullough takes over as a job share teacher inMathematics and Mrs. Marie Rainey joins in a part-time capacity. Miss ElizabethFleming and Mrs. Zöe Summers have come in to Modern Languages, Mr. JonathanDixon into Physics and Mr. Jonny Erskine has been with us teaching primarilyEconomics. We have also been pleased to welcome back to the TechnologyDepartment Mr Bob Wylie as a temporary replacement for Mr. John Turner, who ison career break in Thailand.In addition Mr. Jonny Quigley and Mrs. Julie Harper have joined us to teach PEand Music respectively.

Wehave also said our goodbyes to the school nurse, Mrs. Nicky Wrightson and ouraccounts Assistant Mrs. Gail Dowling and welcome their respective replacementsMrs. Michelle McAvoy and Mrs. Rosemary Smith. After an extended career break,we are delighted to see the return of Mrs. Hilary Seidman who is now our parttime librarian together with Mrs. Rosemary Edgeworth. We also are pleased tohave appointed Mrs. Angela Beckett and Mrs. Karen Burrows to the new posts oflunchtime supervisors.

Mr.Chairman, as you know very well, the role of school governor is a verydemanding one. It has been pointed out by others, that there are very few walksof life where a group of willing volunteers discharge such onerous publicduties and shoulder such responsibilities, as those who choose to sit on thegoverning body of a school such as ours. At Sullivan we are fortunate indeed,to have such a talented, dedicated and experienced team of people, who arewilling to give so generously of their time and energy for the benefit of theschool. This applies particularly to Mr. Edward Johnson who stepped down fromour Board in March of this year, after over thirteen years continuous service.During that time Mr. Johnson served on the Finance Committee and was chair ofthe Preparatory Department Committee for a number of years. His wise counseland measured common sense were put to good use over those years and culminatedin his sure chairmanship of the Board through the years 2004 and 2005.  Wethank Mr. Johnson most sincerely for his fine contribution to this school andextend to him and his family all our very best wishes for the future.

Nowlet me turn to the young people of the school themselves and the particularsuccesses and achievements that they enjoyed last year. The issue of public examinationresults in the summer brought with it the annual media feeding frenzy and theusual assertions about increases in pass rates indicating a decline instandards. Northern Irelandschools achieved above average results, compared with England and Walesand the Sullivan results were above average for Northern Ireland. Girls’performance in general exceeded that of boys but the margin of difference isdecreasing. At A level, we had a record entry of one hundred and forty ninestudents who achieved the second highest set of results that the school hasseen over the past ten years. Just about 82% of the year 14 candidates achievedat least three C grades and the average Sullivan sixth former left to pursuetheir course of choice at university, with something in excess of three Bgrades. Indeed our statistics show that 26%, or over one quarter of the uppersixth, achieved three A grades at least, in their A level exams. Of thosethirty-eight top students, three were awarded four A grades and our congratulationstoday rightly go to Anna Bambrick, Katie Johnston and Peter Storeng.Exceptionally, Richard Montgomery actually achieved five A grades which wouldhave been remarkable enough, without his friend Robin Brown coming out with Agrades in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology andFrench. For those of you who have not been keeping score, that adds up to anoutstanding total of six A grades at A level. Richard, moreover, we have beeninformed by CCEA, came joint first in A level Mathematics in Northern Ireland,third in Biology and joint third in Further Mathematics. We wish them bothevery success as they continue their education at the Universityof Cambridge, with Robin going to Jesus Collegeand Richard to Peterhouse. Joining them at Cambridge are Anna Bambrick (JesusCollege) and Robin Lawther (Robinson College) with two others from last year’sUpper Sixth going to Oxford namely, Katie Johnston to Corpus Christie andAlison Lavery to Exeter College. In addition, I am delighted to tell you thatKatie was placed joint first in A level French and German in Northern Ireland,as well as joint second in History to cap what has been an outstanding schoolcareer. To add to the list of exceptional achievements at A level this yearthis year, I am also very pleased to mention that, in our newest subject,Moving Image Arts, Owen Sims came second in Northern Ireland and Jason Cardwelland Kyle Vaughan were both joint third.

Asyou are no doubt aware, Year 13 students sit AS level exams but at this stageare awarded marks which can be converted into grades; these are not normallycashed in until the end of the A level course. Analysis of these gradeequivalents shows that, like their Year 14 counterparts, some 82% of this yeargroup achieved three Cs or better. Impressively, one third of the students hadthe equivalent of three A grades at AS level and 32 individuals, representing22% of the year, actually reached four A grades. This bodes well for theirperformance at A level next year, providing they cope well with the step up toA2.

AtGCSE, with another very large group of pupils, numbering 161 in total, theschool can celebrate a thoroughly outstanding set of results. In relation tothe national benchmark statistic of candidates receiving a minimum of fivegrades of C or better, we can boast 98%, including Mathematics and English. Atthe stricter threshold of seven or more such higher grades, 97% of Sullivanfifth formers reached this level or better. At the highest levels, threecandidates received A* grades in all eleven subjects taken; they were StuartBreakey, Judy Fleming and Alex Greene. Another three pupils had 10 A* gradesnamely, Daniel Nicholl, Patrick Welsh and Victoria Mason. A further two havenine A*s, five have 8A*s, five have 7A*s and a further five have 6A*. Thesetwenty-three top scholars, deservedly, will receive prizes today foroutstanding achievement at GCSE. In addition the school has been informed byCCEA that Lloyd Houston was placed first in Northern Ireland in English Literatureand that Victoria Mason was placed first overall in both Religious Studies andSingle Award Science.

