SPRING 2011

OUTSTANDING CONCERT BY OMAGH ACADEMY AT THE STRULE ARTS CENTRE

Wednesday 23rd March was the Music Department’s annual Spring Concert, held in the Strule Arts Centre. It was a fantastic show with a diverse range of music on offer. The ensembles of Orchestra, String Orchestra, Brass Band, Junior Choir and Senior Choir were contrasted with the smaller instrumental groups, represented by ‘Sounds of Africa’ (African Drumming), ‘Raisin’ the Bar’ (Bluegrass Group), Flute Trio, String Quartet, Percussion Group and the latest edition to the Music Department’s portfolio…the Ukulele Orchestra! The standard of music-making was excellent and our thanks go to the Music Department staff, the team of instrumental tutors and our pupils (over 100 were on stage!) for a really enjoyable night. Photographs and a review of the Concert are available on the Music section of school website www.omaghacademy.com  

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to the Brass Band and conductor, Mr O’Hare, who took part in their first contest organised by the ‘North of Ireland Brass Band League’. This was held in the Alley Theatre, Strabane, on Saturday 2nd April. Rumour has it that the band has been bitten by the competition bug and hope to compete again in October!

‘Backbeat Percussion’, Omagh Academy’s percussion ensemble led by MrMcKee, performed at the WELB ‘Springfest’ event in the Millennium Forum onTuesday 5th April. The ensemble shared the stage with the Music Service StaffOrchestra and was the only school group invited to perform. They entertainedthe audience with the hugely popular piece ‘Tequila’. Well done to allinvolved! 

Congratulations to Hannah Gibson (Viola) and Laura McFall (Soprano) who auditioned successfully, gaining places in the summer courses for Ulster Youth Orchestraand Ulster Youth Choir. 

Diary Date: Wednesday 13th April Brass Band perform at the Brass Band Festival at the Strule Arts Centre, 8pm

 

                                           

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

NSPCC NUMBER DAY Y8 pupils at OA recently participated in a variety of mathematical games and puzzles, including ‘Who wants to be a Mathionaire’, which took place in Omagh Library in aid of NSPCC and an outstanding amount of £930 was raised. Well done to all Year 8 pupils!!!

WORLD MATHS DAY

 Tuesday 1st March, Year 8 pupils took part in ‘World Maths Day’. They joined over a million students all over the world in answering mental arithmetic questions and attempting to set a new world record! 

 

 

 

Due to other school com UK Intermediate Mathe

One student was award Congratulations must be Ryan has been invited t students in the UK on F

UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE 

mitments, approximately two-thirds of Year 11 students at Omagh Academy participated in thematics Challenge.

ed gold, 2 students were awarded silver certificates and fourteen students bronze certificates. extended to Ryan Watt who achieved the Gold and ‘Best in School’ certificate. Further to this,o take part in the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad, which is only offered to the very bestriday 18th March. Well done and Good luck Ryan!

MATHS DEPARTMENT NEWS

A LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES CONFERENCE 

When? – 27th January 2011 Where? – Queens University, Belfast

Who? – Year 13 and 14 Religious Studies Students

At 8.30 am on the 27th January, a group of sleepy; I mean ENTHUSIASTIC; Religious Studies students, accompanied by Mrs Hamilton, set off for Belfast. The sun was shining and we were all impressed by the beautiful buildings and grounds at Queens University. We had the opportunity to attend two lectures, one on Early Church Persecution and one on Worship in the Early Church. Both lectures were given by Professor Kirkpatrick from Queen’s Theology Faculty and they were really useful for the AS and A2 courses. The day was rounded off with a lovely lunch in Belfast, which concluded a really worthwhile trip.

Mrs Hamilton with some of the Year 13 and 14 AS and A2 students who attended the Religious Studies Conference in Queen’s.   

 

 

JAMIE BEACOM HONOURED BY THE INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY 

                                                                                                                               A former student of Omagh Academy, Jamie achieved joint second highest marks in ‘A’ Level Religious Studies in 2010 out of 2,033 candidates. In recognition of his achievement he was awarded a prize at the annual Institute of Theology prize-giving at Queen’s University recently. His parents and his Religious Studies teachers, Mrs Hamilton and Miss Faris were also in attendance at the prize-giving. Jamie also achieved first place in Further Mathematics at A Level. He is currently an undergraduate at Hertford College, Oxford studying a four year degree in Mathematics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SKI TRIP – 2011 

At the end of January thirty Year 11 pupils swapped a week of school for a week of skiing in Folgaria in the Italian Dolomites. After a long day of travelling we finally arrived at the ski resort. We got fitted for our skis and then slept like babies (to the joy of the teachers!) Our first day of skiing was quite an experience, with some people falling more than others! By the end of the week we had all progressed so far thanks to our wonderful instructors. It was so much fun skiing down the red slopes and we even had a race on the last day. In the evenings there were lots of activities laid on like table quizzes, karaoke, ice skating and of course discos! We thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 Ski Trip and we would definitely encourage other pupils to go if they get the chance.

