Dalriada School

Coordinates: 55°04′23″N 6°31′16″W / 55.072992°N 6.521241°W / 55.072992; -6.521241

Dalriada School
Location
Ballymoney
Information
Type Voluntary, Co-educational Grammar School
Motto Labor Sine Cura, Labor Sine Fructu (Work Without Effort is Work Without Fruit)
Established 1878
Headmaster Thomas Skelton
Deputy Heads Ian Walker & Louise Nelson
Number of students Approx 900
Website http://www.dalriadaschool.com/

Dalriada School is a mixed voluntary grammar school in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.[1] The school draws its pupils from a wide geographical area and a range of social, religious and cultural backgrounds.[1] In 2008 the school won the Northern Ireland State Secondary School of the Year award from The Sunday Times.[2]

Dalriada School Sign

Past headmasters

(as Ballymoney Intermediate school)

(as Dalriada School, Ballymoney)

  • Alfred Ross (1931–48)
  • G. Edmund Gordon (1948–75)
  • Alan Reynolds (1975–87)
  • William Calvert (1987-2003)
  • Derek Boyd (2003-7)
  • Thomas Skelton (2007–present)

Present day

Music

Dalriada has four choirs, an orchestra, string group and wind band, and several other small instrumental groups.[1]

Choirs

There are several choirs throughout the school, ranging from the large choir of the younger years to the select few who are chosen for the chamber choir. The Senior Choir were the winners of School Choir Of The Year 2016[3]

Instrumental groups

Dalriada's orchestra, string group, and wind band perform at school concerts. The school also has a number of small groups, including the Traditional Group, a Dixie Band, a Jazz Quartet, The Tuba Club, and several others.[3]

The school holds several concerts each year, including the "Evening of Music", where each choir and musical ensemble prepare a collection of songs, and the Christmas Carol Concert.[1]

Drama

Dalriada has traditionally staged an annual Shakespearean production. This has been altered in recent years to include modern plays and musicals. Productions staged in recent years have included Les Misérables, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Oliver!,"Phantom Of The Opera", Oklahoma, and "Macbeth", with Dalriada putting on "Hairspray" in December 2017.[4]

Sports

All pupils must take part in two periods of Games each week. Rugby is the main winter sports for boys with cricket and other types of athletics being practiced in the spring season. Hockey is the main sport for girls at the school. Football and Orienteering are also available during the two Games periods. Dalriada football has risen in popularity through the success of the Under 14 team, winning the league twice in a row. Volleyball has recently become rather popular in the school, with the teams doing well in leagues.

Debating Society

There are two debating societies in the school; a junior and a senior one.

The senior debating society, Arguendo, is where pupils in Year 11 and above debate. Since its revival in 2008 the society has become popular, with Dalriada entering teams into the annual Debating Matters competition and the Denny all-Ireland Debating Competition. In 2009 a team of six won the Debating Matters Northern Ireland competition held in Coleraine University.

In 2009/2010 Arguendo entered the Northern Ireland Debating competition for the first time. The upper sixth team were awarded Team of the Competition at the finals in Stormont after being defeated in the Quarter Finals.[3]

In 2010/2011, the Society entered the UK Wide Debating Matter Championship. A team of six debaters won the Derry Qualifying Heat to make it through the Northern Ireland and Scotland final in Edinburgh, where they triumphed over schools from across the two countries.[5] This allowed them to then qualify for the National Final held at the Royal Society of Medicine where they were defeated in a debate on the Banning of the Burqa.[6]

Bar Mock

Dalriada also competes in the annual Bar Mock Trial Competition. This is a team of 16 individuals who prepare prosecution and defense mock legal cases for the regional finals each year in the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast and spend considerable time training for the event. In 2010 this team won the regional Belfast heat and was invited to compete in the World Championships of Mock trial in the Empire City invitational, where they placed 10th, with several individual awards given out.

In 2011, an almost entirely new team of "Mockers" competed in the Regional Competition and won again. This time, the team competed in the National Finals in The Old Bailey in London, coming second.

Astronomical Society

The Dalriada Astronomical Society was started in 2004. It is entirely pupil-run, with a new President elected each year. The Society won a citizenship award for the Orion project, where local schools were invited in to learn about this constellation in a fun and engaging way.

Robotics Club

The Robotics Club plays around with various embedded computing devices such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BBC Micro:Bits etc. Success has been had in various competitions over the years, most notably in the First Lego League competition as well as the Raspberry Pi Competition, TeenTech UK and Sentinus Young Innovators.

Alternative Culture Club / Dungeons & Dragons Club

The Alternative Culture Club (ACC) and its spin-off, the Dungeons & Dragons Club, was started in 2016 and is run entirely by a small group of pupils.

Notable Pupils

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Dalriada School". Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  2. ↑ "Dalriada win 'Northern Ireland School of the Year' award - Ballymoney and Moyle Times". Ballymoneytimes.co.uk. 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  3. 1 2 3 The Dalriad, 2010, school magazine, published yearly.
  4. ↑ "Oklahoma – Tickets Available Now". Dalriadaschool.com. 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  5. ↑ "Debating Matters".
  6. ↑ "Debating Matters".
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