Wednesday 20th December Term ends 12.15pm

Wednesday 3rd January Term begins

Saturday 6th January Open Day 9.30am—12:30pm

Monday 15th – 25th January Year 12 Trial Examinations

Wednesday 17th January Year 11 Parents’ meeting 1.40-3.25pm

Tuesday 30th January Additional Open Afternoon 4.00-6.00pm

Tuesday 6th February Year 14 History trip to Dublin

Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8 February RBAI/VCB Production of Macbeth

Thursday 8th—14th February History Dept. trip to USA Season’s Greetings

Monday 12th-16th February Physics trip to CERN Season’s Greetings and best wishes for the New Year. This is always a very busy term in school and we welcome the opportunity to have a break to recharge the batteries and return Monday 19th February ready for the Mock examinations and internal assessments. It is not all hard work, with sports Exceptional Closure competitions and tours; History, Physics educational trips; the ski trip and Spring Concert to Year 10 Parents’ meeting prepare for and to be enjoyed. We will also be returning to our tradition of a joint Shakespeare th th 8.45-11.45pm production with VCB, performing Macbeth on the 7 and 8 February 2018. In addition, you rd Year 13 Parents’ meeting are invited to join us at the BOIA Valentine’s Ball on Friday 23 February 2018. May I take this 1.00-3.30pm opportunity to wish our alumni, you and your families a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas period and to thank you for your continued support and confidence in our school. Wednesday 21st February Higher Education Evening Janet Williamson MA Oxon; NPQH 7.00-9.00pm Principal Friday 23rd February BOIA Valentine’s Ball

Tuesday 27th and Wed 28th March Spring Concert

Thursday 29th March Term ends

Wellbeing

Prospective medics Nick Irvine and Dylan Nagar travelled to the Slieve Donard Hotel to attend the Centre of Excellence for Public Health Annual Away Day. This is not your typical conference with highly interactive sessions mixed with talks delivered by a range of speakers. The event also gave our hopeful doctors a chance to mix with a variety of people in the field of Health from Masters and PhD students to Doctors and Academic profes- Careers sors. One of the highlights was meeting and listening to Dr Zoe Williams. Dr Williams, pic- Event tured, is recognisable from her TV work on “This Morning” and “Trust me I’m a doctor”. Both pupils thoroughly enjoyed their day in Newcastle. Wednesday 21st February 2018—Higher Education Evening for Year 13 parents (7.00-8.30pm).

Thursday 1st March 2018—Careers Convention for Years 12 & 13 pupils and parents (7.00-9.00 pm).

Dr Zoe Williams with Dylan Nagar and Nick Irvine

Scouts

It has been another busy term for the Scout Group. The team of Matthew Neilly, Toby McKnight and Jared Patterson won the County Scout Archery Competition. It is 74th’s fourth win in five years. The Assistant County Commissioner (Scouts) Simon Barber is also featured in the photograph. Nathan Roberts finished third in the Belfast County Scout Climbing Competition and goes on to represent Belfast at the NI Scout Climbing Final in the new year. Well done to Daniel Camlin (7th Belfast and a second member of 74th) who was the joint winner of the competition. The annual Scout Parents’ Night was a success with Jared Patterson (pictured) receiving the inaugural Bloomfield Perpetual Cup For Contribution To Charity from Sir Kenneth and Lady Elizabeth Bloomfield MBE.

The annual Scout Parent’s Night

Members of the Biology Department recently took part in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust ‘Healthcare Debate’ Final.

The team of Aneurin Duffin-Murray, Henry Pattison, Angus Adair, Nick Moore, and Dylan Nagar defeated Rathmore Grammar School in the Semi-Final at the start of November. They then met St Mary’s School, Newry in the final, where they debated against the mo- tion ‘The health service is less safe at weekends because there are too few medical staff on duty.’ The final was held in the Royal Victoria Hospital, and chaired by Mr Martin Duffy. The judging panel consisted of highly esteemed members of the Belfast Trust, including Mr Martin Dillon, Dr Cathy Jack, Dr Una Carabine and Dr Terry Irwin.

The team did exceptionally well – both in their preparations and on the night - to win the prestigious trophy. Many congratulations to all team members.

RBAI takes second place at the Worldwise Quiz On Wednesday 8th November the RBAI team of Matthew Hamill, Paddy Mackey and Callam Wallace finished second at the annual Schools’ Worldwise Quiz run by the Geo- graphical Association. The boys answered four rounds of team questions on a variety of geographical topics to qualify for what turned out to be an extremely closely contested final. In the final the participants have to answer individually, over another four rounds. Their second place was highly commendable and they were only three points behind the eventual winners, . Very well done to the boys.

We are grateful to Steve Fearon (RBAI 1981-88), Vice President at Oracle, who hosted sixteen pupils at Oracle’s Digital European Sales & Marketing headquarters in Dublin this week. Having come through a competitive process to win a place on the visit, the boys undertook a range of sales and marketing challenges, before entering the ‘Dragons Den’ to pitch a new product. Steve explained why he wanted to support RBAI:

“The current generation of pupils are soon to be in the workforce and can be the next gen- eration of business leaders. Alongside an excellent academic grounding, it’s vital they test themselves and explore prospective careers early. There is a wide range of outstanding career opportunities within the technology sector, and I hope this experience will fuel the ambition of all those involved.”

Following their visit to Oracle, the boys travelled across Dublin for a private briefing at Twitter’s European Sales & Marketing headquarters, organised by RBAI Governor Colin Johnston. This visit provided a stimulating insight into the growth of advertising and mar- keting across the Twitter platform.

