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Wellington College Belfast

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Coordinates: 54°34′16″N 05°55′07″W / 54.57111°N 5.91861°W / 54.57111; -5.91861
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54°34′16″N 05°55′07″W / 54.57111°N 5.91861°W / 54.57111; -5.91861

Wellington College Belfast
Location
Map
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Information
MottoUna Discamus
We learn as one
PrincipalMr Matthew Pitts, BA (Hons), PGCE, NPQH
ClassesArt & Design
Business Studies
Careers
Design and Technology
Economics
English
Geography
History
Home Economics
ICT
Languages
Mathematics
Media Studies
Music
Physical Education
Politics
Religious Studies
Science

Wellington College Belfast (better known as Wellington College or WCB) is a co-educational grammar school[1] located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The current principal is Mr Matthew Pitts. The school was formed when, in 1990, the all-boys' Annadale Grammar School and the all-girls' Carolan Grammar School merged to become a single co-educational school.[2] The school is named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.[citation needed]

History

Wellington College was founded in 1990 after Annadale Boys and Carolan Girls merged. The school moved to its current location on Carolan Road in 2002, which included 2 new rugby pitches, a gravel pitch (markings changed from football/hockey to running, javelin and discus in summer/sports term), an astro pitch and a running track (track used in Summer/sports term).

Headmasters/Headmistresses

  • Derrick Woods 1990-1995
  • Jacqueline Weir 1995-2000
  • Ronnie Hassard 2000-2004
  • Heather Reid 2004-2009 (Previously Vice-Principal 2000-2004)
  • Dr. Ian Drysdale 2009-2010 (Acting, reprised role as Vice-Principal in 2010)
  • Matthew Pitts 2010–present

Uniform

The Wellington blazer takes its blue colour from that of the British Army during the 19th century[3] which was the uniform worn by the Duke of Wellington during his service. The sports kit for Wellington was changed in May 2011.

Prize Day

Every year, Wellington holds its annual Prize Distribution Day. Prize Day rewards pupils for their work, progress and contribution to the college, plus outstanding personal achievements. The event takes place in the school sports hall and tea and refreshments are served in the Assembly Hall following the distribution. Pupils who are not being awarded a prize may go home before the event at 11:50am; however, the attendance of Year 8 pupils is mandatory. Prize Day starts at 1:00pm and ends at around 3:20pm (the normal school end time). It is held on the last Friday of September.

Extracurricular activities

Wellington offers a number of extracurricular activities to its pupils. These normally run after school or during lunch time, and are generally overseen by members of the teaching or library staff. In some cases a specialist in a particular subject may be invited to take a course (e.g. In January 2008 Neil Best and Rob Dewey helped with rugby training)[4] Activities include;

  • Scripture Union[5]
  • Science Club[6]
  • Art Club[7]
  • Chess Club
  • Math Support
  • ICT Club
  • English Club (Launched 2010)
  • Boys Rugby
  • Boys Football
  • Boys Hockey
  • Tennis
  • Girls Hockey
  • Golf
  • Band & Orchestra[8]
  • Boy's Choir[9]
  • Junior Choir[10]
  • Senior Choir[11]
  • Junior Brass Group[12]
  • Senior Brass Group[13]
  • Woodwind Group[14]
  • String Trio[15]
  • School Council
  • Duke of Edinburgh Gold

Former Activities

  • German Club (German is no longer taught at Wellington and ran as a club until June 2011)
  • WCB Summer Sports Academy (Launched for Summer 2011)
  • Duke of Edinburgh Bronze
  • Duke of Edinburgh Silver (Discontinued 2011)
  • Girls Football
  • Games Club

School Council

The school has a School Council, which was formed by Mark McFarland in 2012. The council is divided into two separate sections, Junior (Years 8-10) and Senior (Years 11-14).

Junior School Council

Junior School Council currently only consists of Year 10 pupils. Year 10 pupils and teachers are currently trying to get Year 8 and 9 students involved however points made by the pupils will still be made regardless of whether a pupil decides to come or just give a view to a representative.

