The Royal Belfast Academical Institution

Kelvin House

Year 8 Kelvin 23.jpeg

Back Row: Reece Murray; Dara Overend; Charlie Shaw; Andrew Thompson; Max Thompson; David Watters; Ethan Weir; Alfie Wright

Second Row: Rudy Johnston; Seazon Kandel; Felix Loebnau; Reuben McCullough; Chester McGann; Harry McKenna; Oliver McLean; Riley Mornin; Jayce Morrow

Front Row: Milo Bosket-McGuigan; Ben Brown; Christian Chivers; Noah Clokey; Mr McMullan; Mrs Panaite; Oliver Cockcroft; Harley Davies; Mason Hanna-McComb; Caleb Heak

House History

Kelvin House was one of the original four Houses, founded in 1926. It is named after the scientist Lord Kelvin, who was born William Thompson at 17 College Square East, Belfast. He attended the Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a Maths Professor. He later graduated from Cambridge, where he was a champion rower and one of the founders of the university music society.

As a scientist his achievements were many, but he is probably best remembered for his work with temperature, his discovery of absolute zero and his new scale of temperature, now known as the Kelvin scale. He also played a major part in the plans for the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable, linking Ireland with Canada.

Among many honours and awards were President of the Royal Society, Edinburgh, Chancellor of Glasgow University and Lord Kelvin of Largs. He died in 1907 and is buried beside Newton in Westminster Abbey. A statue in his honour was unveiled at the Botanic Gardens, Belfast, in 1913.

Senior Housemaster: Mr S McMullan

Year 13: Mrs K Parks

Year 12: Ms P Miller

Year 11: Mr D Ross

Year 10: Mrs M Finlay

Year 9: Mr D Gray

Year 8: Mrs A Paniate

Head of House: Alex Place

Deputy Head of House: George Palmer

House Secretaries: Oliver Billing and Adam O’Toole

Senior Prefects: Angus Carson

Prefects: Oliver Billing, Luca Coates, Gerry Dempsey, Jacob Dowie, Charlie Gaw, Adam Kihal, Peter McConnell, Jamie Nicholl, Caleb O’Shea, Adam O’Toole, George Palmer, Alex Place, Alex Rainey, Paddy Spollen, Robbie Wilson, Lewis Wright

Mentors: Paddy Spollen, George Palmer, Alex Place, Jamie Nicholl, Alex Rainey

Valete: Samuel Ballantine, Adam Baskin, Josh Eagleson, Mark Eames, Daniel Hailes, Jack Hammond, Adam Hawthorne, Ben Henry, Jack Hollway, Dylan Jameson, Callan Johnston, Micheal Knox, Ryan McKenna, Sam O’Neill, Zak Pallin, Sam Patterson, Aaron Rose, Reuben Scott, Callum Simms, Andrew Thomson, Lewis Tolerton, Callum Ullah, Ethan Young

First, I would like to welcome and congratulate the new Year 8 pupils and other new members of the House who have joined the school this year. I wish you all every success, as well as hoping that you will have an enjoyable and memorable time at Inst, whilst getting involved in the various activities offered by the school.

This year saw Kelvin engage in a wide range of events in a highly contested House competition. Pupils were able to earn well-fought wins in House competitions and the junior Kelvin pupils managed to win Junior Sports Day and finished second at Senior Sports Day.

Kelvin also led the way academically. In Year 14, Aaron Rose achieved an outstanding 4A*s as well as Jack Holloway who obtained 3A*s and an A. In addition, Sam O’Neill and Ethan Young gained 2A*s and an A and 3As respectively. On behalf of the House, we would like to wish the boys well as they go off to pursue their careers.

At AS-Level, pupils performed well across the board. Standout performances include Oliver Billing and Angus Carson who obtained A* and 3As and Adam O’Toole who achieved 4As.

At GCSE, Robbie Henderson achieved 7A*s and 3As, Conor O’Connell 2A*s and 7As, Adam Robinson 3A*s, 7As and 1B and Josh Thompson 3A*s, 4As and 2Bs.

In Year 8, David Agnew was selected for NCU U13 cricket, Zach Alderdice attended the World Trials for Irish U14 trampolining, Bryson McClelland was selected for All-Ireland boxing in the U13 38.5kg weight class and Thomas McGurnaghan won the Irish Minibike Championship for U15s. Year 9 pupil Dylan Shanmuganathan won the Ulster Schools title for table-tennis and was runner-up in the All-Ireland competition. In Year 10, Luke Livingston, Jack Coulter, Jamie Stewart and Adam Millar won the U14 A rugby tournament. Adam Millar also finished second in Ulster Schools Judo, Ben Skelton-Scott was picked for the Ulster Schools Cross Country team and Frank Hollway was selected for U16 and U15 Ulster Hockey and NCU cricket respectively. Leo McCappin won the U14 Tennis Ireland competition. Year 11 boys Tom Alderdice, Connor Ballantine, Ronan Hamilton, Jonah Power, Conor Patton and Dylan Morrow were all members of the Medallion Shield winning team. In Year 12, Charlie Gray and James Kerr were picked for the Ulster U18 Rugby squad, while Michael Holloway was selected for the Ulster and Ireland at U16 Hockey squads. Year 13 pupil Alex Place was a key member of the Schools’ Cup winning squad and was also selected for U19 Ulster Rugby; George Palmer was picked for U18 Ulster Hockey; Charlie Gaw represented RBAI in the Bath Cup swimming competition and cadets Peter McConnell and Alex Rainey were both promoted to Colour Sergeant and Company Sergeant Major respectively; and Alex Rainey was also Team Captain for the CCF shooting team.

I’d like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all the House members, to thank Mr. McMullan and the tutors for their constant support and guidance.

Oliver Billing and Adam O’Toole (House Secretaries)

8K Pupils enjoying the residential trip to Ganaway

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Charlie Gray won the Kelvin Cup for Most Outstanding Contribution

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Dec
05 2023
School ends at 2.05 pm - Condensed day
Dec
06 2023
McCullough Cup - Hockey - Final (tbc)
Dec
06 2023
Foundation Scholarship Evening
Dec
08 2023
Year 10 Workshop 'Made for More'
College Square East, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT1 6DL
Tel: 028 90 240461
© 2023 The Royal Belfast Academical Institution