OMAGH ACADEMY

SPRING TERM NEWSLETTER

The Strule Arts Centre was packed to capacity for the annual Spring Concert produced by the Music Department at Omagh Academy. The Academy Orchestra set the mood with their rendition of ‘Nobody Does it Better’ and there followed a whistle stop tour through genres and ensembles – Choirs, Brass Bands, African Drumming String, Woodwind, Piping, Jazz, Guitars, Percussion, Country and Western, Classical – ending with extracts from the successful show, ‘Matilda, the Musical’. It was, without doubt, a night of diverse music with each item delivered to an exceptionally high standard. A super showcase of musical talent from the 200 students involved and an evening of stunning entertainment for the audience – well done pupils and staff!

Spring Concert 2014

Eco-schools report

Over the last few months we have been busy with dif-ferent activities in Eco-Schools. The local Biodiversity Officer Julie Corry came into school and gave us a talk on garden birds and also a demonstration on how to make bird feeders from leftover food. We then made our own bird feeders and put them up in our school garden. At the start of January we made bug boxes out of twigs and bamboo canes. These provide safe places for a variety of insects to make their home. Later on in the month we took part in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch 2014 in associa-tion with the RSPB.

Throughout February and March we have been involved with the Big Spring Clean. This involves collecting any litter around the school and also planting flowers to make the school grounds more beautiful. We created a Spring Table to show some of the flowers growing at this time of year and to let the whole school see what we have been doing.

Eco-Schools Committee

Congratulations to a talented code-breaker!Sarah Moses, a year 14 French student reached the final of the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad 2014 which was held on 25th March in Trinity College Dublin. From a starting line-up of 2,600 students, the country’s top 100 problem solvers qualified for the final. Omagh Academy was one of five schools represented from N. Ireland, including Methodist College and Aquinas Grammar School.

Sarah finished in the top 30 and will be presented with a bronze award and commendation for having an above average score. She narrowly missed out on a place on the Irish Team of four that will compete at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Beijing in July.

Mrs Henderson

Congratulations to Kyra McKinley and former pupil Andrew Riddell. Their Art and Design coursework was selected for CCEA’s True Colours Exhibition in the Ulster Museum. The exhibition was a contemporary and unique display of exceptional artwork created by students from schools across Northern Ireland. Highlights of the exhibition can be viewed by following the CCEA page on Facebook or Twitter.

The Art and Design Department are extremely proud of both pupils. Kyra is currently completing her AS-Level studies and Andrew has embarked on an Architecture course at the University of London. We wish them continued success in their future creative endeavours.

Miss McFarland

Creative talent is showcased in ccea’s true colours exhibition

On Thursday 20th March, eleven ICT AS level pupils travelled with Mrs Clarke to the Millennium Forum in Londonderry to take part in the BringITon.ni ICT careers convention. This was a great opportunity for us to learn more about the available careers in IT, one of the fastest growing sectors in Northern Ireland. The ICT profession is important to the economy of Northern Ireland, bringing in more than eight hundred million pounds annually to the local economy and employing over 25,000 people in secure well paid jobs.

We were able to speak with employees from the top IT companies in Northern Ireland and learn about the various opportunities available post A Level. Paul McElvaney, from Learning Pool was an enthusiastic and inspirational keynote speaker. He shared his business achievements with us and enthused everyone about the potential for success in ICT. We were able to participate in an interactive programming session which involved testing ‘Kinect2Scratch’, software developed my Microsoft. We also gained invaluable insight into employability in the ICT sector; it was interesting to learn that there are currently 1000 unfilled jobs in Information Technology in Northern Ireland and there will be a requirement for at least 2000 graduates per year for the foreseeable future. We were fortunate enough to be able to question employers from the IT companies represented to gain advice on what we should be doing now to make ourselves stand out amongst the other applicants for university places or jobs.

It was a very interesting and insightful day and we were all glad that we got the opportunity to attend.

On Wednesday 25th February, five History pupils from Year 13 attended a talk given by Johanna Millan to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in the Strule Arts Centre. Johanna is a holocaust survivor and we were privileged to hear her share an emotive and insightful account of her experiences. Our thanks go out to the Omagh District Council, the Strule Arts Centre and Mrs Gregg for offering us this fantastic opportunity to hear a first hand account of what we may have otherwise have only read in textbooks.

