Ballyclare High School is a co-educational, non-denominational

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Ballyclare Ballyclare () is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,953 according to the 2011 census, and is located within the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It sits on the river Six Mile Water. The town ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. There are approximately 1,200 pupils at the school, taught by around 80 teachers.

History

The school was opened in the 1890s in the village of

Doagh Doagh ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is in the Six Mile Water Valley, about two miles south-west of Ballyclare, and had a population of 1,388 people in the 2011 census. It is known as ''Doach'' in Scots. ...

, a few miles south-west of Ballyclare. In 1904 it moved to Ballyclare itself, and in 1930, the school finally moved to its current premises on the Rashee Road in the town. In 2006, the school was awarded

Investor in People Investors in People is a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organisations that adhere to the Investors in People Standard. From 1991 to January 2017, Investors in People was owned by the UK government. As of 1 February 20 ...

Sport

The Medallion (under 15) team won the

Medallion Shield The Medallion Shield is an annual rugby union competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The competition is open to all schools within Ulster, but only schools from within Northern Ireland c ...

in 1990 when

Coleraine Academical Institution Coleraine Academical Institution (CAI and styled locally as Coleraine Inst) was a voluntary grammar school for boys in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a site on the Castlerock Road, ...

were beaten 8-4 in the final at Ravenhill. The subsidiary Medallion Plate competition has been won four times in 1992, 1997, 1999 and 2003. The 1st XV won the Ulster Schools' Cup in 1973 and were runners up in 2012 to

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

. The 2012 team was coached by Mr D Soper and Mr G Shaw. In boys' hockey, the school won the

Burney Cup The Burney Cup (Ulster Schoolboys' Senior Hockey Cup) is an annual competition involving the strongest schools affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Union, Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the spring term of eac ...

in 1931 and 1935. and also winning the Prior shield in 2012. Girls hockey has risen to prominence in recent times, with the 1st team reaching the 2007

Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Cup The Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Cup is an annual competition competed for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Association, a branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition has been in existence since 1907 and is currently sponsored ...

final in . In 2012 the senior girls 1st XI won the Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Cup. The team was coached by Dr. Michelle Rainey and featured future

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and Scottish internationals including 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup silver medallist, Zoe Wilson, who scored the winner, aged 14. Goalkeeper Lucy Camlin went on to gain 25 caps as a Scottish International and has uniquely won both Senior Scottish and Irish League & Cup Doubles with Edinburgh club Watsonians and Ulster club Pegasus respectively

Uniform

Uniform is compulsory at Ballyclare High School. All pupils wear a blazer - black for boys and navy for girls - with the school logo emblazoned on a pocket on the left. Special Emblems are worn by students who have received awards from the school, and those who represent the school for Ulster or Ireland may be awarded an "honours blazer" - this is a red blazer with an honours pocket. Ties must be worn for all pupils. In first to fifth year, ties are diagonal stripes of the school's colours, red and navy. In Lower Sixth, pupils wear a tie that is mostly navy with intermittent, thin red stripes as well as a representation of the Ballyclare Mill which can be seen in the school's emblem. The Upper Sixth tie is similar to the first to fifth form tie, with a similar mill emblem to the Lower Sixth tie.

Notable former pupils

School leadership

Principals: * 1902-1923: Catherine Aiken * 1923-1939: Arthur Foweather * 1939-1966: R E Russell * 1966-1970: Joseph Williams * 1970-1971: Herbert Mudd (acting principal) * 1971-1990: G C G Millar * 1990-2000: Robert FitzPatrick * 2000–2015: David Alexander Knox * 2015–Present: Dr Michelle Rainey

References

External links

Ballyclare High School website

Old Ballyclarians Association website
{{authority control Grammar schools in County Antrim Ballyclare