Veritas 2020 1870 - 2020 ST. DOMINIC’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS BECTA Accredited St. Dominic’s Grammar School 1870 - 2020 ST. DOMINIC’S SCOIL NAOMH DOIMINIC Contents Principalʼs Foreword 2 Farewell to Staff 4 In Memory of Andrew Thompson 5 School Vision 6 Junior School Experiences 7 Shared Education 14 Erasmus + Trip to Romania 16 Community 18 Art 20 Business Studies 23 Drama 25 English 28 French 35 ICT 36 Geography 40 History 46 Home Economics 48 Media 51 Irish 52 Mathematics 54 PE 57 Spanish 60 Technology and Design 61 Music 62 Psychology 64 Sociology 65 Politics 66 RE 68 Science 70 Veritas - Mock Bar 76 School Class Photographs 78 Year 14 Yearbook 98 In Our Time 100 Autograph Pages 104 St. Dominicʼs High School, Falls Road, Belfast BT12 6AE Tel: 028 9032 0081 Fax: 028 9031 2682 www.stdominics.org.uk Foreword St. Dominic’s Grammar School 1870 - 2020 As I write the foreword to Veritas each year, I recall the events young girl from Cabra, Eliza Kennedy, aged 13, Eliza who of the past year, many of which are reflected in the magazine. went on to become Mother Francis was to play a significant At the same time, I look forward with optimism to the year role in the history of the foundation. which is ahead. The timing of the foreword coincides with the brighter days which herald the Spring and Easter, a time of From these early beginnings, the Sisters went on to be key rebirth. Our A level pupils are preparing to leave us and are influencers in Belfast and well beyond. They established what looking forward with enthusiasm to the next chapter of their we now know as St. Maryʼs University College, the former St. lives while next yearʼs Year 8 pupils are looking forward to Catherineʼs Primary School (now St. Clareʼs PS), St. Roseʼs joining us. Dominican College (now All Saintsʼ College), Dominican College, Fortwilliam, the Little Flower (now Trinity College) And so the cycle of the school year comes and goes - a and Dominican College, Portstewart. Their courage, continuous cycle of new beginnings and farewells, a cycle determination, selflessness, dedication and vision have led to which began 150 years ago when a group of Dominican young people, primarily girls having access to a first class Sisters travelled to Belfast to establish “a select school for education and their work still goes on. As a past pupil of St. girls” in response to an invitation from Bishop Dorrian, Bishop Dominicʼs, I feel indebted to the Sisters because without them, of Down and Connor. Fortunately for countless generations of I would never have had the opportunities that I have enjoyed young people, the Dominican Sisters accepted the invitation in my life. They encouraged hard work and inspired and so St. Dominicʼs, Belfast was established on April confidence and self-belief and a vision for a better life. They 24th1870. It is with gratitude that I reflect on the courage and instilled values in pupils and encouraged honesty, kindness, generosity of the Sisters, our founders whose influence in the respect, integrity and character. One of my favourite quotes field of education throughout the world is impressive. is from St. Dominicʼs Annual Report 1929/30 and it epitomises the Sistersʼ philosophy “Character tells more for success in It is difficult now to imagine that in 1870, St. Dominicʼs was life than ability”. This philosophy is equally relevant in 2020 located at the cityʼs edge, almost in the country. The “Select because academic results on their own mean little. While Day School” opened on 24th April 1870 with four pupils and achieving good results is important, it is character and the way four days later, the boarding school opened with one pupil, a in which we achieveand fail that makes us decent human 2 Veritas 2020 beings and nurtures fulfilment. The Sisters demonstrated this character to enable the girls to deal from the schoolʼs earliest days. Today, we seek to emulate their with “a world bristling with dangers” example as we aim to build character and to prepare our pupils irrespective of the nature of the for life. dangers. In todayʼs world, there are undoubtedly many challenges and While looking forward and planning are as adults tasked with educating young people, we often fear key to success, the illustrious history of for their well-being. We look back nostalgically to a past world Dominican education and all that the which we imagine was a gentler, more straightforward place. Sisters did to enable young people to The 1929/30 Annual Report highlights for us that this was succeed are proof that looking back is also key to success. never the case, that some things are constants. The We laud the Sisters for all that they achieved and