Success for the Swimmers Congratulations to all boys who swam in the Grammar Schools Swimming Champion- ships on Saturday 20th November. The intermediate team of Michael Montgomery, John Jeffery, Joshua Bradshaw, Jack Baskin and Sam Duncan came second in both the Med- ley and Freestyle relays. The Senior Team of Pearce Ferguson were third in the Medley Relay and second in the Freestyle relay. Individually, Pearce Ferguson came third in the 50m breaststroke race and Joshua Bradshaw was sixth in 50m freestyle. Michael Hewitt was first in the 50m Butterfly and also in the 50m Freestyle. Very well done to all the swimmers on an excellent gala.

Science Club Science club has launched in C9 every Wednesday 3.30 – 4.30pm. So far we have set Mr Wilson on fire (safely), landed eggs without cracking, written with fire and made balloon rockets. Come along to take part in more investigations and exciting experiments.

Members of the Science Club Code of Conduct At RBAI we are very fortunate to have great support for all our extra-curricular programmes. This support is greatly appreciated by the pupils and the staff. We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some of the values we think are important for supporters of all our sporting teams.

A Code of Conduct for Spectators

1. Remember that although young people play organised sport they are not “miniature inter- nationals”.

2. Be on your best behaviour and lead by example (you are a role model). Do not use pro- fane language or harass referees, players or coaches. Verbal abuse of players or referees cannot be accepted in any form. Players or referees are not fair targets for ignorant behav- iour.

3. Show respect for your team’s opponents and behave accordingly.

4. Encourage young players to play by the Laws of the Game. As both you and ourselves are aware our spectators make representing RBAI very special and do contribute hugely to the very special atmosphere and enjoyment of the event for all involved.

5. Most importantly we would encourage you to be proud of your school and to make your school proud of you.

Angling

Two Inst. Angling teams took part in the annual National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland Schools’ fishing competition on the River Bann at Portglenone. The Inst. ‘A’ team of Daniel Boomer, Callum Reid, Aaron Lemon and Matthew Barton finished in a very creditable fourth place with Callum Reid winning his section. The depleted ‘B’ team of Adam Nabir and Donal O’Brien finished in tenth place with Adam Nabir also winning his section.

Adam Nabir receives his prize for winning his section from a representative of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Portglenone 2017. Adam subsequently traded his prize for a very nice Mitchell reel. AS Geography Fieldwork Geography continues to thrive at RBAI, with 45 pupils studying the subject at AS level. Last week the first group of pupils, accompanied by Mr Menown and Mr McCann, completed their residential fieldwork at Magilligan Field Centre. The aim of the fieldwork was to study succession on the Umbra sand dunes. During the fieldwork the pupils collected primary data on a number of variables which Included soil sampling, vegetation sampling and microclimate. In the evening the pupils worked in the Field Centre laboratory to further analyse and tabulate the data collected. RBAI would like to thank Dr Michael Cross at Magilligan Field Centre for the expertise he was able to impart to the boys. The whole experience will prove Geography fieldwork invaluable as the boys move forward with their AS studies.

Medallion Rugby Tour The Medallion Rugby Squad accompanied by Mr Monteith, Mr Menown and Mr Noble have recently returned from a short tour to London. The boys left after school on Tuesday 5th December, flying into Gatwick and then being transported on to the Premier Inn at Chiswick where we stayed for the next two nights. On the Wednesday morning the tour squad went on the London Eye where they were treated to panoramic views of the London skyline, and this was followed up by a tour of the Dungeons. It was then on to play St. Paul’s School, and we were thrilled to have the match under floodlights at the excellent facilities of Rosslyn Park Rugby Club. Despite taking a 7-0 lead through a try by Josh Ritchie, we ended up losing a very keenly contested game 19-12 (our captain Zac Simpson scoring the second of the team’s tries). Although it was a loss, the experience will certainly serve the squad well as they continue preparations for the Medallion Shield. The next morning was spent at Madame Tussauds, and this was followed by a trip to Twickenham for the Varsity Game between Oxford and Cambridge. The squad would like to thank the staff for organising what was a very enjoyable tour, and also St. Paul’s School for the warm welcome and kind hospitality provided.

The Medallion Rugby squad on tour Young Enterprise at the Big Market RBAI’s Young Enterprise company “Velocity” recently took part in the Big Market held at St George’s Market. It was an early start for MD Matthew Dalzell who was interviewed by Radio at 7.15am! Around 60 Young Enterprise companies from across North- ern Ireland came together to experience selling their products to the general public. RBAI decided to target the mass market by producing a range of stocking fillers priced at £3.50 or below and this proved to be a successful strategy. The boys learnt about the importance of market research, profit margins and selling and their finance director is pleased to report that a profit was made!

Year 10 Project Business 2017

The Business Studies department recently ran “Project Business” for all boys in Year 10. As boys start to think about their subject choices for GCSE, this fun event gave all boys an opportunity to experience some of the key topics covered in GCSE Business Studies. Boys had the chance to think about who are the stakeholders in a business, how to or- ganise production, how clever marketing can increase your profits and the importance of handling finance. During the event, boys set up and managed their own jewellery busi- ness, making bead bracelets. A Level Business Studies students played the role of the bead supplier and the retailer so the boys also learnt the art of negotiation as well as key teamwork and communication skills. We were also joined by a volunteer from Invest NI and former RBAI pupil Connor Watson, who now works for EY and is a business volun- teer with Young Enterprise – he played the role of the investor and was responsible for assessing which company was most profitable!

Thanks to Barbara & Rosemary from Young Enterprise for facilitating the event and to the Sixth form who assisted. We hope that boys will now be able to make more informed choices regarding their GCSE subjects. Anyone with any further questions should speak to Miss Reid in F2.

AS Business studies student Robert Curry helps Year 10’s