Wellington College Belfast

Wellington College Belfast (better known as Wellington College or WCB) is a co-educational grammar school[1] located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The most recent principal was Nicola Connery. The school was formed when, in 1989, the all-boys' Annadale Grammar School and the all-girls' Carolan Grammar School merged to become a single co-educational school.[2]

Wellington College Belfast
Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Information
MottoUna Discamus
We learn as one
Established1 September 1989 (1989-09-01)
School boardBELB
PrincipalMr David Castles, BA MA (Oxon) MBA
Key peopleVice Principals
Dr Ian Drysdale, MEd DASE PQH (NI)

History

Wellington College was founded in 1989 after Annadale Boys and Carolan Girls merged. The school is named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The school moved to its current location on Carolan Road in 2002, which included 2 new rugby pitches, a gravel pitch, an astro pitch and a running track.

Principals
#NameTenure
1 Mr Derick Woods 1989-1995
2 Mrs Jacqueline Weir 1995-2000
3 Mr Ronnie Hassard 2000-2004
4 Mrs Heather Reid 2004-2009
5 Mr Matthew Pitts 2010-2014
6 Mrs Nicola Connery 2015-2016
7 Mr David Castles 2017–present

Uniform

The Wellington blazer takes its blue colour from that of the British Army during the 19th century[3] which was the uniform worn by the Duke of Wellington during his service. The sports kit for Wellington was changed in May 2011.

Extracurricular activities

Wellington offers a number of extracurricular activities to its pupils. These normally run after school or during lunch time, and are generally overseen by members of the teaching or library staff. In some cases a specialist in a particular subject may be invited to take a course (e.g. In January 2008 Neil Best and Rob Dewey helped with rugby training)[4] Activities include;

  • Scripture Union[5]
  • Science Club[6]
  • Art Club[7]
  • Concert Band[8]
  • Boy's Choir[9]
  • Junior Choir[10]
  • Senior Choir[11]
  • Junior Brass Group[12]
  • Senior Brass Group[13]
  • Woodwind Group[14]
  • String Trio[15]
  • School Council

Awards
  • 2005 International School Award [16]
  • The school KLQ team won the Kids' Lit Quiz in 2007 at the world final in Oxford.[17]
  • Wellington received an award for raising money and providing donations of items to Haiti after the earthquake.
  • In 2012, three pupils in Year 11 won the Northern Irish Regional heat of the WorldWise Geography quiz and then became runners up the next year. The team consisted of Jack Taylor (captain), Adam Callender and Marc Thompson.

Future Chef 2011

Christopher Marshall, (a then year 10 pupil) represented Wellington in the Northern Ireland Future Chef competition 2011. He won the Northern Ireland competition on Wednesday 2 February 2011. He was then entered into the Future Chef Final and travelled to London on 21 March 2011 for the competition, getting the chance to meet Ainsley Harriott and Brian Turner.[18]

Mathematical Olympiad 2011

Dale Walmsley, (a then year 12 student at Wellington) was awarded a gold medal and a book prize in the UK Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad. Dale was the only student from Northern Ireland to achieve a gold medal and book prize in the Olympiad. This accolade means that he is ranked within the top 50 mathematicians of his age in the UK. Mr Cantley, head of the Mathematics department at Wellington at that time, stated that everyone at the College is absolutely delighted by Dale’s achievement. Mr Cantley, who taught Dale since third year, stated that Dale is a truly remarkable young mathematician, having obtained an A* in GCSE Mathematics at only 14, an A* in both GCSE Additional Mathematics and A Level Mathematics at 15 and first place in the 2010 Northern Ireland GCSE Additional Mathematics examination.[19]

2011
  • Highly Commended Award
  • Eco Award

2012
  • Highly Commended Award (Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success)

2014
  • Highly Commended Award
  • Display Award (x2)
  • 1st place in Senior Biological Category
  • Institute of Physics Award
  • Best School in Northern Ireland Award

