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Recent News
Special Reports |
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All the delegates headed off to their committee rooms where the 1st
resolution was debated. The standard of debate was fairly high despite
this being the first conference of the school year and many new
delegates really showed their skills. Our guest chair Ire Ife-Alabi and
her co-chairs se ttled what was quite a busy committee room and
benefitted from the ‘bribes’(sweets) on offer. There were several
breaks during the day to allow delegates to mix between committees,
visit the tuck shop and take a break. Several resolutions were debated
and amended throughout the day with many committees making great
progress in passing the resolutions.
Lunch again allowed time for
delegates to chat to the friends they had made in past years and during
the morning sessions.
After lunch the last resolutions
were debated and then the General Assembly began. This is where the
delegates meet up with the rest of their delegation or assigned country
with the main focus being larger world issues. The alternative ‘focus’
in some delegations
 from one perspective was the note passing to other
delegations including some serious flirting and a mesmerising ‘connect
the dots’ game with France. Despite these enjoyable distractions it was
clear the main action was at the debating podium where the Chinese
delegation from Wesley College were defending their 2010 title in a
heated debate on human rights despite fierce attacks from other nations!
At the end of the General
Assembly, a band from the college played acoustically whilst the tough
decisions on the winners were made. Many prizes were handed to out to
Wesley College delegates as well as the top delegation prize which was
proudly retained by the Chinese Delegation.
The conference wasn’t all
serious, with banter flying around the place, jokes being said, rap
battles taking place in committee rooms and those funny amendments. All
in all it was a fun day out and many prizes came back to Wesley
Owen Clarke
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The Sedgwick Show is interactive and the pupils were enthusiastic with
their contributions and comments. It’s not an easy task these days to
hold an audience’s attention but Sedgwick did it with aplomb.
All pupils were given a
page in class which featured three opening Sedgwick pages and pupils
were then invited to take any of the opening sentences and add five of
their own. A panel of judges sifted through the hundreds of entries and
a short list was drawn up.  The
top three entries were judged by Marcus Sedgwick himself. He said that
he was very impressed and placed Stephanie Cafolla Third with ‘Fear
gripped my guts like tangled wire. As I gripped the note tightly between
my fingers, I ran my index finger slowly over the dents in the rough
piece of card. As I carefully went through each line trying to find a
hidden message, I got a smell of disappointment and fear. Once done with
it, I launched it into the fireplace hoping for flames to put out the
torture. I stood there, watching, waiting, iron-cold and stone-still.
But nothing; still nothing.’
Alice Marcouse came
second: ‘Fear dripped my guts like tangled twine. Then Pain slowly
joined him. The knife had hit my hand. Slowly Death came along. The
friendship among the three of them grew stronger. While I got weaker and
weaker.
 And
[trumpet sounds!] Nadia Armstrong was named First: ‘Death can come in
many forms, but in Venice, death comes by water. ‘The Blood’ cut through
the murky canals like ice; he was fast like a bullet and strong like a
swan. We were a flock, airborne, heading towards the Ghetto. ‘The Blood’
quickened his pace, licking his lips in anticipation and for the first
time in my life I was scared, truly scared. Nazanzaria signalled the
fall; it was easy and for a split second I didn’t doubt myself, but then
we hit the water. It swirled around us, some swallowed the black liquid
and fell into its depths never to be seen again, but I stayed strong,
swimming up to the front near Naranzaria, but he had stopped, we were
too late.
To very, very
enthusiastic applause Helen Major thanked Marcus Sedgwick for a
stimulating and wonderful talk and presented him with a gift.
Niall MacMonagle |
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Interschools Music Festival report
continued......