enabled challenges of the time are described by the Sisters in the others to achieve, for carving the path which we tread. following words - “Our young people find themselves launched on a world bristling with dangers”. I am minded of the The story which Veritas tells demonstrates that we remain true Seventies when I attended St. Dominicʼs and when the to the vision of our founders. Our school is about encouraging Troubles raged all around us. No doubt the Swinging Sixties self-belief, building character and nurturing talent through the before that also appeared to be a world “bristling with many activities about which you will read. dangers”. Throughout the Troubles and all other times, the Sisters ensured that the school was a safe place for young Many thanks and congratulations to Mrs Aine Frazer for people and so today, as a school, we aim to make our school drawing together this story. Bain sult as an scéal! a safe space. The challenges our pupils face today are different to those of the past and the challenges which pupils Carol McCann will face in the future are beyond our imagination but hopefully, Principal we will continue to build character to enable the girls to deal with “a world bristling with dangers” irrespective of the nature of the dangers but hopefully, we will continue to build 3 Claire Conlon Claire Conlon joined the staff of St Dominicʼs in September 1984 and has left a lasting impression. Claireʼs laugh is instantly recognisable and lights up any room. Her “can do” attitude will live long in the RE department. As Claireʼs “colleagues in Christ” we miss her humour and sense of fun. It is because of her warm, fun- loving and caring nature that anyone who has spent time in St. Dominicʼs will remember Claire. She was always Dr. Hazel Khamanra considerate of new members of staff and visitors to the staff room. She Dr Khamanra joined St Dominicʼs in September 2014, after six years made everyone feel welcome, took time to engage in conversation and teaching in Cambridge House, Ballymena. She hit the ground running, to make people feel at ease. Claire exhibited great compassion and not only in the Mathematics department but also in the Physics, pastoral care in her time in St. Dominicʼs. Technology & Design, Learning for Life and Work and of course, her Claire led a very successful department, encouraging the pupils to do favourite of all…Home Economics! their best and achieve their dreams. She arranged a variety of In her first year, her biggest challenge wasnʼt remembering the inspirational speakers to speak to the pupils about very real issues quadratic formula or reigniting her love of statistics but rather the which occur in all of their lives and arranged wonderful retreats with the Sunday night rehearsals in the kitchen making pastry from scratch or help of the Clonard youth ministry team. The pupils benefitted greatly white sauce for leek and ham pasta. under her leadership. On a more serious note, Dr Khamanra was a fabulous teacher and very Claire was renowned for her speedy exits which can only be compared valuable colleague in St Dominicʼs. We are extremely grateful for her to the racing at Drumbo race track. One such attempted speedy exit flexibility to teach in many departments. Her input in the Mathematics has been the talk of the staffroom for years! Attempting to rush home, department, particularly when establishing links across the curriculum she dashed to her car, hopped into the driverʼs seat and proceeded to was extremely insightful. drive her car over a small wall. Around eight members of staff were blocked in that evening until the crane arrived to haul out Claireʼs car. In her ultimate year, Hazel did a fantastic job in co-ordinating KS3 Claire has given us some laughs over the years! Mathematics. It is no surprise that she has now pursed a leadership role as Head of Physics in Bloomfield Collegiate. The RE department will be bereft without her. She has been a friend, a confidant, a constant support and loyal leader. Claire has always It remains for us to wish Dr Khamanra all the best in her new school and encouraged us, inspired us and brought us so much joy. We will miss to wish her, Frances, Aubai and Mayeni a very happy future together. her and wish her all the very best! Roisin Connolly (Magee) Róisin Connolly (née Magee) began teaching in St. Dominicʼs in 1990. Róisín carried out this role with military precision, leaving nothing to Before being appointed to St Dominicʼs, she taught in St. chance so that these events ran smoothly and effectively. Due to Philomenaʼs, outside London and in CBS, Hightown Road. As a past Róisínʼs excellent organizational skills and relentless attention to detail, pupil of St.