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WELCOMESPRING NEWSLETTER2022

Welcome to our Spring Newsletter, which provides us with awonderful opportunity to reflect on an action-packed term inOmagh Acadmey. We started 2022 with an extensiveprogramme of events, trips and activities embracingacademic, sporting, cultural and many other pursuits. Weenjoyed high participation rates and success in group, teamand individual activities across all age groups. As ever, weenjoyed attending and supporting each event and activity,bringing appreciation and encouragement to pupils andstaff. During this term we welcomed Mr Orr as Science andHome Economics Technician and at the end of term we saygoodbye, thank you and very best wishes to Miss Oliver who isleaving us to take up another post. Our warmestcongratulations are extended to Mrs McKinney on the birth ofher son, Ethan. The pandemic continues to cause disruptionto school routines and I thank and commend our Schoolcommunity for their continued resilience and tenacity. I thankall families and friends of Omagh Academy for your ongoingsupport and wish you a restful and replenishing EasterHoliday. Mrs Maxwell PrincipalWELCOME

A2 GEOGRAPHY TRIPJust before half term, the A2 Geography classeswent on a field trip to Belfast to bring our EthnicDiversity topic to life. When we first arrived, wewent on an open bus tour which took us to keysites around Belfast such as the Titanic Quarter,which gave us a nostalgic flashback to our GCSEcase study. We visited both the Falls and theShank hill roads to see outward displays of Ethnicidentity such as flags and murals. We also sawevidence of segregation between communitiesexemplified through the Peace walls which actas a physical barrier between the Nationalist andUnionist communities. As well as this, our tourguide provided us with an insight into the historyof ethnic conflict in Belfast, contextualising ourprior knowledge. The geography classes thoroughly enjoyed ourtrip to Belfast as it was our first trip sincelockdown. The classes particularly liked learningabout aspects of Belfast’s local community suchas the colloquialisms that they like to use. Ourtour guide's witty remarks and comments createda light-hearted atmosphere whilst also makingthe experience very entertaining. As well asgoing on the tour, we were given the liberty tofreely explore the city centre which the classgreatly appreciated. The experience in itsentirety will be fondly remembered as our lasttrip as Omagh Academy pupils. A2 GEOGRAPHY TRIP BELFASTMr Bingham was delightedto invite former pupil, TroyBooth, back to theBusiness Studies roomrecently.Troy runs TB Woodworks, alocal joinery business, andhe answered questionsfrom the pupils as part ofthe GCSE ControlledAssessment task. Troy'sanswers were fascinatingand an excellent insightinto the realities ofrunning a business in thereal world! BUSINESS STUDIES

PRIZE DAY

Miss Naomi Scott (Class of 1995) was our GuestSpeaker at the Virtual Prize Day in December2021. Due to Covid restrictions we were unableto invite guests. The Virtual Prize Giving can beviewed on our school website Speech Day 2021| Omagh AcademyNaomi studied American Studies in the UK(Lancaster) and the US (Virginia and Colorado) withspecialisations in human rights and land rights.Thereafter, she studied conflict resolution inDenmark.Naomi’s career commenced in Africa where she heldvarious positions within the development aid sectorincluding spokesperson for the United Nations invarious regions. Her roles brought her to countries ofdeep political crisis and natural disaster, where herfocus was conflict resolution and post-warreconstruction. In her work, Naomi had theopportunity to negotiate with some of Africa’s mostnotorious leaders such as Robert Mugabe andMuammar Gaddafi and live in some of the mostremote and isolated communities in the world.This, later, led to a specialisation in conflict mineralswhich enabled her to work with some of the world’slargest mining companies to ensure that theminerals that were extracted did not directly orindirectly benefit armed groups or contribute tohuman rights abuses.After working within the development aid sector,Naomi joined the private sector, supporting miningcompanies that specialise in minerals that arecritical to the development of green technologysuch as solar power, electric cars and wind farms.These critical minerals, such as graphite and lithium,are needed on a large scale to ensure thereplacement of coal-powered energy sources withrenewable sources.Naomi has held director positions within severalBritish and Australian stock-exchange listed miningcompanies including the director of Anglo Americanin East Africa. Anglo American is one of the world’slargest mining companies. Presently Naomi is legalcounsel for an Australian stock exchange listedcompany Battery Minerals, based in WesternAustralia. Pre-covid, Naomi would spend half hertime in Africa and a quarter of her time in bothAustralia and Singapore. She presently resides inSydney, Australia.Naomi completed a law degree in Mozambique, hermain country of focus in Africa. The Bar exam wascarried out in Portuguese under the law society ofPortugal. She speaks several languages includingPortuguese, Afrikaans and Danish as well as theAfrican tribal languages of Shona, Senna, Chichewaand Fanagalo, a vernacular dialect based primarilyon Zulu used as a lingua franca in the miningindustry in Southern Africa.

