Tomorrow we celebrate 60 years of Ballyclare Secondary School. You can browse the programme below to see the fabulous auction items and ballot prizes. Please remember to bring cash on the evening as card facilities are not available. Auction items can be paid for by bank transfer. We are so looking forward to celebrating with all our guests.

We are very excited to share that we have been nominated in the Families First Education Awards for Secondary, Grammar and Colleges.

You can support the school by following the link below and giving us your vote! Awards are made on 8th June!

https://www.familiesfirstfinalists.com/secondarygrammarcollegeawards24

Last week we were glad to welcome representatives from the Abbey Centre and Staff Nursing Care Ltd in to school. This was under the Lifesaving Skills Schools Initiative: an Abbey Centre funded training morning. 14 pupils across various year groups and 2 of our teaching staff, Mrs Williams and Miss Bishop, volunteered to take part.

This informative and practical course covered the key elements of assessing a casualty, how to recognise common causes of emergency and the procedures for dealing with them, including choking and the use of Epi-pens. Pupils also had the opportunity to learn how to perform CPR effectively, and training on the use of an AED.

We are very grateful for the instruction from nurse trainer, Maria McCreight, and to David McClurg who helped to organise the opportunity.

Thanks to the Abbey Centre for presenting gift vouchers to the pupils and also a gift of £100 to the school to go towards first aid supplies.

We celebrate with and offer congratulations to BSS pupils Jasmine G, Asha C, Lucy B, and Jessica I on their highly successful dance season with JMDA.

The girls have participated in numerous dance festivals including Relevé, Dance Lisburn, and NICMAC, earning many medals across various dance genres such as Modern, Jazz and Lyrical, among others!

We are also thrilled to announce that Jasmine G has been chosen to join the Elite Team NI for Dance Excellence 2025 in Los Angeles.

Well done, girls! We are very proud of you!

Please find below our Weekly Communication Bulletin for Parents and Carers along with other important documents which have been sent out to you via Sims App.

At BSS, our pupils learn and grow in many different ways both in school and at home. One of our Year 8 pupils, Daisy Patterson, developed her skills in Animal Handling competing at Balmoral Show 2024. Daisy was placed 3rd in the Goat Young Handler class.

Summer has almost arrived, but we’re already planning for Autumn!

Save the date for the BFFS Autumn Fair:

Saturday 19th October 2024, 10am-2pm.

Table Cost: £15

Adult Price: £2
Child Price: £1
Family: £5

Please email Miss Dunwoody if you are interested in booking a table slot or could provide an activity or refreshments. ldunwoody109@c2kni.net

“STAY SAFE… STAY OUT” - Quarries (working or disused) may appear fun but by trespassing, young people place both their own and their friends lives at risk. Fencing and warning signs are there to protect you, potential hazards lie behind:

• Swimming in quarry lakes, even on a hot day in the middle of summer is dangerous. Strong swimmers have drowned in quarries due to the unexpected impact that the extreme cold water has had on your bodies.

• The water in quarry lakes can be very deep and shelving, exit from the water may only be possible in a few places, there may be pumps working or currents that can drag you under the water.

• There can be concealed underwater obstructions and other hazards that can seriously injure swimmers or individuals jumping into the water – tombstoning into quarry lakes is not safe.

• Tunnelling into piles of sand or playing on stockpiles exposes you to the risk of sudden collapses or movements that can easily bury you.

• Walking near the edge of quarry faces exposes you to the risk of serious falls as the edges can be unstable and collapse unexpectedly or sheer faces be obstructed by vegetation.

• Climbing or walking near rock faces can expose you to the risk of rock falls.

• Surfaces in quarries that may look solid, such as the surface of a silt pond, can suddenly break and act like quick sand sucking you down.

• Trail and quad biking in a quarry will expose riders to risks from unstable terrain, unexpected obstructions.

• Quarries can often cause mobile phone reception to be poor and there is no one on hand to help in the event of an accident.