Congratulations to the Following Girls, Who Have Been Appointed As Office Bearers for 2016-2017: HEAD GIRL: Rachel Cowan
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Summer 2016 Congratulations to the following girls, who have been appointed as Office Bearers for 2016-2017: HEAD GIRL: Rachel Cowan. DEPUTY HEAD GIRLS: Sarah Brown & Kerry Hepworth. GAMES CAPTAIN: Kate Farrelly. DEPUTY GAMES CAPTAINS: Bonnie Ramsay & Victoria White. CHAIR of SCHOOL COUNCIL: Gemma Burnside. VICE-CHAIR of SCHOOL COUNCIL: Mehika Sood. BARBOUR: HOUSE CAPTAIN: Ellen Meredith. DEPUTY HOUSE CAPTAINS: Rebecca Murphy & Georgia Stewart. BOUCHER: HOUSE CAPTAIN: Carley Magee-Tollerton. DEPUTY HOUSE CAPTAINS: Hannah Craig & Rhia Prentice. McCAUGHEY: HOUSE CAPTAIN: Molly Fairclough. DEPUTY HOUSE CAPTAINS: Rebecca Gallagher & Amy Truesdale. WATTS: HOUSE CAPTAIN: Rachel Henry. DEPUTY HOUSE CAPTAINS: Chloe Armstrong & Amy Darragh. Congratulations to Sophie Dalzell, 5S, who was recently appointed as Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenants’ Cadet for Belfast. There are only nine Lord Lieutenants’ Cadets in Northern Ireland, so this is a very special achievement. Sophie has been awarded this honour as a result of her work in the Cadet Training Programme and the many qualifications she has achieved throughout her time as a cadet. Very well done! Best wishes to the Class of 2016 who attended a farewell reception with the staff in Miskelly Deli on Tuesday 3 May. We look forward to seeing them all again at the Sixth Form Prize Giving in September! Congratulations to all of our pupils who contributed to this year’s Spring Concert. The audience was really delighted by the performances from the Orchestra, the Chamber Choir, the Junior Choir and Senior Choir. Three other smaller groups also made brilliant contributions to the evening’s entertainment; The Form One Induction Evening took place on 20 June when we many thanks to the A2 Music class, the Recorder Consort, and the Traditional welcomed our new Form One to the school to meet their form Group. Six soloists also featured during the teachers and familiarise themselves with their new environment. evening; Lucy Robinson, Saskia Craig, Fiona We look forward to seeing them all again when school resumes in Gibson, Tori Megarry, Stephanie Devlin and August. Susie Griffin all performed beautifully. The Music Department would like to thank all of the students and staff who worked so hard through the months of preparation for the concert, and all On 25 June, fifty-nine Form Four History and the members of the large and German pupils and six staff set off for a five-day appreciative audience, for their visit to Berlin. Gute Reise! presence and enthusiastic support. Lauryn Todd, 5R, and Abigail Acheson, 5R, who passed their Grade Six Viola Exam. Sarah Lowry, 1S, who raised over £1700 for Cancer Focus. Sarah also won the Young Fundraising Volunteer of the Year for 2016. Andra Vladu, 1S, who sponsored a puppy for a month. Sarah Catherall, 1S, who achieved a Distinction in her Grade Four Singing Examination. Form 2S, who raised £322 for Abanna by completing a sponsored “Mile in My Onesie” run. Aife Sansom, 4A, who achieved a Distinction in her Grade Seven Ballet Exam. Becca Black, 4A, who achieved a Distinction in her Grade Seven Ballet Exam. Robyn Dunwoody, Sarah McTaggart and Becca Black, all 4A, who achieved their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Awards. Emily Parker, 2T, who won the Silver Jubilee Cup in her GB. Amy McWhirter, 2S, who passed her Grade Four Dance Exam. Saya Caddy, 2S, who passed her Grade One Piano Exam. Sorcha Corbett, 2S, who passed her Grade Four Piano Exam. Form 3A, who raised £145 for Scoliosis Association UK. Rebecca Moore, 1A, who passed her Gold Exam in Ice Skating, and also passed her Grade One Clarinet Exam. Issy Todd, 1A, who passed her Grade Three Ballet Exam. Natalya Ricketts, 1A, who achieved a Distinction in her Grade One Musical Theatre Singing Exam. Aoife Moore, 1A, who achieved a Distinction in her Grade Three Contemporary Dance Exam. In the pre-exam days of early May, all of the Form One classes were treated to a series of trips to Carrickfergus Castle. Fortunately the weather remained fine, and the girls were able to enjoy learning about this fascinating period of our history. Thanks to the staff of the History Department for arranging these trips. On 13 April, all of Form Two visited the synagogue on Somerton Road as part of a unit of work on the religion of Judaism. We were welcomed by Mr Neville Finch, who has been a part of the synagogue community here his whole life. This is the only synagogue in Northern Ireland, and it was a privilege to hear about the significant role Jewish people have played in the history of Belfast. Mr Finch took questions from the pupils and was able to give them a