EDUCATION MINISTERVISIT TO OMAGH ACADEMY The Minister of Education, Michelle McIlveen recentlyreceived a warm welcome to our school from Principal RuthMaxwell, Board of Governor's Chair Bill Reilly and Vice-ChairEric Spence, Head boy Andrew Carson & Head girl CharlotteRogers. She met other staff members and enjoyed numerouspresentations from pupils representing school clubs andcommittees, such as the Eco club, Agriculture and YoungEnterprise. She was also treated to a fantastic performanceby the school brass band. As a school, we want to makesure everyone knows how tostay safe when they aresending messages,livestreaming, gaming andusing social media. We wantto provide pupils with afurther source of support ontopics such as healthyrelationships, sharing imagesand mental health that isavailable 24/7 when theyneed it. For this reason, wehave invited pupils downloadour new Safer Schools NI Appby providing them withinformation on how todownload and access theAppSAFER SCHOOLS NI APP

We would like to sincerely thank ourschool community for their recentsupport of our collection for theUkrainian Refugee Crisis Appeal. Wewere overwhelmed by the kinddonations which we received. Thesewere taken to the collection point fortransportation to Poland by Hope forYouth Ministries. Thanks to MrsMcColgan and Mrs Lennox foroverseeing the collection. To date, 41 40-foot lorries of aid havebeen transported to help the victims ofthe conflict in Ukraine. Another collection on Saturday 9thApril is now being organised for foodonly, and if you could help, please seeHope for Youth Ministries facebookpage for more detail. SUPPORT FOR THEUKRAINE CRISIS

On 4th February, all Year 8 pupils participated in anumber of activities to celebrate NSPCC NumberDay. Pupils were educated on the excellent workcarried out by this charity and reminded of theimportance of staying safe online. Congratulations to the prize-winners of themathematical kahoot – Rugby Boys (1st place),Bidmasters (2nd place) and BIDMAS Bananas (3rdplace) A fantastic amount of £940 was raised. Well done Year 8! The Mathematics Department would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate all our Year 12pupils who performed exceptionally well in the November GCSE Mathematics modular exams. One thirdof pupils achieved full uniform marks! We are extremely proud of all your efforts and hard work- Welldone!UK INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE Well done to our Year 11 pupils who weresuccessful in the recent UK MathsChallenge, receiving 1 gold, 4 silver and19 bronze certificates. A special mentionmust be given to Caleb Miller whoachieved 'Best in School' and qualifiedfor the Pink Kangaroo competition. Thiscompetition is only offered to the top2%. Well done Caleb!MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT

In early March, some members of the Omagh AcademySchool Council attended a virtual Strule Student Councilmeeting hosted by the Christian Brothers School. Pupils fromeach of the six schools involved in the Strule Partnershipdelivered presentations on their school's history, crest andmotto which was followed up by a question and answersession. Thank you to Year 13 pupil, Emma & Year 8 pupils,Emily & Emily who delivered the presentation on behalf of theOA contingent. It was an enjoyable and interesting meeting!We look forward to the next Strule Student Council meetingscheduled for May 2022. STRULE STUDENT COUNCILPSNI HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WORKSHOPDuring February, the PSNI Liaison Officers for Tyrone and Fermanagh, Rachel and Elaine, led workshopsfor Year 14 pupils on Healthy Relationships as a part of a pilot project in conjunction with the PSCP(Police and Community Safety Partnership). The workshops included looking at controlling behaviour,consent, grooming and how to recognise and end an unhealthy relationship and what forms a healthyrelationship. This was very timely given the recent introduction of legislation on domestic violence. Rebecca Donnell from YoungEnterprise came to schoolrecently to take our Year 10'sthrough the Project Businessworkshop. Pupils learned aboutstakeholders, marketing andspotting a gap in the market. There was plenty of rivalry asthe teams at the tablescompeted against each other!PROJECT BUSINESS WORKSHOP

