The Owl 2020

The Owl 2020
School Societies
The Academy pupils watched Damien
Chazelle's 'First Man' as part of the
festival. It is a biographical drama
following the years leading up to the
Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 mission to
the moon in 1969. The film club
members greatly enjoyed having the
opportunity to watch the film at the
Odeon Cinema, Victoria Square and
getting to learn more about man first
landing on the moon.
Later in the year, a group of ten Sixth
Form pupils attended a special film
classification debate and schools-only
screening of 'Joker' to mark the 30th
anniversary of the Cinemagic Festival.
The film classification debate was led
by representatives from both the British
Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
and the Irish Film Classification
Office (IFCO) at the Odeon Cinema,
Victoria Square. Pupils had all their
questions concerning how and why
films need to be classified
answered. The workshop looked at
how and why classification can differ in
different countries and regions. Pupils
watched Todd Phillips 'Joker' as a case
study following the debate. Getting to
meet representatives from both the
BBFC and IFCO was a great
opportunity and pupils greatly enjoyed
the trip.
JUNIOR BOOK CLUB
E.M.T.
The Junior Book Club had a very busy
and enjoyable year shadowing the
Northern Ireland Book Award. The
Northern Ireland Book Award is an
annual event for post-primary schools
across Northern Ireland. Local book
award schemes to encourage and
develop a love of reading had been
springing up in England and Scotland
but no such award existed in Northern
Ireland. In an attempt to rectify this,
two school librarians decided to
introduce such a scheme to the province
in 2009. The whole emphasis is on
books that are exciting and encourage
children to read more books. The
overriding aim is to see book-centred
social interaction and debate amongst
young people.
The shortlist this year for the award was
drawn up by the SLANI (School
Librarian Association Northern Ireland)
committee following a list of
nominations from those with school
library responsibility across Northern
Ireland. The following titles made it to
the shortlist and were enjoyed by the
Junior Book Club:
- Rosie Loves Jack by Mel
Darbon
- The Boy at the Back of the Class
by Onjali Q Rauf
- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
- Mud by Emily Thomas
- Scavengers by Darren Simpson
- High Rise Mystery by Sharma
Jackson
E.M.
JUNIOR SCRIPTURE UNION
Every Wednesday lunchtime, Forms I -
III are able to come together along with
the Scripture Union (SU) Committee
and our amazing teachers, Mr Morrison
and Mrs Graydon, where they can
discover more about God and His
unconditional love for us.
Junior Committee is made up of pupils
from Forms V – MVI, who are eager to
share the ‘Good News’ with fellow
Academy members. With this
eagerness inside each one of us, the
Committee put in its best effort to relate
real-life problems and fears potentially
encountered by the Junior school and
direct them towards the Bible, in order
to reassure them that their pain has a
purpose and that God is in control. With
this intention in mind this year, we
covered a range of topics throughout the
course of the year, including ‘The fruit
of the spirit’ and commonly asked
questions such as ‘What does it mean to
be a Christian?’ ‘How do we resist
temptation?’ ‘How can we stand up for
our faith?’ and many more. These
topics were carefully chosen by the
Committee for the Junior SU to feel
supported in their faith, with the hope
that their talks would be easy to relate
to and enlightening.
In Belfast Royal Academy we are
hugely blessed with this opportunity to
engage with Junior pupils and create
lasting friendships with both Senior
pupils and the teachers. Personally,
from going to Junior SU myself and
now being on committee, I have had the
privilege of experiencing this firsthand.
Without the love of God shining
through all who attend, it would not be
possible to have such an outstanding
experience and such wonderful
memories to cherish.
Getting involved in school societies is
exciting and fun, but I have never found
a better club to join within school.
Junior and Senior SU is more than a
club. Rather, it is a family that leads you
to grow with your brothers and sisters in
Christ. Scripture Union is the most
beneficial school society you could
join, in my opinion, and we are so lucky
to have such a huge community and
evangelistic outreach.
Junior SU are able to get involved with
many events and trips throughout the
year such as pizza evenings, Crown
Jesus Ministries’ events and, of course,
the best weekend in the whole school
year…. ‘The Big SU Weekend’. All
events involve fun, food and a whole lot
of Jesus! ‘The Big SU Weekend’ is
another opportunity for Junior pupils to
strengthen their relationships with
Senior pupils and teachers, alongside a
fun packed weekend with their friends.
I cannot encourage you enough to come
along to either the Junior or Senior SU
each week and of course the
‘Weekend’. It will change your school
life forever.
Sadly, this year, the SU Committee had
to say goodbye to four MVI members:
Wrianne Salvatierra, Fabienne
Cochrane, Julia Forbes and Magdalena
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