A wonderful victory by the Chamber
Choir saw them retain the David Wilson Cup for another year after their
stunningly polished performance which left the adjudicator in no doubt
as to who deserved first place. The Junior Choral Group came
very close to victory in the two-part choir competition but was beaten
into second place by Kilkenny College for the Epworth Cup. There were
also Highly Commended Certificates for the Senior Girls Choir, the Male
Voice Choir, Wesley’s Barbershop group and the Senior Choir. A
long but rewarding day of competitions followed on Saturday with a huge
number of competitors across many varied disciplines from percussion,
strings, woodwind, classical, popular and Irish song to solo guitar
performances. The rock band competition, now in second year, had
the added reward of a specially commissioned trophy, which was
generously sponsored by the PTA and awarded for the first time to the
winners by their chairperson Linda Dwyer Joyce. Silver medal
successes came for Damian Bourke(Organ), Javier Roper (U14 piano solo),
Paul Mullen and Alastair Greene (piano duet), Eilis Dexter (U14
classical singing), Edwina Clarke and Aaron Clarke Maher (U15
unaccompanied Irish song), Isaac Harris (U15 percussion), Wesley Flute
trio of Sarah McGurk, Jennifer Anderson and Esther Glenfield (O15
chamber music) and for many Wesley musicians who were highlighted by
adjudicators and earned Certificates for their performances.
Top prizes went to Paul Mullen who
claimed the St. Columba’s Cup for organ solo, Phoebe White
was awarded the Stansted Cup for U14 strings, Rory White who was
presented with the Hamilton Cup for U16 strings for a second consecutive
year, Carla White was also successful in her bid for the Arbuckle Cup
for senior strings and Alastair Greene took the High School Cup for U16
piano solo.
The Habitat Café supplied a lots of gorgeous snacks
and countless cups of tea and coffee which were much needed to keep
everyone going for the entire weekend, as they prepared for their
forthcoming trip to Romania. Congratulations to all of the
competitors who took part and a huge thanks to everyone who helped out
at the Festival, particularly the PTA who worked tirelessly throughout
the weekend. A final word of thanks goes to our wonderful Festival
Administrator, Mrs Anna Miller, whose hard work throughout the year is
much valued and appreciated and makes the Interschools Music Festival
such a success. |
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WCDMUN09 continued.....
This is the second time Wesley has hosted WCDMUN and
this year facilitated debate in 7 committees: Health, Human Rights,
Political, Ecology and Environment, Economic and Social, Historical and
Security Council. In these committees, resolutions to world issues such
as the Global Financial Crisis and the question of Tibet were submitted
and amended. Uniquely, MUN is a student-run activity. All debates were
chaired by 19 Wesley College students and 2 guest Chairs from Methodist
College Belfast. 30 Wesley students took part as delegates are a number
were rewarded for their efforts:
Christopher Sloane, Commended, Political Committee,
CANADA, Kevin Stone: Highly Commended, Ecology and Environment
Committee, CANADA, David Burke, Commended, Historical Committee, RWANDA,
Megan Skelly, Commended, Human Rights Committee, SYRIA, Matthew Nuding,
Commended, Human Rights Committee, FINLAND, Jayne Misstear, Best Junior
Delegate, Political Committee, FINLAND, Jordan Boyd, Best Junior
Delegate, Human Rights Committee, JAPAN, Conor Brady, Best Junior
Delegate, Health Committee, JAPAN
A large group of student volunteers also provided
support as Security Guards, Secretaries, IT support and Press team. In
all about 100 students from Wesley were involved in the Conference.
Those who deserve commendation for hosting a very successful event are
the office holders who formed part of the organizing committee.
Eve Kearney, Secretary General, Thelma Harris, Deputy
Secretary General, Victoria Veitch, Head of Chairs, Katy Rae, Deputy
Head of Chairs, Natasha Waugh, Head of Press, Olwen O’Meara, Head of
Secretariat, Ben Doyle, Head of Security, Mark McGarry, Head of IT
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London Choir Trip
continued................