Wewere also delighted to hear of the success of a number of our candidates in theModern Languages examinations, which are taken with the AQA awarding body.Michael Thompson scored one of the top five marks in German A which had 38,039candidates. In AQA GCSE French, there were 100,997 candidates and of those whoscored one of the top five marks, there were no less than three Sullivan pupilsviz. Alex Greene, Victoria Mason and Aimée Price. Many congratulations to theseyoung linguists on this outstanding achievement. Once again the vast majorityof this year group have rejoined the school in year 13 to begin their studiesof AS and A Level courses.

Mr.Chairman, I know very well that you and your fellow members of the Board ofGovernors, are proud of the exceptional academic achievements of Sullivanpupils. I also know that you appreciate that such success only comes with theassistance, encouragement and talents of an outstanding team of teachers andsupport staff. Our thanks and congratulations today also go to those manyadults who work tirelessly at Sullivan to afford a wide array of educationalopportunities to the pupils and who work with such passion to help them realisetheir potential, in both their curricular and extra-curricular endeavours.

AtSullivan we have always tried to encourage and support our students in alltheir activities. The extra-curricular life of the school is a vital and enjoyablepart of the educational experience of our young people. Normally however, weexpect our students to further their careers mainly on the strength of theiracademic performance. It is the exception therefore, that proves the rule andso it is with considerable pride and pleasure that we record the recentfantastic golfing success of our ex-pupil Mr. Rory McIlroy who has clearly puthis considerable extra-curricular talent to good use. Rory will be pleased tolearn that at Sullivan we continue to have huge numbers of enthusiastic pupilsenergetically engaged in a bewildering array of out-of-class games, sports,competitions, performances and experiences. Earlier this term we recognisedtheir endeavours, across a wide variety of fields, at two special achievementassemblies. However, it would be remiss of me not to present to you today aflavour of what went on last year.

InBoys’ Hockey the 1st XI won the annual King Cup which is played against Methodyand retained the Wellington6-a-side Trophy. Both the 2nd XI and the Under 13s won their respective PlateCompetitions. Representative honours were gained by Sam Brown at Ulster Under18 level and both Patrick Martin and Peter Purcell played for Ulster Under 16s.Indeed, all three played in their Interprovncial competitions in which Ulstertriumphed, with Peter captaining his side. In Girls’ hockey we won theGrosvenor Grammar Under 12 tournament. Emma Ferguson represented Ulster atUnder 18 level and Roxanne Morris represented Ulster at Under 16 level. In Rugby,Sullivan girls continue to shine, with Laura Davidson, Aimée McNeice andVictoria Coulter selected for the Ulster Under 18 Development Squad. Thehighlight of the season for Boys’ rugby was undoubtedly the 1st XV’s hardfought draw against the Royal School Dungannon, which meant they shared theNorthern Bank Schools’ Bowl Trophy. However, we also had a number of individualsuccesses with Robb Falls, Michael Pennick and Jonathan Herron gainingrepresentative honours at Ulster Under 17 level and Jonathan going on to makethe Ulster Under 18 Interprovincial team. On top of that, no less than six ofour rugby players went through to the Ulster Under 16 squad, so ourcongratulations also go to Alex Newton, Kyle McFarlane, Chris Wood, GlennDunwoody, Gareth James and Ben Scott.

Theschool continues to excel in cross-country running with many successes in lastyear’s competitions. Having been highly placed in all the girls’ and boys’ teamevents at the County Down Championships, the runners entered the Ulster championshipsat Mallusk with justifiable confidence. Here we had both individual and teamsuccess, with Robin Boyd placed 9th in the senior competition and the minorboys’ team coming, again, 9th overall. On the girls’ side, the juniors came10th with Katie Kirk winning individual silver. The senior girls’ team, led byKatie Hewitt, came third and won the bronze medal, thereby qualifying for theIrish Schools’ Finals. Katie herself went on to represent Northern Ireland inthe UK games and competed in the Ulster Schools Pentathlon Championships. BenReynolds represented both Ulster and Ireland at Under 18 athletics. We areimmensely proud of the achievements of Emma Farnham who not only representedNorthern Ireland in the Dwarf Athletic Association European Games and OpenChampionships but also won through to the All England Badminton Championshipsfor Northern Ireland. Also in Badminton, Andrew McKee represented Ulster atUnder 16 level.

InGolf, we were runners-up in the Ulster Schools’ Junior Golf Championships andin tennis, our Junior and Intermediate Boys won through to the UlsterSemi-Finals. Both James Harte and Ross Adams were selected for the Ulster Under14 tennis team. The cricket season is necessarily short these days but that didnot prevent the 1st XI from capping a fine season by winning the SherrygroomCup. Our congratulations also go to Ross Adair, our most promising youngcricketer, who represented Ireland at Under 13 level. The Fencing Club is oneof our youngest school sports, yet that has not stopped them making aconsiderable impact on the local scene. A great year culminated in the 2007 PWCFoil Series in which Irma Hendry and Kirstin Beggs came 2nd and 3rdrespectively in the Girls’ Under 13 competition. Simon Kennedy came 5th in the Boys’Under 17 and both Irma Hendry and Jane Clarke represented Northern Ireland inthe British Youth Fencing Championships. In addition Ethan Hill was selected torepresent Northern Ireland at Under 12 level.

