What another amazing day for all our performers at the festival. Today it was the turn of our woodwind and string pupils. Grace Martin was the first to perform in the under 11 woodwind class and did an amazing performance that secured her 1st place! In a very competitive under 12-14 class, we were delighted that Abi Caldwell was awarded 3rd place. Taylor Carmichael gave a stunning performance in the 15-16 woodwind class and was awarded a well-deserved 1st place. Hannah Caldwell competed in a challenging under 17-18 class and we were thrilled that she gained 2nd place.

In the woodwind ensemble class, the flute ensemble was award 1st place with the clarinet ensemble coming in a close 2nd. 

In the String classes we were very proud of both Lois Bell and Sarah Dalzell who came joint 3rd in a very competitive class. In the 15-16 class we were delighted to have 3 wonderful performances with Joel Porter taking 1st place, Lewis Clark 2nd and Ruby Cartwright 3rd!

In the String ensemble class, the senior and junior string ensembles gave great performances and were places 2nd and 3rd retrospectively.

The day finished on a tremendous high with our school orchestra winning not only the orchestra class but also the best overall instrumental performance of the day, which was a massive achievement. 

Again, we are so proud of all the pupils who have taken part and thank you so much for all your effort, hard work, and commitment that has made all this possible!

Today at SU we had a brilliant quiz where pupils had to guess the flag of the country on the screen, then the iconic world landmarks and finally the country of some famous footballers. Congratulations to Owen Blackwell 9F who has an amazing knowledge and he won the quiz. Lucy Barnett 9M also showcased her fantastic knowledge of countries around the world.

We were humbled to learn about our visiting speaker Cat who grew up in a Romanian orphanage and now wants to help others around the world who are in need. He works for an organisation called Barnabas Aid and they work with schools and church groups to help people who are in a crisis situation. Recently they have helped the people in Turkey who have no home due to the devastating earthquake, by shipping out boxes of essential food supplies. Staff and pupils were surprised to learn that a bag of porridge can cost as little as 6p so we were all challenged to think about how we could help people who are in need.

Please see a letter from the Acting Principal in regards to adverse weather conditions.

What an amazing day full of outstanding performances!  Today it was the turn of our brass and vocal students. Hollie Hamilton started the day off with a great performance which gained her 3rd place in her class. This was followed by Erin Ashe who was awarded 2nd in the 15-16 brass solo and the brass ensemble who gained 1st place. Amazing results and we are proud of everyone who took part. 

In the vocal classes Lucy Bingham was awarded 1st place in the under 11 solo. In the 15-16 vocal solo Abigail Pye and Daniel Campbell gained 3rd place and Eva Campbell was award 2nd place. In the final class of the day Chloe Gilmore was given 3rd place and Jack Metcalfe was awarded 1st place and overall best vocalist of the day for a stunning performance of Ständchen. 

The overall standard of the performances today was outstanding, and we are so proud of everyone who took part. Well done everyone!

Another excellent day at Ballyclare Music Festival. Jayden started things off for us today in the Under 11 piano solo class and got a well-deserved 2nd place. Then in the under 16 piano solo class we were well represented by Elspeth Purdy, Ruby Cartwright, Eloise McCormick and Lauren Ferguson. They all gave great performances and well done to Ruby who came 3rd and Lauren who gained 1st place. Finally, Hannah Gillespie performed in the under 18 class against stiff competition and was awarded 2nd place. We are very proud of everyone's performances. Well done!

At the end of this morning’s Year 9 and 10 assembly, Mr Nicholl recognised and celebrated the achievement(s) of our Year 10 football team in their recent victory. The boys were invited up onto stage for a raucous round of applause.

The U18 hockey squad had a surprise pizza party this afternoon for Janey (Year 14) and Leah Morrison (Year 12). After eating a lot of delicious pizza and cookies, they played a match and did some shooting challenges.

Both Janey and Leah have represented Ballyclare Secondary on the hockey pitch since Year 8. They will be missed by their teammates and coach Ms O. Good luck for next year girls.

On Friday our U14 Hockey Team were presented with their NEBSSA tournament gold medals. Well done again, girls.

Today our pupils attended the first day of the Ballyclare Music Festival and we are really proud of those taking part. Great performances all round with Jayden and Oliver taking joint 2nd place.