Clounagh Junior High School

Friday, June 30, 2006

Ulster Scots musicians visit Clounagh

As part of the Ulster Scots cultural initiative, a party of Ulster Scots traditional musicians visited the school on Thursday. The musicians played Lambeg drums, flutes, fiddles, and billy goat drums, to the rapturous applause of the pupils. A highly enjoyable and entertaining concert.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Kathryn, Chloe & Louise win the UTU writing competition

This year the Ulster Teachers Union organised a competition in association with the Campaign for Global Education. Around the world, ten million children are unable to read and write. This campaign promotes the Millennium Goal that every child should have access to education by the year 2015. About 80 pupils from Year 8 classes AR & AW and Year 9 classes EB & GB accepted the challenge to describe their ideal teacher. Three pupils from EB received the top three places, equalling last year's achievement. Right to left: Kathryn (1st place), Chloe (2nd place), and Louise (3rd place). The girls received their prizes at a reception in UTU Headquarters on Wednesday, 28 June. Congratulations!

[ Kathryn's Entry ] [ Chloe's Entry ] [ Louise's Entry ]

Trip to Greenhill YMCA

The Under 14 Rugby Squad boys who were awarded the School Colours went on a three-day trip to Greenhill YMCA in Newcastle. Activities included rock climbing, absailing, and a trek to the top of Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedagh.

Retirement party for Mae

Mae Irwin was given a surprise party by her colleagues on Wednesday. She has worked at the school for twenty-two years, in the canteen and the tuck shop. On behalf of all at Clounagh, we wish you a very happy retirement, Mae!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

"There's a panther in the school!"

Once in a blue moon, on the news, you'll hear a story about a "big cat" (such as a tiger or panther) being spotted on the loose in the countryside somewhere. So how does an animal like that make its way into our country? Often it was illegally imported as a young cub by a foolish family who wanted an exotic pet. Unfortunately such people don't have the foresight to consider how they'll cope when the cute little furball grows up into a fierce predator. So, to avoid the authorities, they let it loose into the wild. But what if the beast wanders out of the countryside and into your town? What if it wanders into your school?

Over the course of 2005/06, the school's Year 9 Filmmaking Club met each Wednesday afternoon to produce a movie about the scenario described above. The film's running time ended up being 18-minutes - twice as long as any previous film.

This morning, the film received a hearty round of applause from all of Year 8, who watched it during assembly. Congratulations to the members of the Filmmaking Club 2005/06: Adam Gordon, Andrew White, Sam Cheung, Andrew Taylor, Eddie Quin, and Arran Stanley, James Knight and Adam Chambers.

We now present Cat Trap online for your enjoyment ...

[ Play Movie ]

Monday, June 26, 2006

The Handwritten Bible project

The Bible Society in Northern Ireland is encouraging people from all walks of life to participate in producing a Handwritten Bible for Ireland. Many church and school groups have already written their parts. Recently, seventeen members of Clounagh Junior High School's Scripture Union took part in the project under the guidance of Mrs Rosemary Clarke (head of RE and SU leader). The pupils had to copy several Psalms and part of the Gospel of St. John.

Year 8 pupil Luke Flannigan wrote the following about his involvement in the Handwritten Bible project: "When I was writing out the Scriptures, I felt under pressure, in case I made a mistake. Now I know how the scribes felt in Bible times. They must have been very frustrated when they made a mistake, because they had to start a new skin. Fortunately for me, all I had to do was to rule a line through any mistake."

Participating pupils are shown in the bottom photo with their certificates (back row, from left): Sarah Boyd, David Bell, Chloe Wilson, Christopher Anderson, Rachel Crozier, Andrew Taylor. (Front row) Stephen Wilson, Luke Flannigan, Ryan Gordon, Rachel Saunderson, Jamie Caughey, Samuel Harper. Also participating were Megan Emerson and Courtney McCann (top photo, 2nd & 3rd from left).

New art galleries

As is our custom each summer, we showcase artwork by the Clounagh pupils. Spread across three galleries, we present 160 pieces of art and craft created over the course of the school year. The photo on the right shows Year 8 pupils Lynne Brownlee and Rebekah Wilkinson with their city.