INTERNET SAFETY DAY On Tuesday 8th February duringPSE, pupils watched videos basedon this year’s theme “All fun andgames? Exploring respect andrelationships online” and discussedissues around this with their formteacher. In KS3 classes all pupilsare currently covering the topic ofInternet Safety, educating pupilsaround issues such as onlinegrooming, cyber-bullying, digitalfootprint, game addiction and thedangers of online gaming, which isparamount in our education. All KS3pupils also took part in the theSafer Internet Day quiz.

On the 1st April, Year 8pupils enjoyed celebratingthe French 'Poisson d'avril'.They made paper fish andas tradition dictates, theystuck them on unsuspectingpupils and staff around theschool!The year 8 pupils were delighted to receive their first letters from theirFrench penpals in March. We have partnered with a school in Maiche ineastern France. This is an exciting way of developing reading and writingskills as well as cultural knowledge of French life for our young language-learners. The excitement of receiving an old-school hand-written letter isreal!Year 11 pupils are also corresponding with pupils in our exchange schoolnear Montpellier in the south of France.Recently 10C participated in a Fun FoodFiesta following a unit all about food inSpain. The pupils were all game andtried a wide variety of Spanishdelicacies including sea food paella,gambas (prawns), calamares (squid),aceitunas (olives), tortilla españolawhich is a potato omelette, chorizo,various hams (jamón serrano, jamóniberico) and an assortment of deliciouscheeses including sheeps cheese, QuesoManchego. All of this was washed donewith tasty non-alcoholic sangría andtopped off with a Flan Challenge wherepupils tried to eat a full Spanish 'flan'with no hands. Great fun was had by alland Maria (Spanish Assistant) and myself(Mrs Maréchaux) were very impressedwith how much everyone tried.iEnhorabuena chic@s!MODERN LANGUAGES

GCSE Agriculture & Land Use Dairy Farm Visit As part of the Year 12 GCSE Agriculture andLand Use course, pupils visited Greenville Farmoutside Ardstraw today to gain an insight intohow biosecurity practices are used to improveanimal health on dairy farms. This was a highlyinformative visit, and everyone enjoyed seeingthe impressive facilities. Special thanks to theMitchell family and to Farm Manager FarmManager Pauric McKenna for the tour andanswering all our questions!AGRICULTUREThe GrassRoots Agriculture Club has had another busy term, welcoming manyspeakers to talk to our pupils on various issues. We were pleased to host former OA pupil Andrew Wright in which he sharedabout his journey since leaving Omagh Academy; from developing asuccessful Dairy Farm to creating his own business brand “Farm Theory”electronics. Andrew also gave the Year 14 students the opportunity to visit hisfarm, which proved insightful and engaging.On International Women's Day, 51 pupils listened to Jessica Pollock, a full timedairy farmer and PHD student. Jessica is proof that farming is not just formen. She talked to pupils about various technologies introduced on her farmin order to improve efficiency and new genetic strains for better herd yield.We thank Jessica for her inspiring presentation to our students. Other speakers this term have included our own pupils, Charlie Hendersonwho spoke about his Pedigree Shorthorn cattle, as well as Joshua Keys, KimiChambers and Alex Colhoun, who all spoke about their pedigree sheepbreeding. It has been an enjoyable terms with really encouraging numbers!Be sure to follow our Team page for more information on upcoming events. NEWS DAIRY FARM VISIT GRASSROOTS CLUB

ECO GARDEN MAKEOVER Last month, the Year 13 and 14 Agriculture students have beencarrying out work on the Eco Garden as part of their Estate Skills unit.Former pupil, Troy Booth kindly came in to teach the students joinerywork. They built two new raised beds and a pergola. Our Eco Garden, affectionately known as 'Lough Hey', after formerstaff member Mr S Hey, now includes a large pond, raised beds,pergola, planters for pollinator plants, bird feeders, bug hotels andcomposting facilities. The students plan to plant herbs, lavender andother pollinator plants, and reseed the area with grass andwildflowers.