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

2011
Pupil Year (at time of event) Project Award
Christopher Lynn 9 WCBinit: Optimising Litter Collection in the canteen Highly Commended Award
Eco Award
Mitchell McKee
Jordan Knocker

Teachers involved:

  • Yvonne Johnston (Head of Science)
  • David Cardwell

[20][21]

Back Row: David Cardwell
Middle Row: Mitchell McKee, Caitríona Ruane, Peter Morris, Yvonne Johnston
Front Row: Jordan Knocker, Christopher Lynn

Christopher Lynn, Jordan Knocker and Mitchell McKee were in the team. The boys conducted an experiment on how to cut down litter in the school. In October 2010, they found out they had got through to the final in the RDS in Dublin. In January, the three boys went to Dublin with science teacher Stephen Wilson, as David Cardwell was unable to attend on the first day and Yvonne Johnston had work in school. David Cardwell was in Dublin for the second and third day of the competition and Yvonne Johnston attended the exhibition on the final day. The boys' exhibition was on feature in the school foyer from January 2011 to April 2011, after which it was placed safely in storage. The exhibition was re-displayed in Science Lab 102 in August 2011.

2012
Pupil Year (at time of event) Project Award
Hali Sharpe 10 All washed up
Courtney Henderson-Storey
Rachel Gardiner
Sarah Jackson Changes in diversity and population size of woodlice species following disturbance
Chelsea Anderson
Amy Flanagan 11 Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success Highly Commended Award
Amy McNamara
Olivia McCulla
Evelyn Workman 12 Remembering what we forgot
Gemma Hawthorne
Eryn Anderson

Teachers involved:

  • Yvonne Johnston (Head of Science)
  • David Cardwell

In May 2011, Science Club members were given a new leaflet on the upcoming 2012 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. Yvonne Johnston would like the event to go ahead and several pupils showed interest. Four out of five groups got through to the Final in January 2012. One group out of the four won an award, a Highly Commended award. On 17 January 2012, Lynn said he is likely to return after mentioning a project to Yvonne Johnston.

"Snail slime and muscle power-the secret of their success", "Changes in diversity and population size of woodlice species following disturbance", "All washed up" and "Remembering what we forget" were the 4 projects that got through to the Final.[22]

Notable former pupils
NameNotable Accomplishments
Neil BestRugby player[23]
Chris BruntFootballer[24]
Stephen ScullionAthlete[25]
Errol HastingsChief artisan baker at J Sainsbury plc[26]
Iain LewersField Hockey Player [27][28][29]

References
  1. "Aims". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. "20 statements about the college". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  3. "Hussars". Kildare.ie. 26 March 2003. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  4. "Extra Curricular | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  5. "Scripture Union | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. "Science Club | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  7. "Art Club | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. "Band & Orchestra | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  9. "Boys Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  10. "Junior Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  11. "Senior Choir | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  12. "Junior Brass Group | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  13. "Senior Brass Group | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  14. "Woodwind Groups | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  15. "String Trio | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  16. Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  17. "2007 - Kids' Lit Quiz". Kidslitquiz.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  18. "Future Chef 2011 | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  19. "Index | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  20. "Galleries - BT Young Scientist 2010 | Wellington College". Wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  21. "BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition - RDS Dublin - Ireland January 9th - 12th 2013". Btyoungscientist.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  22. "Young Scientist listing" (PDF). Btyoungscientist.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  23. http://www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org/sport/international-honours/neil-best/
  24. http://www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org/sport/international-honours/chris-brunt/
  25. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/operation-transformation-from-couch-drunk-to-tokyo-olympian-1.3771092
  26. http://www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org/extra-curricular/home-economics/bakery-club.php%5B%5D
  27. "Former pupil stars for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics". www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  28. "Olympian Iain Lewers returns to WCB". www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  29. "Iain Lewers". www.wellingtoncollegebelfast.org. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
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