Niamh MacNamee & Georgia Waterson (Year 13)

holocaust survivor addresses pupils

On Wednesday 29th January, Year 13 Business Studies and Languages students visited Queen’s University for a Taster Day event.The purpose of the event was to provide students with an opportunity to learn more about the Management School at Queen's. It also provided an opportunity to learn about student life at university to aid UCAS applications. Students were given the opportunity to speak to staff from the Management School about specific degree programmes that they offer which include International Business with a Modern Language and Actuarial Science.

Taster day at queen’s university school of management

On Wednesday 19th February Omagh Academy History department were thrilled to host our first annual A-Level History Conference. Over 100 pupils from schools across the Western Board attended this prestigious event, where they experienced an in depth look at Irish History during the period 1900-25. Lecture one focused on the Ulster Crisis by addressing many key questions including, why did Unionists oppose Home Rule? Why did the Tory party adopt such an extreme position on the Home Rule issue? And what strategies did Carson and Craig adopt to resist the Home Rule threat? Lecture two focused on improving candidates’ source skills in their A2 module 2 paper- concentrating on the Liberals and the Ulster Crisis. The closing lecture focused on the rise of Sinn Fein, ending with the 1918 General Election. All students gained immeasurably from the event and are looking forward to the second conference next year. Our thanks go to Dr Rees who undoubtedly inspired students to learn about this fascinating period of History.

Mrs Gregg

History department hosts a level conference

Ski Trip to Marilleva, Italy

During the last week of January, 34 Year 10 and 7 Year 9 pupils went on the annual ski trip to northern Italy. This year the trip went to the resort of Marailleva in the Dolomites. For the first 3 days, the skiing was perfect with fresh falls of powder snow ensuring that the piste was just right. This powder snow, combined with glorious sunshine and blue sky made for ideal skiing conditions. Within 2 days, the Academy students, along with their fellow tourists from St Mary’s High School, Limavady, Omagh High School and Loreto Grammar, Omagh, were soon leaving the nursery slopes behind and pushing further and further up the mountain in search of Blue and Red slopes to test their skiing prowess and get well outside their comfort zones! Conditions became more difficult nearer the end of the week due to heavy snowfall with an incredible one metre of snow falling in a 24 hour period. However, the Academy pupils were undaunted and continued to ski right up to the very end of the week. An enjoyable and thankfully injury free trip was had by all. The behaviour of all the pupils on the trip was exemplary and they must all be commended for their maturity and conduct throughout the trip. The group arrived back in Omagh very tired after their experience just in time to watch the winter Olympics and re-live their days carving down the slopes in the Dolomites. Next year’s ski trip will return to the old favourite Italian resort of Andalo. Details will soon be revealed to this year’s Year 8 and 9 pupils. Mr Hamilton

Pupils dancing their way to success!

Congratulations to the following pupils who have been selected to dance at the Walled City Tattoo in August:

Danielle NetheryNicole NetheryShannon NetherySophie SmythKathryn McLaughlinHonour NetheryNeave Nethery

On Friday 24th January Richard Collins, father of one of our Year 13 students devoted some time out of his busy schedule to give a lecture on the holocaust to the AS Level History class. Not only did Mr Collins further develop class knowledge of atrocities carried out by Hitler’s Germany, he also left us with the stark reminder of why history is an essential subject, for, to quote George Santayana, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” James McLean (13D)

OThursday 20th February, Art and Design pupils from Year 11 visited the Ulster Museum in Belfast. As Northern Ireland’s treasure house of the past and present, the museum is home to a rich collection of art, history and natural sciences.

Pupils also had the opportunity to view CCEA’s True Colours exhibition. This exhibition showcased a selection of the best of the GCSE, AS and A2 exam entries from summer 2013, and includes preparatory work alongside the finished pieces.

Miss McFarland

Art and Design Trip to the Ulster Museum

Rachael Colton, Stem Ambassador and Chief Editor of

‘ROCO’ Magazine visits the Year 11 Art and Design class.