IfI had to judge what was our most successful school sport from last year,certainly based on overall success in competition, I would have to give it tothe Swimming Team. Indeed if I were to attempt to give you our results from thevarious championships we would be here for quite some considerable time.Therefore, with apologies to our swimmers, I will gloss over their considerablesuccesses in a number of prestigious competitions, apart from mentioning thatat the Ulster Grammar School Championships the Junior Boys’ Team came 3rdoverall and our Senior Girls came first and lifted the Senior Cup. That bringsus to the Irish Schools’ Championships, in which the Senior Girls’ Team camesecond in both the medley and freestyle relays and the Boys’ Team also camesecond in their medley relay. The Girls’ Team was made up of Ashleigh Hyland,Caitlin Buck and Ciara McBrien as well as Jodie Falls, who as a 13 year-old,was competing in the senior event. The boys were Michael Doggart, Jordan Sloan,Stephen McNally and Chris Savage. Jordan also won the gold medal in his 100mbackstroke event and Jodie came second in the 100m butterfly. Ashleigh tookbronze in the 100m freestyle and together with Jodie and Jordan went on torepresent Ireland at the WISE Schools Swimming International in Dublin. Mr.Chairman, Mrs. Brown and the school swimmers deserve our heartiestcongratulations for their outstanding achievements last year.

However,even that does not complete the roll-call of Sullivan successes by any means.Let me now mention sailing, in which Tiffany Brien, Oliver Loughead, RyanLoughead, Jessica Brien and Conor Simms were selected to join the NorthernIreland Youth and Junior Sailing Squads. Tiffany in particular had anoutstanding year and was chosen as Royal Yachting Association Young Sailor ofthe year and represented Ireland in the Youth World Sailing Championships heldin Canada. The roll call of individual successes must also include BrechjeHalbertsma who made the Northern Ireland Senior Volleyball Team, Fiona Elliottand Peter and Ryan Doggart who represented Northern Ireland in Karate, SarahMcMullan who is on the Irish under 15 Trampolining Team and Clifford Blayneywho is part of the Ulster Under 16 cycling squad. Our Chess team continued toexcel, with David Grzymek and Robin Brown both selected to compete in the Irishindividual chess championships held in Limerick and together with RichardMontgomery were selected for Ulster at Under 19 level.  Just to show thatthere is no lack of young talent moving through the ranks, we were delighted tohear that Michael O’Sullivan, from Year 9, had become the Ulster Under 13Individual Chess Champion. Several of our sixth form science students enteredthe International Chemistry Olympiad and Richard Montgomery, Robin Brown andKatie Johnston won certificates coloured gold, silver and bronze respectively.Congratulations also go to 10S, who under the direction of their geographyteacher Mr. Thom, entered a Northern Ireland- wide competition about the use ofenergy and water efficiency which was sponsored by CCEA and the ConsumerCouncil. At the finals held at Armagh Planetarium, it was announced that theywere overall winners and were presented with the Ecoworld Trophy and a chequefor £1000 for the school. Appropriately, this money has gone towards theinstallation of energy saving measures in their Geography classroom in theFrost Building, which, coincidentally I am sure, happens to be Mr. Thom’s mainteaching room.

OurPublic Speaking Team of Aimée Price, Nicky Johnston and Victoria Mason won theregional heat of the Business and Professional Women’s Guild Competition. Theythereby qualified for the Northern Ireland Finals, at which Aimée won the prizefor best chairperson. In Show Jumping we also recognise the achievements ofAnna Clugston who was selected to compete in the Young Riders’ Show JumpingInternational Competition held in Canada last October.

Asalways, the work of the music teachers and tutors affords many opportunitiesfor our very talented musicians and singers to shine. The range of musicalgroups and diversity of musical styles on offer is truly remarkable. Weremember and commend the many informal recitals, the House Music Competition,the Christmas Services and the Spring Concert, among many other events bothinside and outside school. It is not surprising, therefore, to report that anumber of our students have been selected for inclusion in regional groups.William Fox-Roberts, Katie O’Donoghue, Alison Hunter and Sophie O’Hara havegained places in the Ulster Youth Choir or Training Choir. Jonathan McLearnonhas joined the Ulster Youth Orchestra and Deborah Grieve the City of BelfastYouth Concert Band.

Iwas particularly pleased that last year saw Senior Drama make a welcomere-emergence, with the school entering the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival. Thisevent was held in the studio at the Waterfront Hall and saw a number of schoolspresent a suitably abridged version of a number of Shakespeare plays. Mrs.Millar and Mr. Keown jointly produced our entry of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’which, all who saw it agreed, was a production of very high quality and wasthoroughly enjoyed by actors and audience alike.

If,Mr. Chairman, I have omitted to mention some significant achievement by one ofour pupils or teams, and given the range and number of them this is quitelikely, I sincerely apologise. As you will appreciate, it is becomingdifficult, particularly at my age, to keep up with them all!

Iam also very pleased to report that the school raised over £14,000 forcharities last year through a variety of fund raising activities. We therebysupported the work of over thirty local, national and international charities.It is part of the Sullivan history and ethos that we encourage our pupils tolook outside their own personal needs and aspirations and to engender a spiritof service and community responsibility as young citizens.

Mr.Chairman, the pace of life at school and the overall rate of educational changeshow no sign of slowing down. Last year, we continued our involvement with theCCEA Key Stage 3 Revised Curriculum Pilot. I am pleased to report that we havemade considerable progress with the introduction of the new provisions, throughattendance at a variety of training sessions for key staff, the use of threefocused dissemination conferences attended by all the teachers of the schooland the establishment of co-ordinators for cross-curricular skills. We have nowsuccessfully introduced the key elements of Learning for Life and Work, one ofthe few statutory requirements of the revised curriculum, into Key Stage 3 andwe have made great progress with Key Stage 4. Plans were also made last yearfor furthering our progress with the Entitlement Framework in order to extendthe range of applied courses available. I hope next year to report more fullyon these exciting developments which involve closer co-operation andcollaboration with our neighbours at Priory College and with the local FurtherEducation Colleges.

