Freelance and local illustrator Kerrie Mc Neill of Kerrieillustrates.com came to Sullivan to share her industry experience and digital illustration tips with current pupils from yr12, yr13 & yr14. Kerrie creates vibrant, quirky illustrations that ‘add a sense of cheerfulness and excitement’ for the purchaser. She works in areas spanning branding, editorial, packaging, and Licenced based work with outlets like ‘Etsy’, ‘Not on the High Street’, The ‘National Trust’ and ‘Tesco’ Cards. An afternoon session was arranged where Kerrie had a question-and-answer session with some of our exam age budding artists. An integral part of the current CCEA GCSE Art & Design syllabus requires pupils to ‘Investigate the Creative and Cultural Industries’ so it was very apt having a young experienced and local artist to talk through the route of education they choose in NI. Kerrie talked about her choice of studying Foundation Studies at University of Ulster as it gave her the opportunity to explore and engage in many areas of Art & Design. This was beneficial as Kerrie was able to try out different areas of Art & Design helping her gauge what area she would prefer to study to Degree Level. The ‘year out’ during the degree course catapulted Kerri into making decisions about the field of work and how she needed to push herself towards getting work as it wasn’t going to land on her lap. Kerri won the opportunity to create ‘quirky’ illustrative designs to advertise the UU Art degree shows which were on show on Billboards around Belfast city centre. Kerrie Mc Neill’s style of vibrant and colourful illustrations was of immediate appeal to our pupils who engaged on a workshop on school ipad’s. Kerrie set the group a task and engaged with all sharing apps and discussing techniques. It was of immense enjoyment for the pupils who revelled in learning new techniques which will be developed in the pupil’s own portfolio of exam work. A special word of thanks came from Amber in yr14 to acknowledge the benefit each pupil got from such an approachable and talented NI craftsperson. The Sullivan Creative Arts Department (SCA) would like to acknowledge our thanks to our invited guest who made the link with the ‘Creative and Cultural Industries’ so enriching for our pupils.

We are delighted to announce that Art & MIA department scooped up three prizes at the annual CCEA MIA showcase awards. The awards were hosted by Cinemagic International film festival and Foyle International film festival. Our winning pupils work was screened to audiences of 600 pupils, teachers and industry experts at both Cineworld in Belfast and at the Brunswick Movie bowl, Derry. We were immensely proud to see Amy Warnock (1st place in A2 film), Chloe Hanna (2nd place in A2 animation) and Charlie Beimers (2nd place in GCSE animation) gain recognition at such a prestigious competition where they competed against 1.5K pupils across N.Ireland and beyond. Our three pupils were presented with their awards by Oscar winning Ross White & Pearce Cullen of ‘An Irish Goodbye’, they had an opportunity afterwards to meet industry representatives and of course see the real Oscar close up! 30 of our Year 12 and 13 MIA pupils travelled to the event, they were inspired by the quality and creativity of the finalists films. In addition, they were able to attend an MIA careers & education fair. This years showcase event marked the 20th anniversary of Moving Image Arts as a subject. Sullivan Upper pupils have gained much from the subject which has now been running here since it was launched back in 2003. Our past pupil Katie Ireland who was costume designer on 'An Irish Goodbye' was asked to conduct an interview on stage at the event. Eavan King, Foyle Film Festival Film Education Programme Manager said: “The Moving Image Arts qualification has been a game changer, providing all students the opportunity to develop knowledge, critical understanding and skills fostering a lifelong love of film. Many of these talented filmmakers have returned to screen films as part of our Oscar and BAFTA accredited Light in Motion competition at Foyle Film Festival, coming full circle from where they started from,” If you would like to keep up with the day to day creativity of Sullivan Upper Art & MIA department and view the winning films, follow us on Instagram sullivan_creative_arts from left to right: Pearce Cullen, Chloe Hanna, Amy Warnock, Charlie Beimers, Ross White

