September 2014
Senior Prizegiving 2013-2014
Lumen Christi College
Senior Prizegiving 2013 - 2014
Thursday 4th September for 7.30pm start
Guest Speakers: Cheylene Murphy and Eimear Coyle (The Wonder Villains)
Year 8 French Breakfast
On Wednesday 24th September, to celebrate European Day of Languages, the French Department hosted a petit déjeuner à la française (French Breakfast) for all Year 8 pupils in the college canteen. Pupils got to savour an authentic French breakfast of a croissant, a pain au chocolat and a chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). A great way for our Year 8 pupils to interact and get to know each other a little better.
2014 Chinese Bridge Summer Camp
This summer, 10 pupils from Lumen Christi were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Beijing, where we stayed for two weeks. Our accommodation was in the Beijing Foreign Studies University, and through the Hanban/Confucius Institute, we were able to experience first-hand the exciting and distinctive Chinese culture, as well as learning the native language; Mandarin. As none of us had ever been to China before, we had no idea what to expect, although one thing we were sure of was that it would be nothing like we had ever experienced before; the food, the language, the climate, the locals, and the customs in China would be completely different to anything we were used to.
Almost every day would start off with a three hour Chinese class, in which we learnt everything from basic greetings such as “NÄ hăo”, to famous Chinese pop songs. At first these classes seemed quite overwhelming, but by the end of the first week we were all able to use the Mandarin we had learnt in everyday use; for example, bargaining in the famous Silk Market, and greeting our teacher Miss Yuan. By learning basic Mandarin, I feel like we were able to connect more with the locals in Beijing, and fully immerse ourselves in the trip. As well as these Chinese lessons, we also had a series of culture classes, in which we learnt the ancient art of calligraphy, how to paint traditional Chinese Peking Opera masks, as well as having a lesson in Tai Chi. A personal favourite of these culture classes for me was the “Hand in Hand” day, in which we had the opportunity to interact with students our own age from various parts of China. It was amazing to be able to share stories and personally get to know these students, and I know that each of us have left China with more friends than we came there with.
Due to the fact that we were staying in the capital of China, we had the amazing fortune of being able to see and explore China’s most iconic and famous landmarks. From exploring the Dashanzi Art District, the National Stadium & National Aquatics Center and Tiananmen Square, to shopping in Wangfujing Street, to scaling the Great Wall, we truly experienced it all. We were positively consumed by the Chinese way of life, and jumped at any chance to partake in any Chinese custom, such as dancing to traditional Chinese music at the Temple of Heaven.
It is no secret that China is famous for its food, and during our stay we really tried it all. For every meal we used chopsticks, and by the end of the trip we were all experts. Although quite different to the Chinese food we are accustomed to here, the authentic Chinese cuisine was delicious, ranging from roast duck to fried dumplings, and everything in between.
What will always stand out for me about the trip was the friendliness and the warmth of the locals. Both the staff and the students at the Beijing Foreign Studies University went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and went over and above their call of duty to make sure we had the best possible experience of China, which we definitely did. The hospitality did not end with the people of the BFSU; every excursion we went on, we were greeted with smiles and waves from the local residents of Beijing. They seemed to be delighted to see so many tourists, and even took photos with us! For the two weeks that we were there, we were treated brilliantly by anyone we came into contact with, and although our Mandarin was nowhere near perfect, everyone was so patient with us, and encouraged us to speak it as much as possible. I would go back to Beijing in a heartbeat; it was without a doubt the best holiday I have ever been on, and I would recommend anyone who is interested in going to go and seize this amazing opportunity.
European Heritage Open Day at Lumen Christi College
The Siege Windmill at Lumen Christi College was open to the public on Saturday 13th September as part of European Heritage Day.
This provided a unique opportunity to visit this impressive monument which had an important role during the 1689 Siege of Derry; when Jacobite soldiers, supporters of the Catholic King James II, seized the Windmill and used it to store ammunitions, surviving on meagre food rations during the 105 days of the siege.
Lumen Christi College Participation Certificate
Much Excitement on GCSE Results Day!
Many congratulations to all our GCSE and A level Students.
87% of all entries at A level achieved A*-B grades and 64% of these were A* -A.
55 students attained 3 A grades or better and 19 4As or better.
68% of all entries at GCSE were awarded A*-A grades.
43 students attained 10A grades or better.
7 students achieved 11A* grades or better!
Well done to you all!
Principal’s Speech Senior Prizegiving 4th September 2014
Prizegiving is traditionally the time when we reflect on the past year’s experiences and look ahead to the future.