Wecontinue to develop and extend the quality and scope of school resources andfacilities. One major project has been the total refurbishment and partialextension of our facilities for Design and Technology. This ambitiousundertaking was driven by updated Health and Safety requirements and has beenmade possible with 85% grant aid from the Department of Education. It has beena challenging project, which has run on into this school year and has disruptedthe work of the department during the early part of the term. However, weexpect the project to be completed very soon and it will give us exceptionallymodern and high quality facilities for this important subject. We have alsobeen able to provide new chairs for the School Hall which I hope you find verycomfortable this afternoon without, I hope, tempting you to fall asleep! TheSixth Form Centre has been given a major overhaul and in it we have installed aSilver Robin satellite kitchen to provide a modern healthy menu directly anddaily to our senior students.

Ashas been reported in the local media, the school has also been involved with aground-breaking project with the local council, as part of its scheme toimprove sports facilities in Holywood. Part of the project will involve theconstruction of a dual-use Astroturf hockey pitch on the school site, which wewill use during weekdays and on Saturday mornings. This project is now with theplanning authorities for their consideration and we await their decision withgreat interest. From the school’s point of view, this would represent a hugeopportunity for the continued development of facilities and opportunities forthe young sportsmen and women at Sullivan.

Mr.Chairman, as you know, we are also currently engaged in active discussion withthe Department of Education to see if we can secure grant aid for a number ofother capital projects. Again, I sincerely hope to be able to report on asuccessful outcome to these negotiations next year.

Thewhole education system in Northern Ireland is currently undergoing a majortransformation. The role of the Assembly and the Minister for Education will ofcourse be crucial in determining the direction that schools will have to take.The new Education and Skills Authority is now due to take over from theEducation and Library Boards in April 2009 and is almost certain, at somepoint, to exert an effect on the running of Voluntary Grammar Schools likeSullivan. The Transfer Tests, in their current form, are due to end in twoyears. As yet, we do not know what admissions criteria will be used todetermine the transfer of the children currently in P5 to post-primary school.The admissions process for September 2010 and beyond is therefore, as yet,undecided. We do not know whether Sullivan Upper and the other schools like us,will continue to remain as selective grammar schools.

However,what we do know is that Sullivan Upper will continue to be here, providing afirst class education to the children who are enrolled. We do know that it isour duty and privilege to continue to offer the blessing of education and allits opportunities for advancement and fulfilment, to each succeedinggeneration. We do know that we have the resolve, and above all, we have thetalented and committed people to continue to work for the benefit of all ourpupils. In this, the tenth year of my stewardship of this fine school, I wouldlike to rededicate my efforts and those of all the staff, to our continuedimprovement and development and to build on all the good work that has gonebefore.

Mr.Chairman, Baroness Blood, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am pleased topresent my report.

John Stevenson
Principal
Sullivan Upper School
October 2007

Charity  Report

2006/2007

Wehave a charity collection at Formbase every week, at Sullivan. I am pleasedthat normal weekly giving through Formbase collections has been great this yearand am delighted as it indicates a continued increase in the pupil’s awarenessof and generosity towards the charities we support.   This year Year10 raised the most with 8M as the best formbase over the whole year.

Year8     - £2,366.55
Year 10   - £2,485.82
Year 12   - £1,293.72
Year 14   - £2,085.68

Year9     - £2,336.87
Year 11   - £1,374.77
Year 13   - £1,237.75

Wehad a Non Uniform Day in November for The SonShine Club Kenya Project andraised £2,100 with lots of extra events –
     • Dressed up staff
     • 8T had a bun sale
     • Staff Karaoke

Thanksto the Religious Studies for injecting a large dose of fun and enthusiasm intothis event.

Wealso raised £750 for Trócaire Gifts – each class was asked to raise enoughmoney to purchase a specific item and they responded most enthusiasticallyespecially to buying Olive Trees and Goats as you can see in the table.  Avery impressive effort from everyone!

Someparticularly impressive classes were –

    • 12F who raised £50 for a grain store
     • 9W and 9B who both raised over £40
     • 8M and 14F who both raised over £30
     • 10A, 13B and 13G also raised enough to buy agoat each.

Year14 Charity Week went off well in March, with activities around school theyraised £3,650 for
Comic Relief and the Tear Fund Work a Miracle Appeal.

Ifyou know of any needy causes or special events you feel we could support pleasefeel free to get in touch with me.

Iwant to thank –
     • my colleagues who week by week discuss eachcharity with their classes and  encourage them to give so generously,
     • the pupils many of whom generously donate 50p,a £1 or more every week,
     • Mr. Dermott, who contributes the proceeds fromLost Property Sales throughout  the year,
     • parents and friends who support, encourage andcontribute in so many ways
     • and especially to the pupils who came to helpcount the money each week at break  time –
           Judith Treliving
           David Lyness
           Jordan Adair
           Peter Gamble
           Andrew McKee
           Lauren Bishop
           Kathryn Mitchell
           Pamela Phair
           Kerry Majury
           JessicaFair Laura Gilliland
           Chris Jordan
           Simon Kennedy
           Patrick Burke
           Chris Gray

whohave been my faithful helpers over the year – THANK YOU ALL!

Weneed to continue to work hard at appreciating how much we have and how littlemany others have who share the same world and time as us.