flavour of what synagogue worship involves. He also talked about some of the challenges involved in observing Jewish law in Belfast, including the particular difficulties of keeping a kosher diet. Both pupils and staff very much enjoyed the opportunity to visit the synagogue, and we hope to maintain this important link between the RS Department and the Jewish community in Belfast. Our GCSE and A-level artists were able to showcase their talent at this year’s Art Exhibition on 10 June. Guests enjoyed viewing the range of beautiful work and many commented on the outstanding quality and variety of work on display. This was a wonderful opportunity for the girls’ hard work to be recognised and fully appreciated. Winners of this year’s Principal’s Art Prize were: Emily Buchanan and Beth Rankin (GCSE Level); Isabella Smyth and Faye Wallace (AS-level) and Alice Campbell (A- level). Well done to these girls and to all of our artists for being part of this very successful event. This year’s Italy trip ran from 16-21 March, and despite Easter being so early, we were fortunate to enjoy fine weather for the duration of the visit. We began with two days in Rome, taking in the Colosseum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. From Rome we travelled to the small Umbrian city of Assisi, birthplace of St Francis, and our base for the remainder of the trip. After a day spent exploring this very beautiful medieval city, we took other day trips to Florence, Siena and San Gimignano. In Florence we were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the most famous paintings in the Uffizi Gallery (including Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’), and had time to buy some souvenirs in the San Lorenzo street market. Everyone had a wonderful time! We covered a lot of ground in our week in Italy, and everyone was grateful for the Easter holiday to catch up on some sleep! Congratulations to Lauren Ayre, Niamh Hanna, Laura Gordon and Zara Hanna (all 1T), who won the Royal Society of Chemistry Salter’s Competition at Queen’s University Belfast on 24 May. The girls competed against schools from all over Northern Ireland, and it was the first time they had participated in an event of this type. Well done! Throughout June, sixty-five of our Bronze DofE girls completed their hillwalking expeditions. The girls all enjoyed the sunshine and great views, despite a few sore feet and a very early wake-up call from the dawn chorus! The girls walked in the Mourne Mountains, and camped for one night in Tollymore Forest Youth Campsite. The Award also includes weekly volunteering, skills and physical activities; forty-seven of the current Bronze group have already completed their sections and submitted evidence for their Awards to be approved. We are confident that the rest of the group will follow soon! This means that Strathearn has one of the highest Bronze Award completion rates in Well done to all those who took part in the Inter-House Northern Ireland. Well done to all the girls and thanks to all those parents, teachers, Debates over the last two weeks. The Finals were held on leaders and supporters who have helped to achieve this great result. 13 June, in which McCaughey and Watts battled it out in both sections of the competition. Through participation in the scheme, our Bronze group pupils have contributed over In the Form 1 and 2 Final, Saya Caddy and Sorcha Corbett 1000 volunteering hours to their local communities. The girls have also learned spoke for McCaughey, and Halah Irvine, Alex Agar and emergency first aid and developed communication and team work skills. Our Silver and Molly Walker spoke for Watts. The motion was ‘This House Gold Groups in Forms Five and Lower Sixth are looking forward to their hillwalking and believes school holidays are too long’. After much heated canoeing expeditions over the summer break, in which they will visit the Mournes, the debate it was agreed, perhaps surprisingly, that school Galloway Hills in Scotland, Lough Erne, River Shannon and the Royal Canal. Good luck holidays were indeed too long and the debate was won by to all involved. Watts. In the Form 3 and 4 Final, Tavisha Sood spoke for Finally, congratulations to the eleven Upper Sixth girls who have now completed their Watts and Anna Corbett spoke for McCaughey. This time Gold Awards; several of them were able to make the trip to London to receive their the debate was won by McCaughey who spoke in favour of certificates in St James’s Palace. the motion. Well done girls! On Thursday 9 and Friday 10 June, our junior pupils staged two excellent Congratulations to Amelia Kane, 2A, for her superb performances of The Little Mermaid. The acting, singing and dancing were all achievement in winning the U13 Girls’ Section of the 2016 superb, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show.