Voting for the election of parent representatives on the Board of Governors closed at 12.00 noon on Wednesday 29 November 2017. Votes were counted in the presence of the Headmaster and representative of the Board of Governors. Congratulations to the following parents on their election to the Board for the next four-year term: Mr Randal Gilbert and Mrs Angela Skarmoutsos Thank you to all parents who took time to vote and to all the candidates for participating in this process. C M Byrnes (Dr) Clerk to the Election 1 December 2017

At a blustery Lisnagarvey, Sullivan faced Friends School, Lisburn in the final of the McCullough Cup. The match was a tense affair with Friends having a few early penalty corners, with one saved of the line by Paddy Crookshanks and the other a good save from keeper, Tom McCord. Sullivan started to come into the game and took a halftime lead through a penalty corner, with Paddy Crookshanks scoring. The eager Sullivan supporters thought that this would spur the team on. Halftime – Sullivan 1 (Crookshanks) – Friends 0 Friends started the best after the break and pushed and pushed at Sullivan, finally breaking through with a penalty corner. This was followed after by a lot of Sullivan pressure. Friends made a break and scored a second. Sullivan, not having their best match, continued to push and push. Sullivan won a penalty corner, then with the whistle gone, a few others, eventually resulting in a goal from Harry Morris, touching in a Matthew Willis shot at the back post. Fulltime – Sullivan 2 (Crookshanks and Morris) – Friends 2 Extra time followed, with the thought of a silver goal. No more goals followed in extra time, so it was down to penalty strokes. Both teams scored their opening strokes – Harry Morris, then Tom McCord made a save for Sullivan and Paddy Crookshanks scored. Both teams scored their third stroke – Tom Robson for Sullivan. Friends saved from Matthew Willis and Friends scored. Both teams sitting at 3 all with one to go, Tom McCord made another, vital, save. It was now up to captain Fergus Gibson to slot home his penalty stroke and Sullivan won. Sullivan win 4 – 3 on Penalty Strokes Congratulations to Paddy Crookshanks who was named Man of the Match The team were: T McCord, P Crookshanks, M Willis, T Robson (VC), M Trimble, C Carson, F Gibson (C), M Morris, H Morris, S Erskine, D Girvin, F Kerr, P Rose, I Hart, T McClintock D Erskine and J McAuley (GK) Coaches: Mr P Osborne and Mr A Williamson Please see link below to the BBC News item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/hockey/42260334

The following past and present Moving Image Arts (MIA) pupils won awards at the annual CCEA MIA Showcase. The award ceremony and screening was held in the Odyssey on Thursday 23 November 2017 and was attended by Industry professionals and University partners. The awards were as follows: GCSE Best Film: 3rd place – David Neill A2 Best Animated Film: 3rd place – Piers Niblock A2 Best Film: 2nd place – Taran Mitchell Photo below of Piers Niblock and David Neill.

Following a Semi Final against Banbridge, Sullivan progressed to the final on the 6th of December at Lisnagarvey Hockey Club at 2pm The semi-final first half was a lack lustre affair, with Sullivan having most of the play but not able to do anything with it and in their usual way Banbridge scored from a penalty corner two minutes before the end of the first half. Halftime Sullivan 0 – Banbridge 1 The second half was much different, after a few words during the half time team talk, Sullivan came out with some ‘fight’ about them. They continually put pressure on the Banbridge defence, with Ireland U18 goalkeeper Luke Roleston working hard on keeping a clean sheet. Sullivan eventually made the breakthrough when Matthew Willis stole the ball off a Banbridge defender and shooting when inside the D. This pushed Sullivan on and after a few Penalty Corners the second goal came. Paddy Crookshanks drag flick was deflected over the Banbridge keeper by captain Fergus Gibson, bring delight to the few Sullivan supporters on a cold day. Banbridge pushed at Sullivan’s defence ring a diving save from Tom McCord. Final Score – Sullivan 2 (M Willis and F Gibson) – Banbridge 1