 

 

 

O atsp Le Sc Pe le un co ho pr st

EfTCFFeQ

YEAR 13 & 14 PHYSICS TRIP TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST 

n Wednesday 2nd February, 17 A Level studentstended the annual Tyndall Lecture for Schools, co-onsored by the Institute for Physics in Ireland. Thecture was titled "All things Bright and Beautiful: Theience of Light and Colour" and was given by Professorter Vukusic from the University of Exeter. During this

cture pupils were taken on a journey of scientificderstanding. Demonstrations illustrated the basicncepts of the science of light and colour, and explainedw technology is making the most of light’s astonishingoperties. The afternoon was thoroughly enjoyed by theudents especially the McDonalds on the way home. 

Mrs Henderson, Emma Beattie and McClenaghan

mma Beattie received her Certificate of Excellence rom Vice-Chair of CCEA, Helen McClenaghan on uesday 21 December at a special ceremony in Lisburn ivic Centre. Emma was top candidate in A Level rench in N Ireland in 2010. Emma’s parents and her rench teacher Mrs Sonya Henderson also attended the vent. Emma is now studying Spanish with English at ueen’ University, Belfast.

On Tuesdainvolved ininvolved al‘Love Foodcould save winners weand Hayleythe school iCompetitioCouncil onrunner-up.

PUBLIC SPEAKINGy 15th March nineteen Year 9 pupils were a public speaking competition, which had l Year 9 pupils initially. The topic was , Hate Waste’ and was based on how we the environment by reducing waste. The re Rachel Moses (1st), Judith Wilson (2nd) Stronge (3rd). These three girls represented n the Environmental Youth Speak n, which was run by Omagh District the 22nd March. Rachel Moses achieved

ThreHomOn W Depa that a every creat team three the p Our Mark went and W

The appli inclu go qu sterli lunch The princ  raind  expe  the s 

The   Ama  and t  recei

 

Congmaxim

OMAGH ACADEMY EXCEL IN PHYSICS @ HOME COMPETITION 

e Omagh Academy pupils have attained first place in the Northern Ireland final of the ‘Physics at e’competition run by The Institute of Physics at Queens University.

ednesday 23rd March 2011 two teams of Year 13 physics students travelled to the Maths and Physicsrtment at Queen’s University, Belfast to take part in the annual Physics@ Home competition. For any of youre unfamiliar with this competition it encourages physics students in Northern Ireland to think about physics inday life. Using only materials and equipment that can be found at home, teams of 3-4 school pupils have to

e a presentation that demonstrates an application or principle of physics. In a maximum of 5 minutes, each is asked to make a presentation to a panel of judges explaining the principle or application of their choice. The judges include a non-scientist, a physics teacher and a physicist working outside school education. Followingresentation team members are asked some tricky questions on their chosen topic.

entries this year included an all boys team consisting of Linley Ewing, Michael Gibson, Andrew Allen and McFarland and an all girls team consisting of Emma McFarland, Alison Neville and Gemma Patterson, who on to win the competition beating-off stiff competition from Bangor Grammar, who were placed 2nd over all

allace High, who were placed 3rd over all.

boys’ team, “Force = Area x Pressure” went about explaining the physics behind air pressure and thecation of physics in hydraulic systems such as jacks, hydraulic lifts and car braking systems. Their presentationded some interesting tricks such as “the collapsing can” and “the egg in a bottle” – which unfortunately didn’tite to plan! Perhaps the boys need a few basic cookery lessons, namely how to hard boil an egg! Despite their

ng efforts sadly the boys were not placed but nevertheless by all accounts they did seem to enjoy the free buffet!

girls’ team, “Tension Tamers” set out to illustrate and explain the phenomena of surface tension, a basiciple of science that can be seen in operation all around us. It is responsible for determining the shape  ofrops, allows us to blow beautiful soap bubbles and lets insects skim across the surface of a pond. A number ofriments were carried out to illustrate the principle of surface tension and the effects of detergents and oils onurface tension of a liquid. These included “the water tight sieve” and “motorized fish” to name but a few. 

girls  received a  Fujifilm 14MP digital  camera each, while  the  runners‐up, Bangor Grammar  received a £25zon voucher.   An enjoyable day was had by all! We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Cousinshe Physics Department for entering us  in the competition and for all the advice and  invaluable support weved. We would also like to thank Mrs. Cousins for accompanying us on the day. 

