Ballymena Academy

Updated on Dec 10, 2023

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Mottoes Tenax Propositi Type Grammar Local authority Education Authority Motto Tenax Propositi Founded 1828		Established 1828 Headteacher Mr Stephen Black Phone +44 28 2565 2782 Province Ulster
Location 89 Galgorm Rd Ballymena County Antrim BT42 1AJ Northern Ireland, UK Address 89 Galgorm Rd, Ballymena BT42 1AJ, UK Similar Cambridge House Grammar, Slemish College, St Louis Grammar School, Ballyclare High School, Dunclug College

Ballymena academy open night 2014

Ballymena Academy (founded 1828) is a mixed gender grammar school located in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early nineteenth century as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland.

The sheep ballymena academy

Admissions

The school currently has approximately 1200 pupils and 93 members of teaching staff. The school has 88 acres (360,000 m²) of mature grounds situated on the Galgorm Road, just west of the town centre.

The school motto is Tenax Propositi meaning Steadfast in Purpose.

Its current headmaster is Mr. Stephen Black who became headmaster of the school following the retirement of Mr J. R. Hassard.

Hassard announced on Tuesday, 19 November 2013, that he intended to retire at the end of August 2014. On Friday 7 March it was announced that Mr Stephen Black (former headmaster at Antrim Grammar School) would take on the role of headmaster on 1 September 2014.

Coat of arms

The red hands are borrowed from the Adair family arms, who gave the 1-acre (4,000 m²) of ground on which the original school was built, itself represented by the blue rectangle below. The ant represents hard work. The badger on the crest, accompanied by a lamp representing learning, is a pun on 'Brocklamont', site of the new school buildings, with 'brock' being an archaic word for badger. Sporting, academic, musical and other arts achievement are recognised by the award of a similar but distinctive coat of arms worn on the school blazer and also by the presentation of Honours Ties.

Notable former pupils

John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice, Liberal Democrat peer, first Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, now a member of the Independent Monitoring Commission, and psychiatrist

William Booth CVO, chaplain

Roger Casement, British diplomat and early human rights campaigner for the Congolese, turned Irish revolutionary, hanged in 1916 under the Treason Act

Barry Cowan, journalist and broadcaster with BBC Northern Ireland

George Dawson, DUP MLA from 2003-7 for East Antrim

Steven Davis, Southampton and Northern Ireland footballer

Lucy Evangelista, Miss Northern Ireland 2005, placed in top ten at Miss World.

Edgar Graham, Northern Irish Unionist political figure, assassinated by the IRA in 1983 at the age of 29

George Boyle Hanna, Northern Irish Unionist politician and minister

Air Vice-Marshal William Harbison CB CBE DFC, Station Commander from 1963-5 of RAF Leuchars

David Humphreys, Irish rugby union star

Peter Johnston, Controller of BBC Northern Ireland (November 2006–present)

Luke Marshall, is an Irish professional rugby union player, who currently plays for the Ulster Ravens

Alan Montgomery Jones, prominent Ulster architect and President of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects 2012–14

Willie John McBride, rugby player. Captain of the Irish International Team and British & Irish Lions Rugby Team

Prof James Sayers, Professor of Electron Physics from 1946-72 at the University of Birmingham, from 1939-43 developed the cavity magnetron which was essential for centimetric radar, and later worked from 1943-5 on the Manhattan Project

Prof James McAteer, Professor in Astrophysics 2010- at New Mexico State University, from 2004-2008 as a NASA Scientist, and 2008-2010 at Trinity College Dublin, in studies of the Sun.

Dr Robert Simpson, Ulster Unionist MP (NI) from 1953-72 for Mid Antrim

Robin Swann, Member of the Legislative Assembly (2011- )

Colin Wallace, former British soldier and psychological warfare operative, subject of a wrongful imprisonment case

Sport

The main boys' sport at Ballymena Academy is rugby, with the most recent success occurring at Ravenhill, Belfast. The school won the 2010 Ulster Schools Cup final when they beat Belfast Royal Academy by 10 points to 7. Previous wins were recorded in 1972 and 1981. The school has also won the Subsidiary Shield on seven occasions - more than any other school.

The medallion (under 15) team has won the Medallion Shield once in 1970. A share of the shield was secured twice after drawn finals.

The main girls' sport is hockey and the Ulster Schools Cup has been won outright on six occasions. The trophy has also been shared a further three times after drawn finals. The most recent win was in 2001.

References

Ballymena Academy Wikipedia

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