On a beautiful spring Saturdaymorning in March, pupils had theopportunity to take part in anAngling Skills programmeorganised by Erne Anglers atMeadowbrook Fishery, OmaghAll participants were coached inhow to set up their fishing polesand how to land and safelyhandle their catch earning aLevel 1 skills certificate. Using arange of baits, includingsweetcorn, maggots and pellets,lots of fish were caught and allagreed that it was a mostpleasant way to learn somethingnew.ANGLING SKILLS PROGRAMMEVIRTUAL REALITY TOUR OF AUSCHWITZWe are very proud to announce that 4 A-level historystudents have been chosen as Holocaust Ambassadors.Lucy, Sophia, Joshua and Jamie have participated in 3virtual online lessons, organised by the HolocaustEducational Trust, live from Auschwitz. Jamie writes anupdate of their experiences thus far.“We have heard testimony from a survivor of theholocaust, Eve Kugler. This was both insightful andemotive and we all feel very privileged to hear what theholocaust was like from someone who experienced it. We also felt extremely privileged to have the opportunityto participate in a Q&A with Eve. This provided us withthe personal aspects of the Holocaust, which cannot begleaned from textbooks alone. Following this we usedvirtual reality glasses to go on a virtual tour ofAuschwitz-Birkenau. This unique experience helped us tounderstand the atrocious conditions experienced by 1.3million Jews and other minorities. Anti- Semitism is stillapparent in today’s modern society and the informationwe have been provided with so far has enabled us todeepen our understanding of anti-Semitism and how wecan all try and prevent conditions favourable for anothergenocide.”

MUSIC DEPARTMENT EVENTSThe Music Department's Spring Concertwas a resounding success this year!After a pause of two years andextremely harsh restrictions placed uponmusic-making throughout the Covidpandemic - it was wonderful to be backon stage at the Strule Arts Centreperforming to a full capacity audiencefor two performances of 'Serenade forSpring'. The GCSE and A-Level Music classeswere joined on stage by Junior & SeniorChoirs, Brass Band, String Orchestra,Guitar Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble,vocalists, African Drumming Ensemble ...and so much more! The featured extractfrom the world of Musical Theatre was'Come from Away' - telling the behind-the-scenes story of the residents ofGander, Newfoundland, at the time ofthe 9/11 atrocity. It was thought-provoking, poignant and a reminder tobe kind and helpful. We are absolutely thrilled with thestandard of music-making produced byour pupils and thank the MusicDepartment Staff & Instrumental Tutorsfor their hard work and guidancethroughout months of rehearsals. Thisreally was a memorable evening. Welldone, everyone!

SPRING 2022On Friday 25th March, 25 musicians from the GCSE and A-Level musicclasses travelled to Belfast for a performance by the Ulster Orchestra.One of the GCSE set works was on the programme and everyoneenjoyed an inspirational rendition of 'Marche au Supplice' fromSymphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. The phenomenal virtuosity shown bythe pianist in Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto made us all realise that themundane practice of scales and arpeggios actually has real value! This was a fantastic night of music and so good to have theopportunity to listen to top quality musicians perform 'live' once more.This week, GCSE & A-Level musicians were delighted to attend alunchtime recital in First Omagh Presbyterian Church! Organised by the NI International Organ Competition we listened to2014 winner, Andrew Forbes, perform music by Bach, Guilmant & others. Mrs Bingham & students pictured with Andrew Forbes & Richard Yarr(Chair & Founder of NIIOC)Our Performing Arts students also recently enjoyed a backstage tourof the Strule Arts Centre! They had opportunity to see behind thescenes where all the magic of light & sound takes place! Thanks so much to Tom & the staff at SAC for facilitating this!