MissA. Martin

CharityCollections - 2006 / 2007

FridayFormbase Collections

Other Events

NonUniform SonShineClub            £2,100.00
Staff Christmas Card for Tear Fund   £80.41

Year14 CharityWeek:                  £3,650.0
        ComicRelief                        £1,220.00
        TearFund                           £24,30.00

OverallTotal                                £14,333.00

The Rowing Club raised £345.25 and donated it to The Cadiomyopathy Associaitionin memory of Rebecca Graham who died in July 2005.

Duke of Edinburgh  -  GoldExpedition

At10:30am on 24th June both mini buses headed off down the drive and towardsDublin. Everyone was in high spirits despite the feeling of impending doom someof the groups had voiced fears earlier at the prospect of 4 days in The WicklowMountains.

Bothbuses, the assessor’s car and Mr. Boreland’s car travelled in convoy the wholeway down the motorway until Swords, just north of Dublin where the other minibus disappeared.   Our bus charged on unaware of the disappearanceuntil we pulled up at a set of traffic lights and we were told we were a busdown.   At each set of traffic lights there after for the next milepeople were running between the cars and the bus to change mobile and satellitephones after it turned out that the school Duke of Edinburgh ‘phone didn’t worksouth of the border!

Wearrived at Glendalough Youth Hostel around 15:30.   After finding ourroom and getting our kit sorted for the next day, we had dinner, stillwondering where the other bus was.   After dinner we sat down withthe assessors and discussed the details of our route, such as the location ofsome large bogs that they advised we didn’t fall into and the best places toset up camp and cross rivers.

Therest of the groups finally appeared at 21:00.   It turned out thatbuses head gasket had blown, causing Mrs. Torrens to dive into a slip way andpull up on the hard shoulder. They were stranded here for the next five hourswhile they waited for a replacement bus and the AA to recover the poor old one.

Day 1

Halfpast six was a rather early start, but given we were already awake and lookingforward to getting started, we forgot about the lack of sleep after the firsthundred metres or so. The early start meant that by half seven we had alreadyclimbed to the top of our first mountain and could spend the next two hourswalking from summit to summit, enjoying the thought of what other people may bedoing.

Byeleven we had arrived at our campsite at the top of the GlendaloughValley.   By half eleven our tent was up and we were cooking a warmmeal for our lunch, which was a first as well as climbing over the rocks nearbyto find boulders to keep the tent down in the wind.   The time untilthe girls group arrived was passed with the use of a tin whistle and twoharmonicas.

Aftersome members had had a short siesta we sat down and had a discussion,predominantly about the view confronting us just out of our tent.  We also compared the morning’s climbs as well as the deer and thoughts on theweather.

Day 2

Aftera rather windy morning in which our tent made a few controllable attempts tobecome a kite, unlike the girls’ tent, which was successful!   It wasa nice walk down the valley where we topped up on water, as upon discussing theroute the night before, it became apparent that this would be the last waterstop for the rest of the day.   This was a serious challenge as thefour of us had Scarr mountain to climb with only five litres to last us over15km.

Whilewalking along the Wicklow Way between Glendalough and Laragh it was noted thatthe finish point was less that 1km away!!   When nearing the end ofthe path we missed our turning as the track was just a grass track and we werelooking for a gravel path like we were on.   Within 50m we hadrealised as the path doubled back on itself and we could tell from the bearingwe had that this was incorrect.

LoughDan our campsite was fantastic, again hot soup and soda farls were enjoyedalong with an early arrival around three o’clock.   As noted “Ourinner Womble” was revealed as we found the campsite in a terrible state, andfelt an uncontrollable urge to fix it!

Laterthat night music again prevailed as we made up songs such as ‘The Flight of TheSwallows” as we watched several swallows chasing each other over the water.

Day 3

Daythree was another day with limited water supplies.   We had our fivelitres to cover us for the whole day as the only river was the source of theLiffey close to our campsite, but we had been told it wasn’t the best place totop up.

Weflew along in the first part of the day only taking three breaks on our ascentof Scarr;  a feat we still aren’t sure how we did!! The last part of theday down the valley to our campsite was one of the longest, slowest and mostdepressing parts of the walk. There were 5 foot ferns everywhere meaning therewas little or no path to follow, making things even harder as most of us hadailments of some sort.

Thenight was spent after dipping our feet in a rather cold river, with a walk toPowerscourt Waterfall to see the view which was well worth the walk.

Day 4

Thiswas possibly our easiest day as we just followed the Wicklow Way right down toLaragh, apart from some steep climbs and an extremely long portion on tarmacthat was very painful on everyone’s feet.

Thenavigational aspect was quite straightforward with us following the map, onlyto discover that the Wicklow Way signs had changed meaning we would mostprobably have gotten lost.

Thiswas the only day we walked in rain and given we were less than 1km from thefinish none of us bothered with putting on coats.   Even though oneside of us was soaked we still managed to finish with glorious sunshine and agreat feeling of satisfaction knowing what we had just completed.

Celebration “Feast”

Afterfour days in the wilderness a plain home cooked meal would have been excellent,but the fantastic three course meal we had in The Wicklow Heather was unbeatable.

Formany this meal had been the sole thing keeping them going over the past fourdays, so it was with some disappointment for a small group of girls to discoverwhat they thought they had ordered, didn’t actually exist! It seemed one personhad thought that they were getting a favourite meal and other the members oftheir group had thought they had ordered this too.

Afterthe meal various awards were presented to the “SAS” group and “The Wombles”.These related to different events that had occurred during the expedition.After the meal we all returned to the Youth Hostel and enjoyed the luxury of abathroom and a proper mattress.

