Beyond The Classroom 2013

The Wallace High School ended their last academic year with the now annual “Beyond the Classroom” experiences for pupils in Years 8 – 11, with over seven hundred pupils enjoying a varied programme which gave them the opportunity to get involved in a range of different activities both on and off the campus.

The event took place in the last days of June, a nice way for both staff and pupils alike to relax and enjoy themselves at the end of the school year and on the final day a special Assembly took place which included a visual display of the varied range of activities.

Beyond the Classroom from Wallace High on Vimeo.

Key stage 3 pupils experienced life in a Norman Castle, visited the Giant’s Causeway and learnt more about Wallace founder Sir Richard Wallace. There was also The Egg drop challenge, House fun in the sunshine, Mass drumming, quizzes and an Antarctic experience which rounded off an interesting school based day for Years 8 and 9.

A walk to Drumbo along the tow path challenged Year 10 to raise money for a Habitat for Humanity project in Malawi and Childline, whilst Castleward provided the beautiful setting for our Outdoor Adventure days of orienteering, high ropes, climbing towers, nightline, Irish Olympics, archery and team building games with ‘Clearsky’.

Year 11 students used the Beyond the Classroom days to support their GCSE courses and also have some fun. The Army deserve great credit for the two days attended by all the pupils at Ballykinlar with the NATO obstacle course proving a massive hit for all concerned.  Certainly the competitive instincts of the pupils (and staff) present were tested to the limit and the bacon sandwiches supplied after helped ease any sore muscles.

The Gallery visits proved inspiring to the artists and the Human trafficking presentation was an interesting and informative coverage of a topical subject, whilst ‘Masterchef’ Jonny Stephenson’s skills certainly impressed, helping refine the culinary techniques of the Home Economics students. Tayto Castle provided  the backdrop for another popular visit as Business Studies students experienced at firsthand the production and marketing of Tayto crisps. The Year 11 ICT class programmed robots to ‘exterminate’while ‘Shakespeare Day’ proved to be very creative and great fun.

Teacher in charge of this massive undertaking, Mr Jonny Reid was understandably delighted with he success of the event: “The Beyond the Classroom Programme is a unique end of term experience for pupils at Wallace. It gives our pupils the opportunity to explore new things, challenge themselves in different ways and work together to build strong relationships with their peers.”

He continued, “I was delighted with the pupil response to this year’s programme. The broad range of activities on offer really caught their imagination and both challenged and inspired them, while the response from parents has been fantastic too. A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes to make an event like this run so smoothly. Could I take this opportunity to thank all the staff for their support and help in making “BTC 2013″ the success it was.”

Thanks to Mr Cleland for the striking images and former sixth form student Patrick Gardiner for permission to use music from his new album.