Year 10 pupils joined by their counterparts from Loreto went tothe Omniplex recently, to watch Kenneth Branagh's 'Belfast'which was enjoyed by all. The film links to poetry being studiedby pupils in their English lessons.ENGLISH DEPARTMENTYEAR 1O TRIP TO CINEMANEW BOOK RELEASE!"I was shaking with fear and with the cold, sitting in the wet grass as Iwaited for what happened next. The car sped off down the road, its redeyes glaring at me in recrimination. I looked around. Everything was darkand unfamiliar. There was nothing else..panic struck me. what wouldbecome of me now? "When Perdu is abandoned as a kitten by his hateful owners, it's thebeginning of a new life fraught with danger. He finds help from thosewho seem to care for him. Perhaps he can trust humans after all.. Butwhen diaster strikes again, will he find the courage to save his home andfamily? And can his greatest enemy become his friend?Mrs Fleming's debut children's novel 'Catching Butterflies' is due forrelease on the 28th April. It is suitable for ages 9-12 and isavailable from Amazon as well as WHSmith and Waterstones. Retail price is £6.99 with 30% off on the Book Guild website withthe code 'Butterflies30'. Well done Mrs Fleming and we wish youevery success!The 'Konflux Theatre Company' visited schoolrecently to work with Year 9 pupils. The Theatrestaff co-ordinated the production of a 'play ina day' through workshops. The day culminatedin twenty five pupils performing Shakespeare'sMacbeth to all of their peers in Year 9. It wasan excellent opportunity for pupils to developdrama skills and also to become familiar withMacbeth.THEATRE WORKSHOP

SPRING UPDATEBRATTON DEBATE"This house believes that the future is bright forGeneration Z"This week, Year 14 took part in a school tradition - the Bratton Cup debate.The motion being contested was 'This House believes that the Future is brightfor Generation Z.' The members of the proposition were declared the winnersof the debate as a result of their very persuasive arguments. Team member,Bethany Wallace was awarded the accolade of top debater and waspresented with the Bratton Cup. Well done all!LITERACY WEEKThe first week ofMarch was a busy onefor our English pupils.In order to celebrateLiteracy Week andWorld Book Day, theEnglish Departmentheld various activitiesincluding apresentation duringPSE on commonerrors, 'Super Spellers'competitions for ourjunior pupils, bookquizzes, publicspeaking competitionsas well as our 'Play ina Day' workshop.Pictured, are some ofour pupils who weresuccessful in winningthe Super Spellers andthe book quiz for theiryear group. Well doneto all pupils involved.

Cllr Errol Thompson, Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council visited school to present theSenior Pupil Leadership Team with a Tree Whip in recognition of the contribution that OmaghAcademy pupils are making to the District Council area. This presentation is connected to theCouncil's Biodiversity and Climate Change Strategy.VISIT OF COUNCIL CHAIR"Easy Peasy", Omagh Academy's Year 13 Young Enterprisecompany, have been hard at work. Recent successesincluded two awards, for Sales and Instagram, at the SouthWest Young Enterprise Trade Fair. The company weredelighted that their product, the "I Love to Cook Book", soldout. Further success followed when the company won aplace in the Northern Ireland Young Enterprise finals,following a successful interview with a panel of judges. Thecompany will also attend a formal dinner and awardsceremony in City Hall, Belfast in early April. Well done to allmembers of this hard working company!YOUNG ENTERPRISE UPDATE

Over the past few monthsEco-schools have carriedout a variety of activities.The pupils made their ownbird food and fed the birdsthroughout the wintermonths. They took part in aquiz to learn the names ofthe common garden birdsand took part in the RSPB'sBig School Birdwatch. As part of the 'Love FoodHate Waste' campaign, thepupils made banana breadmuffins. Also to reducewaste going to landfill, theycollected goods for 'Cashfor clobber'. The pupilsmade a presentation to theEducation Minister informingher about some of theactivities they carried outthis school year. We look forward to plantinglots of pollinators this termto help improve thebiodiversity of the schoolgrounds. ECO CLUB

