Royal Belfast Academical Institution
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The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, commonly known as Inst., is a voluntary non-denominational grammar school for boys, founded in 1810, in College Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). The school occupies an 8-acre site in the centre of the city on which its first buildings were erected; major additions in 1953, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1983, 1991, 2000 and 2003 provide modern and specialised facilities and account for half the present accommodation. In addition to 40 classrooms, there are 16 science laboratories, 2 lecture rooms, 2 gymnasia, Art and Music departments, Sixth Form Centre, Common Hall, Dining Hall and an indoor heated swimming pool. A new sports hall has been added and Christchurch, a state of the art facility containing a new library, careers suite and 3 IT suites, has recently been opened.
For the first three years boys normally follow a common curriculum: in the fourth year the curriculum is still general but certain options are introduced, and at the end of the 5th Form, boys sit the examination for the Northern Ireland G.C.S.E. Subjects studied at AS/A2 level in the sixth form include English, Modern History, Geography, Economics, French, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin, Technology, Mathematics, Physics, Politics, Chemistry, Biology, Music and Art.
Rugby football and hockey are played in the winter; athletics, cricket and tennis occupy the summer months; badminton, fencing, shooting, rowing, squash and swimming (including water polo and life-saving) take place throughout the year. Teams representing the school take part not only in matches and activities within Northern Ireland, but also in events open to all schools in the United Kingdom.
There are numerous clubs and societies, a school orchestra, choir and band, a contingent of the Combined Cadet Force, Scout and Venture Scout units and a Community Service Group.
Over four-fifths of each year's leavers go on to university or to full-time courses in other institutions of higher and further education.
In addition to a large number of prizes throughout the school, endowed scholarships offered in the sixth form are tenable for travel or at university.
Candidates for admission to the Main School should be under 12 on July of the year of admission and applications must be received by mid-February. Boys who are regarded by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland as qualified for grammar school education have their tuition fee paid by their local Education and Library Board. There is an annual capital fee for the 2005/06 academic year of £690.50 and £45.75 stationery. For new pupils there is also an insurance charge of £15.75 and a refundable book deposit of £65. Scholarships are awarded to the school boys whose work shows outstanding progress during their school career.
The school motto is "Quaerere Verum" - To seek the truth.
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[edit] Senior staff
- Principal - Janet Williamson MA OXON; NPQH
Miss Janet Williamson replaced Mr Michael Ridley in January 2007. Her academic record includes a MA in Geography from St.Catherine's College, Oxford and a National Qualification for Headship. She attended Glenlola Girl's Grammar School in Bangor Northern Ireland, and was Headmistress in Antrim Grammar for a number of years before joining the staff at RBAI.
- Vice Principals - Alan McKinstry B.Ed., P.G.Q.Dip.G.C. and Brian Todd B.A., M.Ed., P.G.C.E.
- Dean (Head of Pastoral Care) - Eamon Foster B.A., M.Litt., P.G.C.E.
- Head of English: Frank Ormsby, M.A.
- Head of Mathematics: Dr David Carruthers, B.Sc., Ph.D., P.G.C.E., PQH (NI)
- Head of Science: Dr Caroline Greer, B.Sc., Ph.D., P.G.C.E.
- Head of Modern Languages: Dr Robert Cotter, M.A., P.G.C.E., M.Ed., M.Th., D.Phil
- Head of Geography: David Haslett, B.A., Dip.Ed.
[edit] Houses
- Dill - (House Colour - Red)
- Jones - (House Colour - Yellow)
- Kelvin - (House Colour - Green)
- Pirrie - (House Colour - Blue)
- Stevenson - (House Colour - Brown)
- Larmor - (House Colour - White)
[edit] Distinguished alumni
- Lord Kelvin, physicist. (Kelvin house is named after him.)
- Thomas Andrews, Chief designer at Harland and Wolff shipyards and RMS Titanic architect.
- Lord Carswell of Killeen, Law Lord and former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
- Lord Lowry, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
- John Miller Andrews, 2nd Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
- Paul Smith, Founder of Celador, he was the creator of the popular game-show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'.
- Mark Pollock, blind international rower and entrepreneur.
- Sir Joseph Larmor-Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge University 1903-1933
- Baron Mawhinney of Peterborough, a member of the Cabinet until 1997 and a Member of Parliament until 2005, currently Chairman of the Football League.
- Dawson Stelfox, the leader of the 1993 Irish Expedition to Mount Everest and the first Irishman to reach the summit.
- Paul Rankin, television chef and owner of a chain of cafes in Belfast.
- Tim Collins, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment in 2001 during Operation Telic. After his service in the Iraq war, he was promoted to a full Colonel. He has recently retired.
- Sam Lee, Between 1891 and 1898 he won nineteen international caps for Ireland. Captained Ireland in the 1892-1893 season again in 1895-1896. In 1894 he was a member of Ireland's first Triple Crown triumph. 1904 he refereed the Scotland v England match.
- Michael Longley, poet
- Derek Mahon, poet
- R B McDowell, fellow of Trinity College Dublin, the most prominent 18th century historian in Ireland
- Sir Donald Currie, shipping magnate and founder of the highly prestigious Currie Cup rugby competition held in South Africa
- Charles Monteith, prominent London publisher, he became the first person to accept William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"
- Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP and Spokesperson on Northern Ireland and Wales.
- Stephen Nolan, BBC radio and television presenter.
- Lady McVeigh, movie star, and fashion icon.
