The Owl 2020

The Owl 2020
School Societies
In the Ulster Teams, held in Carrick, EJ
Atienza, JP Miller, Joshua Boyd, and
Xander Todd finished 2 nd and Nathan
Fung, Robbie Morrow, Alex Scott and
Tiffany Chow finished 3 rd .
We also had a good representation in
the beginner competitions and we look
forward to seeing their progress in the
next few years.
A big thank-you to Dr Lomas for her
continued support for the club
throughout the year and organising
extra bridge lessons. Finally, thanks to
Dr Springer and Dr Lomas for
accompanying the students to Galway
for the Irish competitions.
CHESS CLUB
S.G.
As ever, Chess started up at the
beginning of term. As ever, lunchtimes
in M4 became busy. As ever,
sandwiches were munched as games
were played. As ever, new members
were perplexed by how the horsey
moved in such an odd way. As ever,
someone would castle against someone
who didn’t know of this magic,
provoking a disagreement needing my
arbitration. In a completely
unprecedented fashion, Chess stopped
abruptly in March because of the
pandemic. It may be a while before it
can start up again but I look forward to
welcoming everyone back to Chess
club when possible.
S.C.S.
CLASSICS SOCIETY AND
GREEK CLUB
A Middle Sixth pupil, Callisto
Stephenson, ran a very successful
lunchtime club every Tuesday for Form
I pupils interested in Greek and Roman
Mythology and the Latin in ‘Harry
Potter’.
In the Greek Club, various pupils
worked hard to learn Ancient Greek.
This year, the JACT certificates in
Ancient Greek were offered as an
option to pupils.
EXTRACURRICULAR
MATHS
J.M.G.
Many pupils, once again, took part in
the UK Maths Trust’s individual
challenges. A number of certificates
were awarded and some pupils
qualified for the elite further
rounds. The school representatives
performed impressively in competitive,
extracurricular maths (albeit with some
disruption this year due to Covid-19).
At Senior level there were 8 silver and
5 bronze awards from 22 entries. At
Intermediate level pupils
achieved 5 gold, 15 silver and
20 bronze awards. Riya Raghuram
(FIV), Jude Morrison (FIV), Ben
Golden (FV), Donal McGrath and
Joseph McGuigan (FV) qualified for
the next round (the Kangaroo). Only
two pupils were able to sit the following
round in the days before the school
closure and results are pending.
The Junior Challenge moved online
because of school closures for
lockdown. Pupils were coordinated to
sit the test at home and 26 participated
with 2 silver and 12 bronze awards
being achieved.
In team competitions, the Senior
team of John Gibson (LVI), Jude
Moorehead (LVI), Samuel Hakken
(MVI) and Joshua Thompson
(MVI) narrowly missed out on
finishing in the top 3 at the Queen's
University competition.
In the UKMT Senior Team
challenge the team of John Gibson
(LVI), Jude Moorehead (LVI), Zak
Thabeth (MVI) and Joshua Thompson
(MVI) came fourth in the NI regional
final. The Junior Team of Jamie
Wilson (FII), Sofia Rea-Lavery (FII),
Oliver Pearce (FIII) and Harrison Kirk
(FIII) came second in NI regional final
of the UKMT Junior Challenge and
missed out on winning by the narrowest
of margins.
The enthusiasm and talent of BRA’s
mathematicians continues to impress
me. The numbers who try out for the
teams and the dedication of those who
complete. Some of their experiences are
reflected upon below.
SENIOR TEAMS
S.C.S.
Through a challenging set of questions,
a group of five Senior pupils were
selected to represent the school in two
Senior maths competitions. We met
every Monday and Thursday lunchtime
in our home turf of M4. Through much
teamwork we came on leaps and bounds
in run up to the first competition (the
UKMT Team Senior Challenge) at St
Malachy’s College.
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