32 Omagh Academypupils from years 11-14attended a ScriptureUnion Interschool Formalon Wednesday 16thMarch at the CorrickHouse Hotel. A greatnight for all and abrilliant opportunity tomeet others from schoolsin the local area! A bigthank you to SUNIworkers for hosting theevent.SCRIPTURE UNION UPDATE Year 8 pupils enjoy meeting each week at lunch-time to participate in fun computing activities.Two ICT prefects who are also Digital TechnologyA level pupils, Anne Moore and Halle Lapham,organised an ICT competition this term. For this,pupils had to create a scene from a movie inMinecraft. The two prefects judged the pupils'creations and selected the following four winners:Theo Hardy 8B, Jamie Armstrong 8A, DanielKincaid 8A and Mark Cousins 8D. These pupilswere delighted with their prize which was a giftvoucher for the Sweet Shop. YEAR 8 BYTE-THIS COMPUTER CLUB Both our junior and senior Scripture Union groups have had another busy term with various eventsorganised and visiting speakers coming in. We were delighted to have local CEF worker, HeatherWatson to speak to both of our groups as well as Rev Jonathan Cowan coming to speak to Senior SU. Ithas been really refreshing to be able to meet in person and learn God's word and pray together inperson. Senior SU also organised a pizza and quiz afternoon in the assembly hall in February- Welldone to Mr Cairns who won the quiz!

RUGBY UPDATE

It was great to have a full season of fixtures completed for the first time since the onset of COVID. Thecommitment of our staff, pupils and parents has led to a wonderful season and some excellentperformances along the way.Our 1stXV reached the 4th Round of the Schools Cup, losing to the formidable RBAI. The 2ndXV made it tothe Semi Final of the 2ndXV Plate competition, losing to Coleraine GS. The MedallionXV improvedimmensely as the season progressed and were unfortunate to lose the final of the Bowl competition toDromore HS. The U14s had a topsy turvy season but produced some excellent results. Team of the year goesto the U13s who had an unbelievable season, swatting aside many of their contenders along the way. TheU12s also had a good season defeating teams like Limavady, ERGS, Foyle and Armagh. We look forward toseeing them progress in the 15 a side format next year.A number of players in the U14 and Medallion squads wereselected for Regional Development trials. Philip Crawford, HarryMcIlwaine and Sam Harper have successfully retained their placesand will be involved in a summer programme of training.Our 1stXV Captain, Reece Braden has been involved within the agegrade set up with Ulster for a number of years but had atremendous achievement recently when he was selected toCaptain the U19 squad in a recent game. He now looks forward tothe summer Inter Provincial series. He has been joined in the squadby fellow Omagh Academy 1stXV player, Jamie Matthews, whoseoutstanding performances all season have seen him rewarded witha call up to the squad. Both will be hoping for a successfulsummer.PLAYER SUCCESSIt has been really encouraging to see so many girls out at after school training recently. Last week, the girlsplayed in a participation tournament in Cookstown. They had a great day and the team improved with everygame. We look forward to seeing this group develop over the coming weeks with coach Darren McGuiggan.GIRLS RUGBY

HOUSE RUGBY

Junior - Camowen ChampionIntermediate - Drumragh ChampionsSenior House Rugby - Strule Champions The school rugby season officilally came to a closewith our House Rugby competitions in the lastweek of March. The standard of rugby across theSenior, Intermediate & Junior sections wasexcellent & it was great to see some non rugbyplayers involved too. Strule were crowned winners of the Seniorcompetition. Drumragh won a competitiveIntermediate section while Camowen won thetightly contested Juniors.

RUGBY TOURS The highlight of the season for manywere our two Rugby Tours. OurSeniors had a two night trip toDublin to coincide with the Ireland vItaly 6 Nations game. We playedCoolmine RFC in an enthrallinggame and came out on top of a highscoring game.Meanwhile, fifty-one players fromthe junior section of the school tooka three night trip to the WestCountry in England and playedfixtures against Old Bristolians RFC,Bath RFC and Old Swinford HospitalSchool. Activities included a tour ofthe Principality Stadium in Cardiffand an exhilarating high ropescourse at Go Ape. A wonderful tripwith plenty of memories made.