The Year 8 Science Club has been busy this term making parachutes and slush puppies. Congratulations to the boys for the safe journey (by home-made parachute) that their eggs made from the window of S8 to the car park below. Special thanks to Miss Williamson for her help with Science Club!

Miss Farrell

Science

club

holocaust lecture

All Year 8 pupils at Omagh Academy participated in a variety of mathematical games and puzzles, including ‘Who wants to be a Mathionaire’ in aid of the NSPCC. An outstanding amount of £900 was raised.

Nspcc number day

In February, Omagh Academy Year 11 pupils took part in the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge. Over 200,000 pupils from across the UK sat this competition and our pupils were most successful in receiving 7 silver and 10 bronze certificates. Special mention must be given to Roberta McFarland who achieved ‘Best in School’.

Well done to all students and their teachers.

Mrs Trimble

Uk intermediate mathematics challenge

1. Congratulations to Hannah Patterson, who has been placed Joint second place in NI for GCSE French, summer series 2013, due to a re-mark!

2. Class 9C, who completed a course and an exam in Mandarin Chinese in summer term 2013 received their certificates at a Celebration of Chinese New Year ceremony at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast on 5th February 2014.  Mandarin classes on two days after school by a native Chinese teacher started on 10th March. Over 60 pupils are attending classes.

3. 5 A-Level Spanish students are teaching P5s and 6s in local primary schools (Gillygooley PS and McClintock PS).

Modern lan

guages

news

The class of 2013 returned to school for a coffee morning hosted by the staff.

Last November 40 teams of 6 pupils from schools in West Tyrone and Fermanagh travelled to the Manor House Hotel to find out about entrepreneurship. When there the pupils had to come up with a business idea and prepare a business plan. Omagh Academy took 6 teams to the competition.

After the conference we found out that one of our teams – “2 Cool for School” – had been ranked as the best team at the event. The team of Jodie Nethery, Shannon Nethery, Saffron Baxter, Rachel Pollock, Julie Keys and Megan Moreland had qualified for the NI final and would represent the south west region.

The girls then had to create a powerpoint presentation explaining their business idea, which was personal-ised school stationery, equipment and clothing that could be purchased on the internet. The girls also had to prepare a 5 minute business presentation.

Mr Bingham accompanied the girls to the NI Final at Invest NI headquarters in Bedford Street, Belfast. The girls gave an excellent, confident presentation that reflected the work they had put into their preparation. Six teams made the final and whilst all the groups gave good presentations, some of the other groups had stronger business ideas. Cool 4 School did not make the top 3 in the final but each girl received a prize of £50 of shopping vouchers!

Mr Bingham

Six year 10 pupils reached the final of the invest ni ‘step in zones’ competition

Literacy week began on Monday 3rd March with various activities and events being organised to promote Literacy across the school. Pupils competed in a range of activities such as spelling competitions and public speaking competitions. Staff completed literacy based quizzes to identify ‘Common Errors’.

To mark ‘World Book Day’ on Thursday 6th March Year 8 pupils and members of the English department dressed up as a character from their favourite novel. Year 8 pupils also participated in a live video conference from The Ulster American Folk Park.

Year 10 pupils selecting their subject choices were afforded the opportunity to listen to Mark Mc Kelvey, Journalist from ‘The Ulster Herald’ to speak about pursuing a career in journalism and the importance of good grammar.

The library was as anticipated a hub of excitement with word games (and sweets) on offer. The librarians also organised a Librarian’s quiz to mark the importance of Literacy week. A presentation on ‘Grammar Matters’ was displayed outside the school canteen and photographs of activities and winners are currently displayed along the English corridor.

Thanks are extended to all involved, especially the English department, members of the Literacy Team and of course the pupils who participated so enthusiastically. A successful and enjoyable week was had by all.Mrs McGarrigle

Every Thursday lunchtime in Room 11 up to 40 senior pupils meet to have fellowship. We have played games and had quizzes but since Christmas we have particularly enjoyed hearing from a variety of speakers. Some speakers are teachers and others are from local churches. We have heard about smuggling Bibles into China, local people go-ing on teams overseas and some speakers have spoken on passages from the Bible.