[edit] Sports
The school offers a wide selection of sports. Rugby Union is the dominant sport. Inst have won the Ulster Schools Cup outright 29 times along with 4 shared titles. The school's coaches are Richard Hedley and Gavin Monteith. The school boasts the highest representation of British Lions and Irish Rugby players in the British Isles[citation needed].
The school hockey teams have achieved many successes[citation needed]. The 1st XI consistently feature in the finals of all three competitions they enter (The Irish Schools Tournament, The McCullough Cup and the Burney Cup). The current Ireland captain Patrick Brown is a former Instonian.
In recent times other school sports have also been more frequently making headlines. Inst is one of only four schools in Northern Ireland to participate in competitive rowing[citation needed]. In 2005 the first ever Inst crew travelled to the Henley Royal Regatta in England. It regularly participates in various regattas throughout Ireland and abroad.
In swimming the school teams regularly go to competitions within Ireland and abroad. In 2005, 3 of the team qualified for the Irish International Schools Squad{{Fact|date=March 2007}. In the same year the Senior team came 3rd in the Bath Cup competition held in London. Recently the team picked up a number of medals in the Irish Schools, held in the NAC in Dublin on the 4 February 2006. Again one swimmer qualified for the International Schools Squad, while the Senior Relay Team became Irish champions in both the medley and freestyle relays, breaking both Irish Schools records in the process. On the May 12, 2006 the senior team again won the prestigious Bath Cup competition, in a new record time. In February 2007, the team again performed well in the Irish Schools, gaining numerous medals and retaining both senior relay titles.
Water polo teams have competed in various events and tours. The most recent to Holland in 2006. In January 2007 the team unexpectedly came runners up in the Irish Schools Water Polo Championships. Numerous players have gone on to gain representative and international honours[citation needed].
Unlike some other grammar schools in Ireland, which play Gaelic Games or Rugby to the exclusion of soccer, soccer is played at Inst with 3 senior teams regularly competing in league and cup competitions, although it is not played below 5th Form.
[edit] Music
The Music Department is overseen by the esteemed Phillip Bolton, regarded by many as a frankly outstanding musician, who in his time at the school has managed to create a highly regarded, award winning musical community. He is a member of the acclaimed "Priory Singers" and is intrinsic to the Northern Ireland Musical "Scene"
Musical groups include the choir, which won the UTV Choir of the Year competition in 1999, the orchestra, the jazz band led by past pupil David Howell, and the string group. All of which have gathered a plethora of distinguished musical awards and achievements.
Other notable figures in the music department are:
- Mrs Anne Reid, a distinguished Violin Performer and Concert Pianist, who tutors both of these instruments in the school. She holds qualifications from the Royal School of Music, London. She accompanies much of the Music performances on the piano.
- Mrs Antoinette McMichael, full time Music teacher in both Inchmarlo Preparatory and the main school. She has gathered much respect through her work in the preparatory department, for which she is the director of music, where the 2007 production is "The Little Shop of Horrors".
The music performed is of all varieties and styles. In one concert, a listener could be treated to choral, jazz, gospel, classical, modern classical, rock and alternative in the space of 2 hours. Concerts have a reputation of being incredibly different to other school performances, with plenty of visual aspects and also frequent light hearted humour.
Among public performances and TV recordings, the music department have two major concerts a year in November and March, along with the annual Carol Service, details may be found on the RBAI Official Website.
[edit] Other
The school's debating society, more properly known as the Royal Academical Debating Society, is the oldest continuously extant body of its kind in Ireland[citation needed].
Another prominent society is that of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). With both RAF and Army sections the Inst CCF contingent is regarded by many as one of the strongest in the UK[citation needed]. The Army-section is the current holder of the Northern Ireland Cadet Championship Trophy for Team skills (having won the trophy ten times in the past eleven years). A member of the contingent is also the holder of the United Kingdom Land Forces, Cadet Leadership Course, best cadet award, making him the best cadet in the UK. Various other trophies are held, both individually and collectively for performance in military and civil skills.
The school has an "old boys" club known casually as Instonians and formally as the Belfast Old Instonians Association.
Currently the sports side of the club is open to anyone who wants to join and has teams in three main sports: rugby; hockey and golf. Originally set up as an "old boys" only club, the sports club was opened up to the public in response to the notable flow of Instonians to Great Britain for further education, many of whom did not return to Northern Ireland. This led to fears that the club would die out as current members grew older but were replaced by less and less 'new blood' owing to the dwindling number of Instonians choosing to remain in Northern Ireland.
The association also functions as a means for ex-pupils to find old school friends or get in contact with other Old Instonians in their area if they move abroad. The association provides this by producing a directory of all members on a regular basis. There are annual Instonians dinners held in Northern Ireland, London and the United States held by the association which aims to further the feeling of brotherhood in the shared experiences of the school's sons.
[edit] Inchmarlo
R.B.A.I. also has a preparatory department (Inchmarlo), founded in 1907 and now set in a 6 acre site on Cranmore Park, off the Malone Road in South Belfast. Inchmarlo House was the former home of Sir William Crawford, a Director of the York Street Flax Spinning Mill.
It employs 11 full-time staff and caters for boys aged between 4 and 11 whose standard uniform consists of traditional school-caps, shorts, knee-high socks, school-blazers and leather satchels. It constantly attains impressive results in the '11 plus' examination with 75% of pupils gaining an 'A' grade. Of those, approximately 99% (around 40) transfer to the main school every year.
The Headmaster of Inchmarlo Preparatory School is Alan Armstrong, and his Vice Principal is Malcolm Guy.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
[1]Principal's report, Feb 2005, naming the 3 Irish Schools squad members.