SPRING 2022

HOCKEY UPDATE

JUNIOR HOCKEY

We welcomed Sligo to Campsie in the spring sunshine on Wednesday 16thMarch to battle it out for the WUL title. Both teams started nervously but after the first quarter ended goalless, thehome team restarted the game playing with much higher intensity. Followinga good attack on the left, Sophie Egerton was in the right place to pounceon a goal mouth scramble to score Omagh's first goal. Leah Bogle got hername on the scoresheet when she reacted well to slot the ball home afteranother attack, this time following an interception from Lucy Wilson inmidfield who played an excellent ball into Leah's path who scored with herfirst touch after coming off the bench! Sligo remained determined and wereunlucky not to score following some nifty play through their skilful midfield.Captain Emma Marechaux led her defensive line superbly well to helpSophie Alexander, Bethany McKernan, Eve Duff and Brooklyn Baird remainpatient and composed in the circle to clear any threat and protect KaitlinGilliland's goal. Towards the end of the half, Ruby Hood was next in the scoresheet when sheslotted the ball home following great work in midfield from Amy McFarlandand Sara Hamilton.Omagh enjoyed a lot of possession in the second half, but despite chancescreated mostly down the left side from Jess Rennie and Sophie Egerton, theSligo backline defended well to deny Jasmine Hamill, Hollie Berrabah andcaptain Emma who enjoyed a few minutes as centre forward!The final whistle sounded to end the game 3-0. Captain Emma was proud tolift the West of Ulster League trophy for the 1stXI who have now won it 21years in succession!For some year 14s, this was their last game in Academy colours, so the winwas a fitting end to their fantastic commitment over their 7 years at school.They will be missed!WEST OF ULSTER LEAGUE WINNERS!

The 1XI girls played Strathearn in the semi final of theSenior Plate on 26th February. Although the narrow 1-0 loss, we could not be prouder of the fantasticeffort that all the girls gave and the performancethey put in! A massive thank you to the travellingsupport: teachers, pupils, parents and friends whowere so encouraging, and made us very proud torepresent Omagh Academy. Also, many thanks toNick Elliott for taking excellent snap shots of the girls. SENIOR SCHOOLS PLATE SEMI FINAL

SHOWJUMPING SUCCESS

SPRING 2022The Omagh Academy Show Jumpers have had a very busy term and wehave enjoyed being back in action after a long delay due to the pandemic.These photographs depict some of our activities and successes.We were delighted to once again host an Inter-schools’ Show on 9thMarch at Caste Irvine, Necarne which you will hear more about in theschool magazine. Our latest news is that our team, who were runners up at Drumragh Show,competed at the Causeway Coast Arena on Sunday 3rd April and wontheir class which means they have qualified for the Open School Final atBalmoral Show on 14th May. We wish the team - Lori Smith, Zoe Keys, KateMillar and Amy McLaughlin – the best of luck!

OTHER SPORTS NEWS

We are delighted to announce that the sponsorship total from our Christmas Santa Fun Run was a huge £4620!The Cancer Fund for Children will be delighted to receive this total! We also gave a donation to the Omagh Community Christmas Dinner who fed and gave gifts to 133 people onChristmas Day!Pictured are 8C who were the top fundraising class, raising a massive £520, and also top fundraiser Scott Kenny-Little who was sponsored £160!!Well done to Omagh Academy athleteswho took part in the recent Omagh halfMarathon and 5K run!Well done also to our team of volunteerswho helped at water stations around thecourse and gave out medals andrefreshments at the finish line!CROSS COUNTRYWell done to Omagh Academy pupils who qualified for Ulster Cross Country Championshipson 9th February after success at the E Districtcross country, Necarne on Wednesday 26thJanuary. Our pupils ran really well in both events, and wereagainst the top runners in Ulster. Well done everyone and in particular, Cole andErin, who finished 20th and 24th in the JB and JGrespectively.

FOOTBALL UPDATE See our facebook page for more updates on the footballseason so far- Omagh Academy Physical Education!

THANK YOUFOR READINGWE WISH YOU A HAPPY EASTER!

www.omaghacademy.comSCHOOL CONTACT DETAILS02882242688Omagh Academy