Senior School Council

Awards

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

2011

  • Highly Commended Award
  • Eco Award

2012

  • Highly Commended Award (Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success)

Future Chef 2011

Christopher Marshall, (a then year 10 pupil) represented Wellington in the Northern Ireland Future Chef competition 2011. He won the Northern Ireland competition on Wednesday 2 February 2011. He was then entered into the Future Chef Final and travelled to London on March 21, 2011 for the competition, getting the chance to meet Ainsley Harriott and Brian Turner.[18]

Mathematical Olympiad 2011

Dale Walmsley, (a then year 12 student at Wellington) was awarded a gold medal and a book prize in the UK Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad. The Olympiad is a highly prestigious competition for top achievers in the UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, and only 500 students throughout the UK are invited to participate in the Olympiad each year. Olympiad participants are required to solve six intractable problems, each requiring a considerable degree of mathematical ingenuity, in a two hour examination. Not only did Dale achieve a highly impressive overall score, but he produced perfect solutions to most of the problems.

Dale was the only student from Northern Ireland to achieve a gold medal and book prize in the Olympiad. This accolade means that he is ranked within the top 50 mathematicians of his age in the UK. Mr Cantley, head of the Mathematics department at Wellington, stated that everyone at the College is absolutely delighted by Dale’s achievement. Mr Cantley, who has taught Dale for the past three years, stated that Dale is a truly remarkable young mathematician, having obtained an A* in GCSE Mathematics at only 14, an A* in both GCSE Additional Mathematics and A Level Mathematics at 15 and first place in the 2010 Northern Ireland GCSE Additional Mathematics examination.[19]

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

2011

Pupil Year (at time of event) Project Award
Christopher Lynn 9 WCBinit: Optimising Litter Collection in the canteen Highly Commended Award
Eco Award
Mitchell McKee
Jordan Knocker

Teachers involved:

  • Yvonne Johnston (Head of Science)
  • David Cardwell

[20][21]

Back Row: David Cardwell
Middle Row: Mitchell McKee, Caitríona Ruane, Peter Morris, Yvonne Johnston
Front Row: Jordan Knocker, Christopher Lynn

Christopher Lynn, Jordan Knocker and Mitchell McKee were in the team. The boys conducted an experiment on how to cut down litter in the school. In October 2010, they found out they had got through to the final in the RDS in Dublin. In January, the three boys went to Dublin with science teacher Stephen Wilson, as David Cardwell was unable to attend on the first day and Yvonne Johnston had work in school. David Cardwell was in Dublin for the second and third day of the competition and Yvonne Johnston attended the exhibition on the final day. The boys' exhibition was on feature in the school foyer from January 2011 to April 2011, after which it was placed safely in storage. The exhibition was re-displayed in Science Lab 102 in August 2011.

2012

Pupil Year (at time of event) Project Award
Hail Sharpe 10 All washed up
Courtney Henderson-Storey
Rachel Gardiner
Sarah Jackson Changes in diversity and population size of woodlice species following disturbance
Chelsea Anderson
Amy Flanagan 11 Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success Highly Commended Award
Amy McNamara
Olivia McCulla
Evelyn Salt ? Remembering what we forgot
Gemma Hawthorne
Erin

Teachers involved:

  • Yvonne Johnston (Head of Science)
  • David Cardwell

In May 2011, Science Club members were given a new leaflet on the upcoming 2012 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. Yvonne Johnston would like the event to go ahead and several pupils showed interest. Four out of five groups got through to the Final in January 2012. One group out of the four won an award, a Highly Commended award. On 17 January 2012, Lynn said he is likely to return after mentioning a project to Yvonne Johnston.

"Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success", "Changes in diversity and population size of woodlice species following disturbance", "All washed up" and "Remembering what we forget" were the 4 projects that got through to the Final.[22]

2013

The school is now preparing for the 2013 competition.

Notable former pupils

References

  1. ^ "Aims". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-29. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  2. ^ "20 statements about the college". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  3. ^ "Hussars". Kildare.ie. 2003-03-26. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  4. ^ "Extra Curricular | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  5. ^ "Scripture Union | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  6. ^ "Science Club | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  7. ^ "Art Club | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  8. ^ "Band & Orchestra | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  9. ^ "Boys Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  10. ^ "Junior Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  11. ^ "Senior Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  12. ^ "Junior Brass Group | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  13. ^ "Senior Brass Group | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  14. ^ "Woodwind Groups | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  15. ^ "String Trio | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  16. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  17. ^ "2007 - Kids' Lit Quiz". Kidslitquiz.com. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  18. ^ "Future Chef 2011 | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  19. ^ "Index | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  20. ^ "Galleries - BT Young Scientist 2010 | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  21. ^ "BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition - RDS Dublin - Ireland January 9th - 12th 2013". Btyoungscientist.com. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  22. ^ "Young Scientist listing" (PDF). Btyoungscientist.com. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
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