The major social event of the past term was the inter-school formal held at Corick House – a great night of good food, fun and friendship. Our own SU group hope to have a meal out somewhere in Omagh in April. Another inter-school event organised by SUNI – Unite – is planned for 11th April in Enniskillen and Omagh Academy SU should be there!

Much of what happens on a Thursday is down to our well organised and hard working SU pupil committee. They have done a great job this year and we will miss them next year!

Mr Bingham

Literacy week

Senior su update

Year 13 and 14 History students were excit-ed to hear from past pupils Grace O’Neill, Ryan Mitchell, Thomas Reid and Ashley McIlwaine on the topic of “The Study of History”. These pupils gave an informative talk about life in their respective universi-ties of Queen Mary, Emmanuel College Cambridge, Queen’s University and Uni-versity of Ulster, Coleraine. They spoke to students at length on topics such as; how to succeed at A-Level, what constitutes a good History essay, how to make the most of historiography and how to achieve that ever elusive A* grade. They also provided a great insight into studying History at Univer-sity and gave tips for student life. Omagh Academy students took the opportunity to ask pertinent questions to each of our ‘freshers’ whose candid responses were very much appreciated

Mrs Gregg

History department welcomes back past pupils

Spanish trip to madrid

Departing at 1.30am did not seem to dampen the spirits of 30 Spanish students who headed out to Madrid to experience all the sounds, sights, smells, food and atmos-phere that this amazing capital city offers. With lots of opportunities to put their Spanish language into practice, the pupils visited palaces, museums, a bull ring, the Bernabeu Stadium and much, much more! We walked, took the Metro, travelled by cable car, took a boat and even flamenco danced our way around Madrid. It was a jam packed schedule that produced many memory making moments never to be for-gotten! Thanks must go to Mrs Marechaux, Mrs Henderson, Amós and Mr Glover for ensuring that a great time was had by all. ¡Alla Madrid!

Omagh Academy’s Young Enterprise Company; Mini Mixers is a small yet professional company that aims to introduce children to the world of baking! The kit is designed to inspire children to be creative, innovative and imaginative in the kitchen. The Young Enterprise team recognise that baking is one of the most valu-able and enjoyable activities families can engage in. It also teaches teamwork, organisation, patience and communication.The most recent trade fair the team attended was at the Foyleside Centre in Londonderry. It was another successful day of trading and they even picked up an award for “Best Marketing”.The group have had fantastic feedback from all of their customers.

Miss Fahy

Mini mixers young enterprise company

GIRLS

Mini GirlsIndividual QualifiersCharlotte Evason – 11th

Nicole Nethery – 14th

Minor Girls – 3rd place overallNeave Nethery – 9th

Jess Hood – 11th

Emma Hagan – 14th

Niamh Tracey – 15th

Lucy Brunt – 18th

Grainne Murphy – 27th

Junior Girls – 2nd place overallHolly Swann – 4th

Lauren Kee – 6th

Saffron Baxter – 12th

Shannon Nethery – 28th

Chloe Aiken – 31st

Jodie Nethery – 38th

Intermediate GirlsIndividual QualifiersNaomi Charters – 14th

Jeni Lyons – 15th

Senior Girls - 2nd place overallLindsay McIvor – 5th

Cari McKinley – 7th

Naomi Morton – 10th Naomi Duncan – 12th Honour Nethery – 14th

BOYS

Junior Boys – 3rd place overallJake Liggett – 4th

Scott Ballantine – 26th

Zach Gibson – 27th

Peter Aiken – 45th

James Thompson – 80th

Jack Steenson

Senior BoysIndividual QualifiersChristopher Hemphill – 11th

Stuart Ballantine – 13th

Ryan Liggett – 15th

Congratulations to these pupils who qualified for the Ulster Cross Country Championships at Mallusk on Tuesday 11th February. Below are the qualifying results from E District Championships held at Necarne Estate on Monday 3rd February.