[ View Photo Gallery ] of Year 8 artwork.
[ View Photo Gallery ] of Year 9 artwork.
[ View Photo Gallery ] of Year 10 artwork.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Prize Night

Yesterday evening's prize-giving ceremony was accompanied by performances from many talented Clounagh pupils: Nathan Heyburn, Andrew Slaine, Andrew Proctor and Ryan Bailie performed some blues music; Cherith Rodgers and Hanna Moffett each sang a solo; Hannah Kernaghan, Hannah Forbes, Kerry Morrison and Elaine Abraham performed a hard shoe dance; the drama club performed a short sketch; Sophie McClelland and Emma Burney performed a dance duet. And throughout the evening we enjoyed performances from the excellent school choir and orchestra. Enjoy highlights from the event with our online movie and photo gallery. Special thanks to our guest of honour Miss Shelley Brownlee. And congratulations to all prize-winners!

[ Play Movie ] [ View Photo Gallery ]
[ View Supersize Photo ] of the main prize-winners.
[ View Supersize Photo ] of the class prize-winners.
[ View Supersize Photo ] of the Young Enterprise award-winners.
[ View Supersize Photo ] of the school choir.
[ View Supersize Photo ] of the school orchestra.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Young Enterprise Day

Year 8 pupils at Clounagh attended a specially organised day to assist with their transition to Year 9 in September. The day was organised by Young Enterprise Northern Ireland and was part of The Big School: Moving On initiative. The pupils took part in team-building and target-setting exercises to promote confidence and careers awareness.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Clounagh wins Young Enterprise Junior Team of the Year

Not content with claiming several awards already this year, the senior class of Clounagh's Learning Support Centre has gone on to win the Young Enterprise Programme award for Junior Team of the Year. The contest was held on Friday 9 June at Belfast City Hall, with schools from all over the province competing. Congratulations to the Clounagh pupils!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Sports Day

This year's Champion Girl Athlete is Zara Lyttle, who scored 38.5 points. The Champion Boy Athlete is Jordan Leckey with 39 points. Congratulations!

The highest scoring athletes in each year are as follows:
Year 8: Elaine Abraham (16 pts) & Andrew Richardson (28 pts).
Year 9: Zara Lyttle (38.5 pts) & Jordan Leckey (39 pts).
Year 10: Rachel Calvin (34 pts) & Christopher Colvin (27 pts).

The 2006 House Cup for sport all year (Hockey, Rugby, Netball, Football & Athletics) goes to Scott house (captains Jenni Mason & John Graham).

[ View Photo Gallery ] [ Girls' Results ] [ Boys' Results ]

New athletics records: Zara & Bethany

This year introduces a new event for Year 9 girls: the 75 Metre Hurdles. The winner, and first record holder, of this event is Zara (left) with an excellent time of 13.6 seconds (scoring 8th in Ulster).

Bethany (right) recently shattered the school record for the Year 10 Girls Shot Putt with a distance of 9.64 metres (scoring 2nd in the Districts and 2nd in Ulster). Congratulations to both girls!

Party Political Webcast

Groups of Year 10 pupils have created their own political parties with their own particular agendas. In addition to the many promotional posters on the corridor walls, four parties had the opportunity to webcast their statements here on the school website, in the form of an oral presentation with the aid of Powerpoint. Year 8 pupils get to vote!

[ Play Movie ]

Monday, June 05, 2006

District Athletics winners

In the minor boys, Kenneth Anderson won the 800m and long jump. Kenneth also competed in the 4x100m relay, with Andrew Richardson, Jordan Wilson and Lewis Forsythe; the team won the event. Andrew Richardson qualified 2nd in high jump. Lewis Forsythe qualified 3rd in shot putt.

In the junior boys, Christopher Colvin won the triple jump, also qualifying 2nd in the 200m, making the Ulster Final. Gareth Crooks won the shot putt, qualifying 3rd in the discus.

Regarding the girls, Rachel Calvin won the 100m, also coming 2nd in the 200m and qualifying. Bethany Ebron, whose event was shot putt, came 2nd in District, 2nd in Ulster and 8th in Ireland.

Well done to all!