This was a hugely enjoyable morning in which we
learned some traditional Gospel songs and moves, as well as performing
an original composition by tutor, Danny Thomas. Evensong in
Westminster Abbey with all of its ancient ritual and formal musical
settings, in stark contrast to the morning of Gospel music, was next
followed by a very different perspective on the city sights from a pod
on the London Eye. Saturday night was a real highlight for many –
Wicked the Musical in London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre. A
superb show packed full of brilliant solos, duet and ensemble singing
that was absolutely full of energy from some of the best performers on
an amazing set and with brilliant lighting effects. The stunning
Church of Alias Saint Vedast, which stands in the shadow of Saint Paul’s
Cathedral, was our place of worship on Sunday where the Choir led the
service with modern settings of the Kyrie, Agnus Dei,
Sanctus
and Benedictus as well as Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
as the Introit. Sunday also included Shakepeare’s Globe
Theatre as well as shopping, ice-skating and bowling. Our final
day in London brought us to Covent Garden where a tour of the Royal
Opera House brought us into the very centre of this vast and
technologically impressive building where we were lucky enough to see a
ballet class, a technical rehearsal and even the royal toilet! We
were also very kindly allowed to sing in the floral room, a beautiful
glass structure flooded with light. Time to explore the markets or
just enjoy lunch in the sunshine was followed by our final visit which
brought us to the National Gallery where we were introduced to some
music themed paintings by Renoir, for example. A magnificent four
days of music and culture in London with a brilliant bunch of pupils.
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Michael
Longley in Wesley continued.....
Longley
spoke of his life as a poet and described it as 'an inner adventure'. He
wrote his first poem at sixteen and the first poem he ever published,
'Marigolds', in the Trinity College magazine Icarus, he recited from
memory, telling his audience that he wrote it to impress the
girls, adding that 'it didn't work'. I'm still recovering from my broken
heart.' That was March 1960 and his father, who died the following
year, said of 'Marigolds' that 'it wasn't worth the paper it was written
on'.
Longley told some wonderful stories – for example, of his visit to
Buckingham Palace to receive the Gold Medal ('it looked like there was
chocolate inside!'). When the Queen asked him ‘What are you going to do
with it?’ he told her that he was going to wear it going shopping’. He
told us how it felt so strange when he walked into the room ‘and there
she was. We sat on a sofa, it’s not a conversation, it’s called an
audience and I was told by her equerry to call her Ma’am, which rhymes
with lamb. I brought with me photographs of my father who had received a
medal, from the Queen’s grandfather, George V, for bravery during the
Great War and she was interested to see those.’ In those photographs
there was a balustrade in the background and the Queen had an equerry
show Longley the exact spot where his father has stood for his
photograph in the gardens of the palace years earlier. ‘And I thought as
I stood there that perhaps my poetry was worth the paper it was written
on after all.’ He added that he had gone into Buckingham Palace a
Republican and had come out a Royalist.
Longley
read ‘Wounds’, ‘Carrigskeewaun’, ‘Wreaths’, ‘Last Requests’, and
‘Ceasefire’, powerful and evocative poems, and offered marvellous and
detailed commentaries on each one. He also spoke, from memory, a recent
poem about his grandson and answered questions from the audience
including a question from Keith McElligott: ‘Do you have a special place
where you write?’ Longley replied that he liked a quiet place but that
said he began one of his best known poems, ‘Ceasefire’, on the
Dublin/Belfast train.
‘Poetry,
it is my religion. There were eight years of silence when I didn’t
write, the poems just didn’t come to me’ but he recommended the life of
a poet and ‘the strange adventures’ that poetry made possible. He
likened our growing old to the shedding of skins, as a snake does, ‘but
there is no shedding of skins for the artist. Never grow up is good
advice for the artist and out of the ramblings and rattlings in the back
of my head I make poems.’
Longley
talk was warm and generous and humorous and entertaining and he
captivated his young audience. Kate Willis thanked Michael Longley for a
wonderful visit and she and Ben presented him with a gift on behalf of
everyone lucky to have been there.
When the
dazzling and colourful Romantic poet Shelley (1792-1822) died by
drowning at the age of thirty, the Victorian poet Robert Browning was
only a ten-year-old boy. Years later Browning met someone who had known
Shelley and he wrote those famous lines that capture the magic of having
met someone who had known someone unique and special. The teenagers in
the Myles Hall on that January day saw Longley plain and he did stop and
speak to them. They will remember it in years to come; it is something
that they will tell their children. ‘How strange it seems and new’.
Niall
MacMonagle
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