And it has been a good year in the College with our Gaelic teams reaching 4 Ulster finals, our Netball teams in 3 western area and two NI finals and our swimmers attaining 27 North west gala medals, 12 NI medals and 4 All-Ireland medals, as well as three Ulster Athletics Medals and 3 All-Ireland finalists in Athletics. We have even managed to go global with one of our students, Amy Jackson, attaining a full Athletics Scholarship to Wingate University in North Carolina.
Back home we have seen the opening of our new Sixth Form Centre, the creation of two new classrooms on our upper floors that allows us to move our students and teachers out of the Gatelodge, upgrades to our provision in both Music and Technology and, hopefully, in the course of this year, the creation of a new Fitness Suite in the Gatelodge.
Within the curriculum, we have introduced two new GCSEs – Drama and Business and Communication Studies -and with an eye to the future, we have successfully engaged with the Confucius Classroom Project run by UU and Hanban University of China to introduce Mandarin Chinese to all our Year 8 students and will offer it this year also to our Year 13s.
We also exported three teachers and 12 students to a Chinese Summer Camp in Beijing.
In the last few months, we have seen a major upgrade to our schools’ computer system and we are now planning for the implementation of wi-fi and tablet technology across the school and the introduction of a new Systems Design A-level next September.
In terms of academic results, too, this past year has been undiluted success. In 2013, we again topped the Sunday Times academic League tables for GCSE and A-Level results in Northern Ireland and moved from 24th to 23rd place overall for schools at A-Level in the UK. It meant that we achieved top spot in NI in the academic league tables for the past decade.
So I’m delighted to start this year by reporting that our results at A-Level are again outstanding with 87% of all our examination entries attaining A* or B grades and 95% A*-C. In measuring value-added, we are rated among the top 10% of schools in the UK by the ALPS system which assesses performance across quarter of a million students in some 3000 schools and colleges in the UK.
Here tonight we are paying tribute to 55 students in year 14, almost half the year group, who achieved at least 3 straight A grades and 19 of them this year have the equivalent of 4 A grades or better.
Another 72 of our GCSE students are here tonight to receive awards for achieving 7A*-A grades or better, 43 of these achieved at least 10A* or A and 68% of all examination entries resulted in a grade A or higher. All of our students again attained a minimum of 7 GCSEs including English and mathematics
And, while we celebrate the academic achievements of all of you here tonight, perhaps an even more satisfactory mark of our achievement over the past year is the number of students here tonight receiving awards that mark the excellent relationships among our student body and in the wider community.
That ethos of our school as community has no better expression than in those school prizes – given not for academic success but for care for others, for courtesy, for commitment and for leadership, the qualities in you as young people and individual persons that inspire all those around you and help to make our school what it is in terms of the friendships that exist among students and between students and teachers.
The fact that for the six whole-school prizes which we award to students in recognition of our core values, there were almost 400 nominations speaks volumes about you as young people that goes far beyond the merely academic.
So on your behalf I would finally like to thank your parents for supporting you and the college over the past year, your teachers for their hard work and commitment to you and, in particular, your Form tutors who have worked tirelessly to develop not only study habits in our young people but the character that will allow you to do justice to your abilities in the future.
I congratulate all of you on your achievements over the past year and wish you every success in the one ahead.
PTA and School Council Embark on New Venture
PTA and Student Council are organising a “Casino Night” in the College on Friday 26th September to raise funds to convert the Gate Lodge into a fitness suite.
This event is open to all parents & their friends and year 13 & 14 students.
Tickets are available from Parent Pay priced £20 and include refreshments.
We would love to see you all there.
If any parent would like to sponsor a prize or a “ table” for the evening please contact Dr Ferris via College reception.
Year 14 Work Experience
Our Year 14 students are currently carrying out Work Experience in a variety of domains including Seagate Technologies, MPE (Maydown Precision Engineering) and NI Water. These week long placements allow our students to gain greater self-awareness, confidence and the sense of responsibility needed in the world of work.
The College also recognises the importance of enhancing and developing a link between the ‘life at school’ and the ‘world of work. Perhaps most importantly it provides our students with a greater incentive and motivation to work in school in order to realise their full potential.
Year 11 Students Invited to CultureTECH STEMies!
Congratulations to last year’s Year 10 students whose video – “Sports Science” has been nominated for the Best Overall Video in the Big Video Challenge competition organised by CultureTECH. They have been invited to attend the CultureTech STEMies on Thursday 18th September in Brunswick Superbowl where the winner will be announced. Well done to you all and to Mr Molloy & Mr Smyth!
Good Luck!