Dublin based Pembroke Fencing Club held their annual Christmas Cup junior fencing competition last Sunday 26th November at the Loreto Abbey Sports Centre in Dalkey in the south of the city. Two SU fencers made the trip south for the event: Cassidy Ogle and Noah Currie, both having entered in an U17 age group. Cassidy took the U17 girls’ winner’s trophy and Noah the boys’ trophy, an excellent pair of results for SUFC, congratulations to both fencers. Cassidy and Noah will be competing again next weekend at Round 2 of the NI Junior Foil Series in Belfast. David White SUFC Coach 27 Nov 2023

Sullivan Cross Country runners had their first meet of the 2023/24 season at Campbell College on Monday 20 November 2023. It was great to have over 60 runners representing the school. Well done to all of those involved!

On Tuesday 21 November 2023 30 Year 12 pupils attended the annual Chemistry at Work Event at Queen's University. The purpose was to highlight possible career opportunities where Chemistry A Level or a degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering would be useful. The pupils heard and participated in presentations from companies such as Almac, Spirit and BOC.

Congratulations to the Geography Quiz Team who won the Geographical Association’s Regional World Wise Quiz competition on Wednesday 15 November 2023 at Queens University. The team fought off competition from 14 other schools, ending in a nail-biting final against RBAI. Well done. It’s great to get Sullivan Upper engraved on the trophy once again.

The 2023/24 NI Junior Foil Series kicked off last Saturday 4th November in Shankill Leisure Centre in Belfast. Sullivan Upper Fencing Club had 14 fencers competing in the U14 and U16 age groups. Nine medals were won in total by SU fencers, 2 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze. U14s Erin Keough, the lone SU competitor in the girls’ U14s, made the semi-finals, winning a bronze medal. In the boys’ U14s Sam Snoddy, Adam Sugar, Patrick John, Thomas Morrow and Ethan Dilworth all made the last 8. Sam was only one of the 5 who made it through to the semis, but lost there 13-15 in a close fight, finishing with a bronze. Adam, Tom, Ethan and Patrick were placed 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. U16s Three SU fencers, Amelia Penny, Cassidy Ogle and Lois Donald had entered for the U16 girls’, and all 3 made the semi-finals. Lois was knocked out by Amelia to take a bronze, while Cassidy won the other semi. This led to an all Sullivan final, with Amelia winning 15-12 for the gold medal, Cassidy taking silver. The boys’ U16s had 5 SU competitors: Noah Currie, Myles Wilkinson, Lennox Brown, Tom Woolsey-Jensen and Theo Beggs. All 5 made the last 8 and 4 of the 5 made the semis, making it an all Sullivan fight for the medal positions. Myles beat Lennox in one semi and Noah defeated Theo in the other. The Myles vs Noah final was a nail biting affair with Noah taking a narrow win 15-14 for the gold medal. Myles took silver, Lennox and Theo joint 3rd and Tom 5th. This was an excellent competition turn-out of Sullivan fencers, with a great set of results. Well done to all 14. Round 2 of the NIJFS will be on Sat 2nd December 2023 in the Shankill Leisure Centre. David White SUFC Coach 5th Nov 2023

On Saturday 30 September, the Sullivan Community came out in force to run the Bangor 10k in memory of Kirsty Merriman. With runners and supporters, there were in excess of 80 people wearing a “for Kirsty” Cancer Focus t-shirt in Bangor that morning. The run itself started at the city hall, went down Main Street, then along the sea front to Ballyholme before heading out to Groomsport. At Groomsport, which is just over halfway, the return to Bangor was via the promenade at Ballyholme before finishing at Ward Park. Those that ran were hugely appreciative of the support and encouragement they received around the course, particularly from those who were at 9k and the draining hill of Shandon Drive! Kirsty would have been immensely proud of all the runners and supporters. She would have gained as much pleasure from watching the Year 14 boys who flew round the course in just over half an hour to those for whom just finishing was a real achievement. It was a very special morning with memories created for all those who were there. There was a real sense of togetherness. A chance to share in an experience, to remember Kirsty and raise money for a charity which meant such a lot to her and her family. Finally, a few thank yous: to Mrs McDowell for personalising the t-shirts, to the PE department for cancelling hockey matches to allow pupils to participate and a special thank you to all those who have donated so generously. The total raised for Cancer Focus NI to date is £9,357.