Conclusion
 
There have been times where everyone in our group stopped and stood halfway upa mountain or valley in the driving rain questioning why we had ever decided todo Duke of Edinburgh.   Over the past 4 years we have had theopportunity to test our ability to work as a team and test our navigationalskills in some fantastic scenery.   Nothing quite beats standing atop a mountain looking at where you have just walked and where you are yet togo.

Noneof this we could have been done without the teachers and assessors who we wouldlike to thank for giving up their free time at weekends and for a full weekduring our gold expeditions to pass on their skills, knowledge and experienceto us.  We would like to thank them for this and also strongly suggestthat anyone who gets the opportunity participates from the Duke of EdinburghAward scheme.

The Beta Boys!

My Experience of Music at Sullivan – Sullivan Singers andOrchestra

Foras long as I can remember, I have participated in music clubs, spending almostall of my time and effort playing the violin and singing.  In my finalyear at Sullivan, Sullivan Singers and the school orchestra played a big partin my extra-curricular life.

SinceI became a member of Sullivan Singers in Year 11, I have seen the choirprogress and grow to new and impressive levels, including the development froma mixed choir to a girls’ choir, as well as seeing the choir mature to producea sound I am sure nobody expected that Sullivan could produce!  In theyear 2006-2007, the choir worked very hard, meeting for sectionals once a weekand for a full choir rehearsal twice a week in order to produce a repertoire ofsongs including: ‘Clare Benediction’, ‘Lullaby of Birdland’ as well as twosongs from the musical Chicago; ‘Razzle Dazzle’ and ‘And all that Jazz’. Sullivan Singers participated in many competitions and performances this year. In  addition to the annual concerts and recitals in school, the choirattended the Holywood Music Festival in October, winning first place in ourselected age group.  Following this, in November, Peter Corry came to theschool for a singing workshop for anyone in the choir who wanted toattend.  Although I couldn’t personally make it to the workshop, I heardvery good reports on how it went (as well as horrific reports from the girlswho were petrified about singing in front of him!)  On Christmas Eve, membersof the choir volunteered to give up their time to sing at the Culloden Hotel inCultra.  After ditching the school uniform, stepping into some classyblack dresses, the girls were ready to go and brighten up the day with theirangelic voices.  To bring the year to a close, Sullivan Singers were askedto sing at a charity dinner and concert night in Hillsborough Castle inApril.  The night went without a hitch, being rewarded for our hard workwith a lots of food and drinks!  Over the past year, the achievements aswell as the chaotic schedule of Sullivan Singers has been astounding.

Thisyear, the school orchestra had quite a busy schedule too.  We were giventickets to many concerts throughout the year such as the Gershwin Gala UlsterOrchestra concert, the Ulster Orchestra film night and the Classical Feverconcert.  In particular, the classical Fever concert was well received bythe orchestra due to the informal nature of it as well as the fun (but slightlywacky) nature of the conductor … not to mention the day off school!  On apersonal level, this final year of the school orchestra was very important asafter many years of being in the orchestra, I was promoted to the position ofLeader.  What made by final year even better was the music that we played. After the Christmas music was put to rest for another year, music from theNutcracker suite; ‘The Waltz of the Flowers’ as well as the soundtrack from thehit film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ was distributed.  At the springconcert at the end of the year, after much panic about how to walk in and bowin front of a full hall of parents and teachers, the music was well received bythe audience, and I was proud to say that I had never heard the schoolorchestra play so well before in my seven years at the school!  Thefollowing day, the orchestra and band held a small performance for someStrandtown Primary School pupils.  As expected after the great performanceof the previous night, the music was well received by our new and youngeraudience, and I have to admit, it was a sad moment to know that I would neverget to play with the orchestra again!

Iwould like to say a huge thank you to Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Hartin who heldboth of thee clubs together and kept us very enthusiastic about music.  Iwould like to wish both Sullivan Singers and the orchestra much success in thefuture.

MelissaH. Wood
14G

Junior Drama 2007

Towardsthe end of the Christmas term, an announcement went out I assembly looking forgroups of Lower Sixth volunteers to act as directors for Junior Drama. Intrigued by the opportunity to get involved in an activity that isn’t on offerto Senior School pupils, and of course, the possibility of something else toput on the all-important UCAS personal statement, we went along to the meeting.   Before we knew what was happening we found ourselves entrusted with theresponsibility of finding a short, original play, of around 20-25 minutes, witha medium-sized cast and parts for both boys ad girls, to be performed duringthe spring term.  No pressure!

Afterhours of trawling the internet looking for scripts proved useless, LucyRobinson, our co-director decided that, instead, we would simply write ourown.  After all how hard could it possibly he?  Lucy’s ingenious ideawas to write a classic ‘whodunit’ mystery based on the board-game ‘Cluedo’,with the dim-witted Inspector and his faithful Constable Sidekick arriving toquestion Miss Scarlett, Prof. Plum and the rest about the mysterious murder ofMr. Black.  The writing process certainly stretched our team’s creativityto the limit, taking about five days to complete, but at the end of it all wewere sure that ‘Murder at the Manor’ would be a resounding success – if wecould find the right cast.

Afterour script was accepted the next step was to audition for cast members. The auditions for all Junior Drama plays were held in January, and werecertainly a stressful evening for all involved, with hundreds (or so it seemed)of hopeful Year 8-10 pupils converging on the directors, hoping to win theirdesired part.  However, at the end of the evening, we were satisfied thatour talented cast would be mode an capable of putting on ‘Murder At The Manor’,and Ciara McBrien’s allegations that we were using underhand tactics to ‘stealall the best actors’ were completely unfounded!