Congratulations to the Omagh Academy hockey players who are representing the Western Squad in upcoming tournaments:

U17 – Cari McKinley, Courtney Cunningham, Chloe Frazer, Claire McFarland, Naomi Duncan, Jenny HemphillU15 – Hannah Roleston, Holly Swann, Luci McKeown, Heather Moffitt, Sophie Smyth, Christine Donaghy

E District Cross country results 2014 – ULSTER QUALIFIERS

The 2BXI put in a brave performance in the final of the Gibson Cup at Dungannon but their opponents Sullivan Upper just proved too strong to win 2:0. From the first whistle the Co. Down side were on the attack against a nervous and young Omagh squad, putting together some great passing moves creating chances in the circle. Despite this, the Omagh defence line worked tirelessly to keep the ball away from Caitlin Armstrong’s goal. Despite enjoying a few attacks of their own, Omagh could not find a final pass or finish in the opposition circle. Sullivan went deservedly ahead after a speedy attack saw the ball enter the Omagh net. With the scoreline 1:0 at half time, Omagh started the second half much better, putting more pressure on the Sullivan team. Unfortunately, Sullivan scored another goal following a spell of possession which made Omagh’s comeback task much more difficult. With time running out, Jeni Lyon’s side gave their all with the hope of scoring. However, it was not to be as the final whistle blew to the delight of the Sullivan players and supporters. The Omagh side were very disappointed but knew that the better side did win on the day. Nevertheless it was an excellent achievement for the entire squad to reach an Ulster final who showed their pride when Jeni Lyons presented the runners up medals to her squad.

One week later, the U16XI played the league final against Omagh High School at Campsie. Throughout the game, the team played some superb hockey, and were rewarded with a 3 nil win, with goals coming from Chloe Hagan, Chloe Hood and Rebecca Rainey. Winning the league title was an uplifting end of the season for the squad, who, until the 2BXI final were unbeaten all year!

Holly Nelson’s 2AXI played Belfast Royal Academy in the semi final of the McDowell Plate. After going 1 nil down inside 30 seconds, the Omagh squad pressurised the BRA circle relentlessly. They were finally back on level terms midway through the second half after determination in the circle from Heather Moffitt and Megan Swann. Enjoying the majority of the possession and having a multitude of goal chances, there seemed only one likely winner, but despite hitting the post 3 times and watching many shots go agonisingly wide, the squad were distraught when a rare BRA attack 20 seconds from the final whistle ended up in the goal meaning the Omagh girls lost the game 2:1 and were out of the competition.

Meanwhile the U14BXI defeated Castlederg HS 1:0 to win the West of Ulster League. The Omagh team put in their best performance of the season and had many chances on goal, and were very proud to wear the winners’ medals.

Mrs Dickson

Hockey report

On Wednesday 5th March, Omagh Academy 1stXI again played Cookstown HS in a bid to lift the West of Ulster League title for a record 14th year in a row. It was Cookstown’s turn to host the occasion, and Omagh knew their defence of the title was not going to be easy, as together with the challenge of the water based surface, Cookstown had a home win 2 weeks previous in the School’s Plate competition. On that occasion, Omagh did not play anywhere near their standard which made them determined to make amends. For the Year 14 pupils Laura Kennedy, Lauren McCollum, Honour Nethery, Rachel Armstrong, Jodie Hood and Carol Fleming, this game was to be their last in Omagh Academy colours, as they will soon embark on a new journey at university. Therefore the determination to win the title was even more apparent, especially following a season full of highs and lows for this squad.From the first whistle, the away side set out with pace and purpose. Their link up passing was immaculate, putting the hard work they put in through the many hours of training into practice. The right side of Carol Fleming, Chloe Frazer and the skilful and pacy Honour Nethery who had an outstanding work rate were relentless in attack, and the left side of Sarah Graham, Naomi Morton and Jodie Hood played with patience and intelligence to create many circle and goal mouth opportunities. The central core of the pitch was made up of Cari McKinley who rarely made a mistake all day, Captain Laura Kennedy whose play showed why she had been part of the Ulster set up, Lauren McCollum who played with determination and controlled aggression and Claire McFarland up front who scored 2 excellent goals on the day. With this talent spread all over the pitch, the Omagh squad produced hockey which they should have shown more consistently throughout the season. Having pressurised the Cookstown circle for the opening 5 minutes, the Omagh side should have been 1 nil up had it not been for the Cookstown keeper making some superb saves. Cookstown tried in vain to clear the ball, but Omagh were always first to it, putting the defence under constant pressure. Despite having the majority of possession and pressure, Omagh could not find the killer instinct in the attacking 25 or the circle. The five minutes before half time belonged to Cookstown who had excellent play down their right side. Omagh’s left defence were superb in keeping the ball out of the circle and away from danger.The second half started even better than the first from