On Wednesday 4 October, Year 14 Nutrition & Food Science pupils enjoyed a full day interactive workshop at the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise. This supported the delivery of their A2 Nutrition and Food Science course. Eva Weiniger (Year 14 pupil) provided feedback on the day: When taking part in the practical section of our educational visit we dressed ourselves in PPE and familiarised ourselves with the production line of burgers. We learnt about the importance of food hygiene by analysing the steps taken to produce burgers and identified critical control points that could cause danger to consumer health and safety. The presentation on HACCP and involvement in the practical session has given me a head start to what we will later be learning later on in our A2 course. It will help us to understand the need for HACCP in the food supply chain. We were also given a careers talk which highlighted a variety of courses, including CAFRE’s opportunities for careers in the food industry. Eva Weiniger, Year 14

The 2023 Irish Open was held Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd October in the Irish National Indoor Arena at Blanchardstown in Dublin. Four Sullivan fencers took part: Myles Wilkinson, Noah Currie and Harry McNeice competing in the men’s foil competition and Amelia Penny in the women’s foil. The Open is always the biggest Irish fencing event of the year with fencers from Europe and further afield competing along with the best in Ireland. In the men’s foil Myles finished 24th and Harry 30th, while Noah, seeded 24th after the poule stage, knocked out the 9th seed to take a place in the last 16. Amelia finished 18th in a tough women’s foil event. All 4 put in strong performances and gained valuable experience fencing at senior level. The next event for SUFC fencers will be at Round 1 of the 2023/2024 NI Junior Foil Series in Shankill Leisure Centre on Saturday 4th November. David White SUFC Coach 25 Oct 2023

The Derry Open senior fencing competition was held last weekend the 7th & 8th of October in the Ulster University Magee Campus Sports Centre in Londonderry. Seven SU fencers took part: Amelia Penny, Alexandra Ong and Cassidy Ogle in the women’s foil event and Adam Caldwell, Noah Currie, Myles Wilkinson and Tom Woolsey-Jensen in the men's foil. Five of the seven, all except Alexandra and Adam, while still competing this year in U16 junior events, were taking a significant step-up into senior competition. On the Saturday in the women’s foil event Cassidy won all her fights in the poule stage, making her top seed. Then in the knock out stage Amelia met Alexandra in the semi-finals, Amelia winning to go through to fence Cassidy in the final. It was a close match, Amelia taking the win 15 to 13, Cassidy taking silver and Alexandra a bronze. The men’s foil was on the Sunday, a tough event with several of Ireland’s top 10 ranked foilists competing. Myles finished just outside the last 8 in 9th, with Adam and Noah close behind in 10th and 11th, and Tom 13th. Well done all seven fencers. David White SUFC Coach 10 Oct 2023

Today, Thursday 24 August 2023, Sullivan Upper School’s Year 12 cohort are celebrating superb GCSE results, which are reward for all their efforts during their courses. Much of the reporting of today’s results nationally will focus on a drop in grades following the grading systems used in recent years. However, we are delighted that Sullivan pupils have been able to maintain such high levels of performance. Our pupils achieved an overall pass rate of 99.6% with 80.9% of grades at A*-A level. 99.4% of the cohort achieved 7x A*-C grades, and over one-third of the year group (35.2%) gained 11x A*/A grades. Eight Sullivan pupils achieved the impressive feat of a full set of A*grades. The Principal, Craig Mairs, said: “We are very proud of the achievements of our pupils and are delighted that their hard work has been rewarded. We are also grateful for the efforts of our committed and skilled staff team whose dedication has helped our pupils fulfil their potential. There are some very impressive headlines here, but we are proud of all our pupils, and we wish them every success as they begin their A Level courses in the autumn.” C J D Mairs Principal