Rehearsalsbegan soon after, and, assisted by Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Trainor and Mrs.Hutchinson amongst others, we gradually saw our play begin to take shape. Our cast were all brilliant about learning their words each week, particularlyAndrew Hume, who, as the Inspector, had more lines than anyone else, and had toquickly familiarise himself with the six possible methods of murder – ‘death byrevolver, death by dagger, death by a piece of string, death by a lead baseddrainage pipe, death by spanner but most importantly of all, and mostterrifying, death by candlestick!’

Unfortunately,when writing our script, we hadn’t paid much attention to the rapidlyaccumulating number of props, and all of a sudden found ourselves faced with analarming long list.  The script called for, amongst other things, a fullyset dinner table, a number of signs with ‘GASP!’ ad ‘APLAUSE!’ written on andmost worryingly of all, a ‘large crate of Polonium 210’.  Thankfully,after a few productive lunchtimes spent in the Art Department, not to mentionthe skilful use of a cool-box and torch to double for the crate of Polonium,all our props were ticked off and we were ready for the big night.

Onthe night of the final performances, ‘Murder at the Manor’ was on last whichgave us the chance to see some of the plays that the other groups had beenworking on.   Shakespeare
featured prominently, with a fifteen minute version of ‘Hamlet’, and an updated‘Romeo and Juliet’, while ‘Norman Nose Best’ and ‘Teen Angel’ offered comedyand drama respectively.  After an anxious wait in the study area it wasfinally our turn, and, though disaster almost struck in the form of anextremely wobbly dining table, the play was soon underway.

Thankfullythe directors’ fears were unfounded.  The cast were all brilliant as wasthe audience, who laughed at every joke, as well as applauding and gasping whencued accordingly.  Jonathan McNaul’s infamous, drawn-out death scene (withthe aid of a candlestick of course) literally had people rolling in the aisles.

Thanksmust go to Mrs. Graham and all the other teachers who helped make this year’sJunior Drama such a success, and of course to our fantastic cast who made it somuch fun for us to direct!

KatieF. O’Donoghue and Samantha Waugh
13F                              13G

1st XV Rugby

Theseason started in August when a full squad travelled to France with Mr. Rogersand Mr. Kelly.  It was a new squad with many players coming straight outof medallion on to the 1st XV stage, a huge step up for many.  The tourconsisted of early morning training sessions, then mid morning session andafter the athletes’ lunch we had another training session in the afternoon.This left the evenings for team bonding, goal setting and general fun andgames!  Everyone appreciated the high quality of the facilities that wereavailable for us to use.  Along with the strenuous training we spent oneday in Paris doing some sight seeing, and although we are all highly tonedathletes, the visit to McDonalds was a welcomed break from the food we gotserved at the sports facility.  While away we played one game against theFrench side Racing Club, which was a test of our preparation and training up tothis point.  It was an excellent game, and well fought by both teams,however we showed team spirit and worked well together and came through to winthe game.  The performance was of a very high standard and showed greatpotential to the way in which the rest of the season could continue.

Uponreturning from France we were straight back into school the next day and moretraining that week to build on the standard we had set ourselves.  Howeverthe team soon became rather disjointed with many players suffering injuries andillnesses that disrupted the balance and bond we had created.  This didn’tstop us however, the team took Methody to a hard fight, trailing slightly byhalf time, but a few more key players falling to injury shuffled the team oncemore.  The next few games were awful with 10 key starters out at one stage,the team was back to the beginning, as there was little depth beyond the squadof players willing to make the step up.  The lack of experience saw adefeat against Bangor and Friends’, normally two of our easier fixtures. The rest of the season saw good games and flourishes of the performance fromFrance, a win against BRA and Portora being two of the highlights as they weretough fixtures, and we entered them as underdogs and came out on the other sidewith a win. Leading up to Christmas we were host to a touring team from FettesCollege, Scotland.  This game was the highlight of the first half of ourseason.  It was so evenly matched, and the performance from both teams wasexcellent, bringing much excitement to the game, though at the final whistle welost 15 – 14, everyone was still pleased with the work rate we put in and theeven though it was not the preferred outcome it gave us a base to build on.

InJanuary it was the beginning of the Schools’ Cup and we entered at the thirdround and were up against Ballyclare, whose coach was an ex-Sullivan coach andteacher, and all the players had an extra buzz before the match, as we hadalready played them and knew it would be a close contest.  It was one ofthe more tightly fought matches of the year with every player from both sidesgiving their all from the start until the final whistle.  The lead keptchanging throughout the game, with one try being responded to by another. Going into the second half we had the upper hand, but we couldn’t capitalise onthis, and Ballyclare kept battling on.  In the closing minutes they spreadthe ball wide and broke our defence, scoring a try to give them the lead by twopoints.  Unfortunately our efforts after this were to no avail as wecouldn’t break through their defence or get close enough to go for the postsand the game ended 16 – 14 Ballyclare.  This was a huge blow to the teamand everyone involved, but the performance and commitment was there fromeveryone. 