Omagh who were determined to get on the scoresheet. And that they did when Captain Laura Kennedy who was instructed at half time to push forward more, began a mazy run from central midfield and ended up with a ferocious shot which looked to be heading straight at the keeper’s body, but to Omagh’s delight, Claire McFarland reacted to raise her stick up to deflect the ball past the keeper’s right hand and into the roof of the net; a move which was straight from the training ground. They soon doubled their lead when Jodie Hood intercepted a Cookstown hit out and played a quick ball to Honour Nethery who was overlapped by the gritty Lauren McCollum who slotted the ball past the helpless keeper. However, from the restart, Cookstown played a ball through the centre which luckily made its way into the circle to an unmarked Cookstown forward who made no hesitation of finishing the move off with a goal past keeper Rachel Armstrong. Omagh knew that this mistake would make the game more nervy and eagerly set out to get another goal, and that they did with a penalty corner conversion by captain Kennedy helped by a deflection from the goal keeper. With a 2 goal lead and time running down, the team could relax and build upon their excellent hockey they demonstrated throughout the game. Cookstown to their credit never gave up and enjoyed a period of pressure in midfield. Omagh however produced a fantastic attack down the right side which saw a shot on goal by Chloe Frazer rebound onto Honour Nethery’s stick, who coolly played the ball around the keeper and into the net. Claire McFarland’s second goal of the game was the pick of the lot when on the left side of the circle, she unleashed a shot which soared into the roof of the net, taking the game out of Cookstown’s reach. Omagh were not finished there, however, as captain Kennedy made it 6 when her shot deflected off a defenders stick and lobbed the keeper. Despite a final Cookstown attack, the final whistle blew to ensure the league title was Omagh’s for another year.Laura Kennedy lifted the trophy and spoke with emotion to thank her team, the opposition, umpires and coaches. The squad and coaching staff would like to thank Mr Arbuthnot and Norman Purdy for umpiring throughout the season as well as all the support from parents and sponsors. Best wishes and thanks also go to the players who leave school this year to university.Squad:Rachel Armstrong, Cari McKinley, Laura Kennedy, Carol Fleming, Sarah Graham, Lauren McCollum, Chloe Frazer, Naomi Morton, Honour Nethery, Claire McFarland, Jodie Hood, Holly Swann, Heather Moffitt, Jenny Hemphill.

West of ulster league final 2014Cookstown HS 1:Omagh Academy 6

On Friday 14th March, the Sports Committee organised a list of events to raise money for charity.Pupils had a non uniform day, the teachers dressed as a sports person, the Sports Committee competed in a cycle off, and 95 Year 8s ran the ‘Sport Relief Mile’!

It was an excellent day, which raised a massive total of £1672.58 to be shared between Sport Relief and the Anthony Nolan Trust (Mrs Wright’s chosen charity).Congratulations to Christine Donaghy, Nadia Montgomery and Kyle Beattie who all won prizes on the day!Well done to all involved, and especially the Sports Committee for organising events!

Mrs Dickson

Charity day raises £1672.58 for sports relief and the anthony nolan trust!

Georgia Waterson and Harley Semple, organisers of Omagh Academy’s Inter Schools’ Show Jumping Competition presented a cheque for £400 to Mrs. Gwen Garrett of Omagh Riding for the Disabled. The Halifax bank, represented by former Omagh Academy pupil, Katie Leonard, matched this amount so a total of £800 was raised for the RDA.

The proceeds of the Carol services in December were donated to the Perinatal Trust Fund (NI). The Perinatal Trust Fund exists to provide support to the Regional Neonatal Unit in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast. Pictured receiving the cheque for £1000 are Mrs Roulston, a member of the office staff, and her baby son Andrew. We would like to thank parents, friends, staff and pupils for their donations to this worthy cause.