The NI Junior Foil Series consists of 6 fencing competitions held throughout the school year, each round held in a different school or club. There were 12 Sullivan fencers entered in Round 1 held on Saturday 4 November 2017 in Grosvenor Grammar School. In the U14 Girls category Alex Burke and Izzy Evans both took bronze medals, finishing joint 3rd, with Rachel McKillen finishing 5th and Ruzi Statham 7th. Alexander Penny was 10th in the U14 Boys, Cormac Kitchen and Jonathan Mallon 7th and 8th in the U16 Boys, while year eights John Kane, Jonathan Mallon, Finn Neely, Arnav Arava and Cameron Kitchen all competed for the first time. Round 2 takes place on Saturday 9 December 2017 in RBAI in Belfast. David White SUFC Coach

Sullivan have guaranteed a semi-final place from the group stage with a game in hand. Sullivan played Grosvenor in their fourth game of the group stages of the McCullough Cup. Sullivan were dominant in the game with keeper Tom McCord hardly touching the ball before being replaced in the last 10 minutes by Harrison Dunlop. Grosvenor spent the game in their own half and suffered a 10 nil defeat. Sullivan 10 (M Morris 3, F Gibson 2, D Girvin 2, S Erskine, P Crookshanks & T McClintock) Grosvenor 0 Sullivan will face Campbell College in their final group game

The Royal Yachting Association North East of England Youth Sailing Championships, took place at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club over the weekend of 4 and 5 November 2017, delivering all that was expected of it and more, with sunshine, a fantastic breeze and, over 50 youth sailors competing. Sullivan Upper sailor and only Northern Ireland competitor at the event, Sam Rutherford, took a fantastic second place overall in the Laser Radial Class. Sam has had a successful 2017 sailing season with a number of top three results. As winter arrives his training continues with Northern Ireland Youth Performance Squads.

Sam dives for Diving Academy Northern Ireland (DANI) in Bangor Aurora 3 evenings a week and weekends before a competition. Sam is every coach’s dream as he is dedicated, determined, disciplined, at his young age, he has drive and potential to go far in the sport. Sam will be heading off again in 3 weeks’ time to compete in National open championships were he will be competing with teams from Dubai, Europe & UK.

After a tough opening match against local rivals Sullivan came away with a 2 – 1 win with goals from S Erskine and I Hart. The following days saw the team travel to Bandon to play Newtown School. Newtown took an early lead, but Sullivan fought back with a goal from H Morris. Sullivan had their chances, but between failing to hit the target and a man of the match performance by the Newtown keeper, Sullivan couldn’t take a lead. Newtown scored from a penalty corner with the last hit of the game. Newtown 2 – Sullivan 1 H Morris This left Sullivan needing to beat favourites St Andrews to a 4 goal margin. This added pressure to an already hard task. St Andrews went into a lead. Sullivan continued to work hard and eventually equalised through H Morris. Immediately St Andrews went and scored again from a penalty corner to take the lead and they maintained this throughout the game St Andrews 2 – Sullivan 1 H Morris

Congratulations to Djay Erskine, Patrick Rose and Harrison Dunlop for making it through to the Ireland U16 selection process.

Congratulations to Callum Carson, Fergus Gibson, Harry Morris, Matthew Morris and Tom Robson for making it through to the Ireland U18 selection process.

The first home fencing competition of the year, the North West Open, was held on 21 October 2017 in the University of Ulster in Coleraine. Three senior SU fencers entered the women’s foil event: Anna Vaughan, Cece MacMahon and Izzy MacMahon (although Anna had to withdraw at the last moment due to an achilles tendon injury). After the poule stage of the competition, Izzy and Cece were seeded 4th and 5th. The direct elimination stage followed, where Cece was knocked out in the last 8, finishing 5th, while Izzy went on to finish third and take a bronze medal.