Althoughthis saw us departing from the Cup, this meant we could now change are goalsand go for the Schools’ Bowl, and with the knowledge that we can perform, andperform well we were ready to go all the way.  We were drawn up againstBangor, local revivals, and a game that’s always fuelled on passion and pride. The heavens opened and the rain came down hard over night, leaving a softsurface which quickly turned to mud.  With the loss to Ballyclare stilllingering in our minds we went out full throttle and commanded the game fromthe beginning with an early score which we began to build on.  The secondhalf was a lot slower and the conditions began to tire both sides, and mistakesbegan creeping in.  We held our nerve and continued to attack increasingthe score even more, but this built up the pressure on the Bangor side anddecisions and easy passages of play began to fall away from them and tempersrose slightly in frustration.  From this they couldn’t pick their gameback up again and we had won the game moving further on in the Bowl towards theSemi-Finals.  If one match in bad weather wasn’t enough, the trip down toDown High for the semis our second in succession on a bad mud strewnpitch.  However a number of our faithful supporters made the trip down togive us a boost.  An early try from myself helped to set us on our way,but this wasn’t going to be the pattern for the rest of the match.  It wasan intense battle with many superb passages of play from both sides with thescore for both teams increasing together.  Mid way through the second halfour defence began to break up and try savings tackles from Phil McVitty andChris Wood, helped to keep us in tune.  Down High were in the lead, 13 –10 with five to ten minutes left, when we got a penalty awarded to us in frontof their posts.  In the intensity of the game I lost track of the scoreand thought we needed more than 3 points to tie the game, therefore I tapped itquickly taking it to Down High’s line and sending Andrew Davison over for a tryto take us into the lead 15 – 13 with a missed conversion, a risky option whichworked out in the end, with the score line remaining the same at the finalwhistle.

Wehad reached our goal but not yet completed it, we made the final of theSchools’ Bowl and were facing Dungannon and we weren’t going to sit back andlet it slip through our grasp, we were going for gold. Huge support gathered atLisburn Rugby Club for both sides and the atmosphere was electric.  Thoughthe game itself showed little shock and awe for the supporters, it was veryscrappy and neither team took control in the first half with both sides hittingit up in the forwards and some broken play but nothing that showedcontinuity.   In the second half we began to attack more and builtmore pressure on Dungannon. However we would work our way up the field, knockthe ball on and they were able to clear their lines.  The score line was11 – 11, as mistakes were made with a missed conversions and penalties fromeach team.  In the last minutes of the game and neither side could breakone another’s defence.  We were awarded a penalty on the half way line andit was the last passage of play, it was all or nothing.  The decision wasmade that Jonny Heron, our long legged second row should give it all he had andsent a kick from the half way right up to the posts only missing his target bythe smallest of margins, leaving the game tied at 11 all, and the Schools’ Bowlwas shared between Sullivan and Dungannon. In the end it is better to leave aseason with something rather than nothing, and sharing it was better than havingnothing to show for our hard work.  All in all it was a good season withups and downs but very enjoyable.

RoryC. Eves (1st XV Captain)

Girls' Hockey 1st XI

P  W  D L   F  A
21 11 3  7 47 21

Squad:  KathrynA. McFarlane, Aisling B. Burke, Becky L. Eves, Cathy E. Thom,
  Robyn E. Beggs, Roxanne E. Morris, Emma M. Ferguson (Captain),
  Rachael C. Clements, Judy R. Fleming, Amber D. McFarlane, Emily I.Morrow,    Katie E. Hewitt, Sarah E.R. Beck.

This 2006-2007 season began successfully on Saturday 9 September at the AnnualSchools’ tournament.  After losing 4 strong players from our last year’ssquad we welcomed a few new young faces on to the team.  This qualified usfor the semi-final, where we narrowly lost in flicks to Victoria College. We then had a tough match against our rivals Carrickfergus Grammar, but we hadthe extra edge, winning the game 1-0 therefore coming 3rd place in thecompetition.

Wemanaged to remain undefeated against strong sides such as Regent House andCambridge House until late October when we met Strathearn.  It was a greatmatch and we did well to hold a 2-0 defeat against such an excellentteam.  We regained our winning streak with another 2 convincing winsagainst Belfast High and Friends’ School, Lisburn.

Aswe had a bye in the 1st round of the Schools’ Cup our first cup match was inNovember against Down High.  We won 4-1 with goals from Amber McFarlane,Judy Fleming and Emma Ferguson.  After such a great win we were on a highbut before we  knew it the 3rd round was upon us.  Two weeks later wewere due to play the 3rd round against Omagh Academy (the runners-up of theprevious year).  Nerves were high on the cold December morning.  Itwas a great match, both teams fought hard but in the end Omagh topped it withthe final score of 3-2.

Ourspirits were soon lifted as we planned our tour away to Holland.  We hadmany successful fundraising events – junior disco, table quiz, footballtournament and a variety of colouring-in competitions.  After Christmas wetravelled away for a few days in Holland, doing lots of shopping, cycling andplaying the odd bit of hockey.  The team was well bonded by the time itcame for us to play Carrickfergus Grammar in the Senior Shield.  In lastyear’s Schools’ Cup we knocked Carrickfergus out in the quarter-final so theywere ready for revenge.  Unfortunately for us they were successful andeven though we worked hard, things didn’t go our way and they won 2-0.

Towardsthe end of the season we greatly missed Aisling Burke who was unable to playdue to injury.  Aisling was an extremely experienced, steady sweeper whohad played on 1st XI since her 4th year in school.  We had a few wins anda few losses but rounded up the season with a 1-1 draw against Banbridge Academy.

Welldone to Robyn Beggs who won ‘most improved player’ for the second yearrunning.  She has developed her skills incredibly and I am sure she willcontinue to impress in the future.  Congratulations to Amber McFarlane our‘Top Goal Scorer’ also for second year running.  Amber (Vice-Captain)scored in almost every match with a total of 18 goals, so well done!

Iwould like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Good and Miss McCutcheon forall their hard work and dedication throughout the season.  Thank you toall the parents who came and supported us every week, and a special thanks toMr. Morris for umpiring near the end of the season.

Ihave had a brilliant final year playing hockey at Sullivan and that is down tothe team.  You are all a fantastic bunch of girls and I wish you all thebest for next year.

Emma M. Ferguson
14C