 

  

PSYCHOLOGY 

ratulations to Mr Arbuthnot and to Emma Smyth [Year 14 Omagh High School] who achieved um marks in her CCEA A2 Psychology module in January

CROSS COUNTRY  

Omagh Academy’s E District Cross Country runners performed very well at Dungannon Park in Febraury with the Mini Girls, Mini Boys, Minor Girls, Junior Girls and Junior Boys teams all qualifying for Ulster. The Junior Girls team made up of Cari McKinley, Harley Semple, Naomi Duncan, Naomi Morton and Eliza Kate Beattie won team Gold, with Harley Semple winning individual silver. All teams performed well at the Ulster Championsips at Mallusk, but could not match the standard of some excellent schools who specialise in this event.

          

 HOUSE HOCKEY 

 

The annual House Hockey was played mid March, and we were luckily blessed with sunny weather. The Junior hockey for the first time ever, produced nil nil draws in all the games. This led to an exciting penalty stroke competition where Strule emerged victorious. The Senior House Hockey proved a more competitive affair, with Alice Logan’s Strule winning the prize for the most creative and colourful kits! However, Gemma Beattie’s Camowen were not to be defeated in the matches, beating both Strule and Ruth Bleakley’s Drumragh to win the Cup back from last years winners Drumragh.

    

Remaining hockey fixtures:

1stXI v Cookstown in West of Ulster League Final – date tbc.

2BXI CUP FINAL – WEDNESDAY MARCH 23RD 2011 

OMAGH ACADEMY 2: STRATHEARN 0 

Strathearn were the opposition finalists as the Omagh Academy 2BXI sought to make amends for not winning this cup as favourites last season. Holly Reid’s young squad went into this final unbeaten, having not conceded a single goal all throughout the campaign. On route to the final they defeated Wallace High School 4:0, Banbridge Academy 6:0, Ballyclare High 1:0, Methody 3: 0 in 1/4 finals, and Rainey Endowed 1:0 after extra time in semi final. With each school bringing a bus load of supporters, the atmosphere was buzzing.

The Belfast side had a better start, and appeared to settle into the game and the new surface faster than the Omagh girls. However, with Roslyn Graham as the engine in midfield, the Omagh girls soon got their game on track, and began to use their strength of attacking at pace. This continued pressure came to no avail, despite frequent chances on goal. Shortly after Julie Parke’s arrival on the left wing, Omagh had their break through. With a move started by Julie intercepting a ball on the left, followed by some neat play between the midfield and forward line, Parke ended up with the ball in the circle, and did not hesitate in finding the backboard. This goal appeared to spur the Omagh side to play to their potential, and to have the most possession and attacking promise. This was rewarded when Jodie Hood created space for a shot in the circle, and thundered the ball past the Strathearn keeper, who had been making fine saves throughout. Despite the 2 goal advantage, Strathearn did not give up, creating attacking situations again through their gritty midfield. However, as the final whistle signalled a 2:0 victory for Omagh, the excellent noisy support invaded the pitch to salute their champions! The girls proudly collected their medals from Ulster Hockey representative Edna Gribben, and Holly Reid proudly held up the Gibson trophy. The squad and coach Lesley Alcorn would like to thank Mr Arbuthnot for his help throughout the season, the umpires, Lurgan Junior High School, and most importantly the support from both pupils and parents who had made the journey to assist them in victory.

Squad: Rachel Armstrong, Alex McKinley, Charlotte Kincaid, Gail Monteith, Hayley Monteith, Carol Fleming, Holly reid (Capt), Jade allerton, Roslyn Graham, Claire Watson, Jodie Hood, Honor Nethery, Nikola Hempton, Amanda Armstrong, Cari McKinley, Julie Parke

 

The PE Department hosted a fabulous evening at Omagh Rugby Club to celebrate achievements throughout the hockey and rugby seasons. Many prizes were awarded, with Chelsey Sawyers and Gary Sherrard winning the Senior Player of the Year, and Cari McKinley and Matthew Clyde winning the Junior Player of the Year awards.

NB: Sports Day date is confirmed as Wednesday, 11th May 2011.

 

 

 

OMAGH ACADEMY RUGBY REPORT 

The 2010/11 season has now drawn to a close after a busy time for all involved. The 1st XV had an excellent achievement in beating Cambridge House and Carrick Grammar to reach the Schools Trophy Final. Unfortunately the squad were unlucky to lose out to Portora in the final, despite dominating the first half of the game. The 2nd XV made it to the Quarter Final of their respective Plate competition, losing to a very capable Bangor Grammar Side.