With only a few weeks left of the school rugby season we can reflect on some excellent performances and achievements. The ‘TC Autos’ sponsored Senior Squads have both performed well in their respective cup campaigns. The 1stXV defeated RSD 24-14 in the opening round of the Schools Cup before narrowly losing to the fancied Belfast High School by 13-5. This moved the Academy into the Bowl competition, which they won last season. A fine display in tough conditions pro-duced a 24-10 victory over Portora to set up a Semi Final away to Banbridge. Unfortunately this would be the end of the road for the 1stXV as they agonis-ingly lost 14-12.The 2ndXV have had an impressive run of form. Despite losing in the main 2ndXV cup competition to BRA they have reached the Final stage of the Plate having defeated Friends, Strabane and Foyle College along the way. They now play Coleraine Inst in the final.The ‘McKeown’s Day Today’ sponsored Medallion XV have also produced some fine rugby post Christmas and had an excellent run in the Medallion Shield, de-feating Larne 24-7 and Armagh 17-3 before losing by 17-0 to eventual Semi Finalists, Down High School. They then moved into the Plate competition where they comfortably defeated a strong Dalriada side 25-12 before falling to Banbridge 17-7 at the Semi Final stage.The Junior sides have continued to make progress and benefit greatly from playing regular fixtures. The U12’s recorded excellent wins against Antrim Gram-mar and Portora while the U13’s have welcomed Ryan Armstrong into their side, recording wins against Foyle, Kilicomaine and Portora. The U14’s continue to improve as they head towards the step up to Medallion Rugby next season. Wins against Cambridge House, Foyle and Clounagh have been highlights. We look forward to the 2ndXV final which should be confirmed soon and the finale to the rugby sea-son, the Ulster Schools 7’s tournament at Campbell College.

The U14 football team have recently started their Tyrone & Fermanagh District competition. They convincingly defeated Omagh CBS by 5-0 with Scott Ballantine scoring a Hat-Trick and Taine Lagan and Jake Liggett scoring one a piece. They followed this up with an excellent 2-2 draw with Holy Cross, Strabane and play Portora in their final fixture in the coming weeks.

The U18 side reached the Semi Final of the NI Schools Plate and were knocked out by a strong Portora side by 2 goals to one with Craig Breen scoring the goal.They then played a friendly fixture against Omagh CBS and recorded a 5-1 victory with Craig Breen, David Long and Stuart Ballantine all getting on the score sheet.

Rugby round up

Congratulations to Stuart Ballantine (13B) and Harry Evason (10B) who have been selected to take part in the upcoming Darren Clarke Golf School.

Peter Smyth (12D) has been competing at Re-gional and National NIFAA competitions and through his ongoing progress and achievements he has been selected to represent Northern Ireland at U20 level. This is an excellent achievement and we wish him every success.Peter has been pushed all the way by fellow pupils James McLean (13D) and Andrew Newell (12B) who have been competing in National competi-tions over the last year.

Mr Hunter

Football report

Golf news

Archery

Open night

Spirit of pramerica awards

Congratulations to Shelley Cathers who received a merit award for volunteering in the Spirit of Pramerica Awards. Shelley volunteers with the local Riding for the Disabled Association.

A large turn out of people attended the school’s Open Night on Thursday 27th January 2014. Primary school pupils from Year 6 and Year 7 and their families were given an insight into life in Omagh Academy.

Monday 28th April Summer Term beginsMonday 5th May May Day HolidayWednesday 7th May GCSE, AS and A2 exams beginMonday 26th May Staff Day (no school for pupils)Wednesday 4th June School exams begin (Years 8-11)Friday 27th June End of Summer Term (12.00 Noon)

www.omaghacademy.com

Sarah Graham and Hannah Patterson recently attended the CCEA Celebrating Excellence Awards ceremony at the Stormont Hotel, Belfast. They are pictured with Mr Hill, Principal and Mr R Hanna, Chief Executive of CCEA. Sarah was awarded first place in GCSE Religious Studies whilst Hannah was placed joint first place in GCSE Religious Studies (Short Course).

With thanks to Jude Browne Photography