The Medallion XV discovered their form towards the end of the season and as a result had a fantastic cup run, Losing to eventual finalists Limavady in the 5th Round and narrowly losing to Bangor Grammar in the subsidiary competition.

The U13 and U14 Squads have also had a long season which has been heavily disrupted by the weather. It has been a season of development for these players, still learning about the game, and it has been pleasing to see the improvements being made every week. Again the players must be commended for their commitment on regularly turning out to training.

The house rugby competition gives the pupils an opportunity to compete against each other and is often a talking point for much of the year. This year the junior competition was won by Strule. The Intermediate section was won by Drumragh. The senior competition was an excellent occasion; with some non rugby players getting involved and showing some fine ability. Alex Beattie and John Edgar to name a few were very capable on the rugby pitch. Credit must also be given to 3 Lower 6th boys who refereed games gaining some valuable experience of how difficult it can be for the referee. The eventual winners of the senior competition were Strule.

The Season was brought to a conclusion with the Ulster Schools Sevens competition held at Campbell College. We entered two senior teams and one junior team. All 3 teams were drawn in extremely tough groups and unfortunately did not qualify for the knockout stages.

The final event of the season was an awards BBQ and Presentation evening, where players from all the schools teams could be commended for their hard work, dedication and improvement throughout the season.

I would like to thank the coaches of each squad for their tireless work and all those who came in support of each team throughout the school.

 

  

REP 

The pup congratu Buchann Soccer s Ben is Northern talented him.

Matthew squad in shown l talented England future.

             Congratulations to Laura Kennedy (Year 11) who has represented Ulster U16B, defeating Leinster 4:0 at UUJ on Sunday 3rd April. 

  Laura has also represented, and Captained the Western U15 squad who played at an Ulster tournament. Other Omagh Academy players who were selected were: Megan Swann, Jodie Hood, Jade Allerton, Sarah Graham, Naomi Duncan U17 Western Representatives: Chelsey Sawyers Chloe Hilliard Lauren McCollum Laura White Rachel Armstrong Lauren Stead Alice Logan Carol Fleming 

ECO‐SCHOOLS PARTICIPATE IN CAS

 

OMAGH ACADEMYFOOTBALL 

RESENTATIVE HONOURS ils and staff at Omagh Academy wish tolate both Ben Hall and Matthewan who have represented Northern Irelandquads during the 2010-11 Season.

a Year 10 pupil and has played for the Ireland U14 squad this year. He is a

footballer with a bright future ahead of

has represented the Northern Ireland U16 the Victory Shield competition which isive on Sky Sports. Matthew is also afootballer who has links with clubs in

and we wish him every success in the

H FOR CLOBBER

  Congratulations to the 40 Year 8 pupils

who collected and donated clothes for Cash for Clobber. Their generosity is helping Omagh Academy achieve our Eco-Schools flag. The funds will be used to improve the school environment and of course to host the Year 8 party for all those who took part.  

 

O v T im a B p c o in b p fr th

 

 

 

 

 

 

MILLIENIUM VOLUNTEERS AWARD CEREMONIES 

On Thursday 24th February, some Year 13 pupils accompanied by Miss Faris attended the Millennium Volunteers 200 Awards hosted by Omagh Volunteer Centre in the Silverbirch Hotel. Certificates in recognition of achieving 200 hours of volunteering were presented by the Vice -Chair of Omagh District Council and the President of Omagh Lions Club. This awards ceremony recognised the volunteering carried out by pupils in their local communities. On Wednesday 9th March, a province-wide ceremony was held at Queen’s University. On this occasion, pupils from Years 13 and 14 attended the presentation and received their awards of excellence for 200 hours of volunteering from the Education Minister, Catriona Ruane.

Volunteers with their certificates at the Volunteer Awards in the Silverbirch Hotel.

 

 

 

 

 Tracy Liggett, Dione Todd and Rebekah Irvine With their ‘Award of Excellence’ Certificates 

 

ECO‐SCHOOLS VOLUNTEERS MUCK IN 

n Wednesday 30th March, Year 8 and 9 pupilsolunteered to roll up their sleeves for biodiversity.heir task was to provide a new habitat for wildlife andprove the visual quality of the school grounds. With

ssistance from Year 14 pupils and Julie Corry a localiodiversity Officer, a trench was dug and a hedgerowlanted. Two native species, Hawthorn and Hazel werehosen as they will form a dense hedge in a short periodf time. The Hawthorn flowers will attract bees; manysects will feed on the leaves and berries will be taken

y mammals and birds. The Hazel nuts will eventuallyrovide a valuable food source for birds and mammals,om the smallest insects to top predators. Thanks to allose involved for their valuable assistance.  

 

WELL DESERVED AWARDS FOR OUR SHOW JUMPING TEAMS 

             PARIS TRIP 7‐11 MARCH 2011

Forty-four year 11 and 12 students of Frenchenjoyed an excellent trip to Paris, accompanied byfive staff. An absolutely packed itinerarycombined the quintessential sight-seeing visitssuch as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc deTriomphe, Versailles, the Sacre-Cœur,Montmartre, a Seine boat-cruise and the NotreDame with and a guided tour of the Stade deFrance. Evenings were filled with a coach-tour ofthe Paris Illuminations, a reception hosted byOmagh’s twintown, L’Haÿ-les-Roses where wespoke French all night to the local young people, avisit to Aquaboulevard, a tropical indoor water-park and a last night ‘Oscars’–type soirée. Sharingin such an amazing week the group formed a closebond and were sad that it all had to end as wedisembarked in rainy Belfast. Tributes must go toour kind, flexible coach-driver, Vincent andunderstanding hotel staff as well as our fantasticand always good-humoured teachers!!

The outstanding successes of our show jumping teams over the past year was rewarded by their nominations for the ‘Omagh Sports Awards’ and the ‘Ulster Herald Sports Personality Awards’- School Team of The Year 2010! Two of our winning teams received certificates at an award ceremony at Omagh Leisure Centre from Omagh Sports Forum and Omagh District Council for their ‘dedication and commitment to sport and for achieving at such a high level during 2010’. Our team captain, Morgan Semple, senior team member, Emma Kane, accompanied by Mrs. Waterson attended the “Ulster Herald Sports Personality Awards 2010” on Friday 4th March at Kelly’s Inn. It was a big occasion attended by many sporting heroes but undoubtedly the highlight of the evening was when the Omagh Academy Equestrian Team was announced as winners of the ‘School Team of the Year 2010’ Award. The award was presented to Morgan and Emma by Ulster Herald Sport’s Reporter Tommy Nethery . The girls were delighted to accept the award on behalf of our winning show jumping teams.

 

SENIOR SCRIPTURE UNION WEEKEND TO BALLYMENA 

Over the weekend 25-27 March, 19 Omagh Academy pupils and 3 members of staff (some with their own children in tow!) travelled to Ballymena Faith Mission Centre. On our way to Ballymena we stopped off at Springhill House, a National Trust property outside Moneymore. There we had a tour of the house, visited the costume display, had coffee and scones and walked through the beautiful gardens. We travelled on to Ballymena and met Leslie and Mabel Brush, who run the Residential Centre. The Brushes used to be based in Omagh and their children Naomi and Andrew left Omagh Academy five years ago. Our speaker for the weekend was Paddy Crozier. Paddy now works for Child Evangelism Fellowship, having left Omagh Academy last June. Paddy’s wife Jill was the cook. Paddy used John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as his theme. He talked about the struggles we face in life, how Satan tries to hold us back and how God is much greater than Satan. The pupils had organised games for Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday some went swimming at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre and others had a chance to go shopping. The dorms appeared quiet during the night but we hear now, after the weekend, that people might have chatted in dorms all through the night! After a three course Sunday lunch we boarded the bus back to Omagh. The weekend was an enjoyable and encouraging time of fellowship for us all – pupils, teachers and families alike. Senior Scripture Union meets every Thursday lunchtime in Room 15 but we enjoy the opportunities on weekends, meals out and barbecues to get to know each other better. We are looking forward to our end of year barbecue in Dungannon Park in June.

 

 

 

 

JUNIOR CHEF ACADEMYAlistair Aiken, Year 11, graduated from the Junior Chef Academy on Saturday 19th March 2011. He participated in a 10 week course with 9 other pupils from the local area, learning and practicing new skills under the leadership of top chef Darren Pitts of Killymoon Golf Club, Cookstown. Alistair shows a natural talent in the kitchen and his achievements at the graduation ceremony were of an incredibly high standard. Well done Alistair. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 KEY DATES FOR THE SUMMER TERM

Staff Days: 30th and 31st May 2011

Years 8- 11 examinations commence 1st June 2011

End of Term: Wednesday, 29th June 2011 [12.00 noon]

[A day earlier than scheduled due to an additional holiday granted by the Department of Education in lieu

of the Royal Wedding]