Belfast Boys’ Model School has an excellent record of pupil success, shown in many walks of life,   from the origins of the school in 1857 right up until the latest brand new school on the Ballysillan Road with state of the art facilities.  That success is a combination of excellent teaching by staff, the Board of Governors , the application and learning by generations of pupils, the support of their parents, guardians, the wider North Belfast community.

In 2015, a number of former pupils, led by George Nelson, decided that it would be important to do something practical to recognise the special contributions the school has made to their lives and that of many of their peer group. The outcome was the setting up of the Belfast Boys’ Model Bursary Fund to  provide annual bursaries for boys moving to third level education. The Fund is a company limited by guarantee, registered with the N I Charity Commission and also with H M R C.  In consultation with the school, it was decided the Fund would initially award three bursaries every year, each worth £ 3,000, so providing those boys who are successful with £1,000 for each of three years as they move through University.  

 The School Senior Management team drew up the criteria for the awarding of the Bursaries, based on achievement at G C E A Level, for the three  categories of  Best A Level, STEM and Vocational subjects.  In 2016 the first three awards were made. 

 The Board members who are the Charity’s Trustees also determined  at the inception of the Fund that, as and when sufficient Funds were available (and in particular when the level of Direct Debit funding covered the annually committed outlay), then they would look to extend support to other Bursaries related to boys choosing other Higher level education or skilled based pathways than going to university such as High Level Apprenticeships and HNDs.

 The responsibility of the Bursary Fund Directors is to raise the funds necessary to make the awards.  These  funds have been raised largely through a combination of continuing contributions via monthly Direct Debts and one off donations made mainly by former pupils.  It is very pleasing to note that while the  Annual awards continue to be made based on attainment,  it needs to be emphasised that  those same boys who have been successful,  have also typified the school values of respect, commitment and integrity.

All associated with the Fund have been greatly encouraged by two things.  The first is the practical difference that the Awards have made to the lives of recipients with the early cohorts now having successfully graduated from University.  The second has been the encouragement and support from many former pupils who have given and continue to give finance to enable the Awards to be made.  The school and the Trustees remain extremely gratitude for  generosity of all our donors and for their continued support and the  interest they take in the affairs of the school and its wellbeing .

If you would like to help send a Boys’ Model pupil to university, all you have to do is get in touch and we’ll set you up a direct debit so you can make easy monthly payments to the fund. If you would prefer to make a one off donation we can also arrange that.

Belfast Boys’ Model School has a long and proud tradition of providing educational opportunities for young men in north and west Belfast.  The school now occupies superb new facilities on the Ballysillan Road and has a steady enrolment of almost 1,000 pupils. There is a clear focus in the school on raising the aspirations and achievements of our pupils and evidence of success in this can be seen in the increasing numbers of boys who are applying successfully for university places.

Year on year, past pupils have made their way into successful and rewarding careers in a wide range of professions, in public service and in commerce, not only in Northern Ireland, but around the world.

It is hugely significant to the school community that past pupils who have enjoyed success in their chosen fields and who feel a sense of gratitude to the school, should set up a Bursary Fund which will encourage and support young men who may be destined to follow in their footsteps.  Many of these pupils experience barriers to fulfilling their ambitions to take up university places and these generous bursaries will make a real difference to the life chances of many through the years ahead.

It is with a great sense of appreciation that I commend and endorse the work and generosity of all those involved in bringing the Boys’ Model Bursary Fund into being.

M Montgomery
Principal

A Dinner celebrating 50 years of Sporting and Art & Cultural Achievements at the Boys’ Model School took place on Friday 8th October in the Europa Hotel. It celebrated what the school, pupils and Old Boys have achieved in the fields of sport and Art & Culture over the last 50 years.

From all the feed- back we have received from our guests – and also from the empty plates on the day the Back in Time for School Dinners was a great success. While it was a time of nostalgia for all and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends, for many old boys it was a visit to the ‘new’ school for the first time. A chance to see the wonderful facilities on offer and feel the positive ambiance which the place, staff and pupils generate. Some believed that they would have done so much better in their exams if they only could have been in the Model as it is now and not in their day of portacabins on the front lawn. I am afraid that maybe wishful thinking!

Everyone bar none, were impressed by the pupils who had volunteered to ‘meet and greet’ and act as guides on the day. The boys were friendly, informative and beautifully turned out. A credit to themselves, their families and of course the school. A massive thank you to all the pupils were gave up most of their day off to help make this a great event, bridging the years between them and the old boys from previous generations.

On the day we had a warm welcome from the Principal Mary Montgomery who gave an update on the numbers at the school, the range of subjects now on offer, impressive examination results, cultural and sporting successes. She outlined the value the Bursary and Awards had given to those boys moving in to third level education. We are all so proud of the continuing excellence displayed by the school.

The Architect of the new building is an old boy, Martin Hare, who gave a presentation on his approach to the design on the new building, wanting to retain the key principles of the old building in terms of layout, frontage to the main road, and use of the nature of the site. This was a fascinating insight into how to visualize and plan such an important building.

I had the opportunity to congratulate Mary and Martin and their teams for such an inspiring day and to thank everyone who planned the event with an extra thank you to Roy Adair who did a ‘mountain’ of work to make it happen. Last but not least, all the Old Boys who attended, creating a great atmosphere and clearing all their plates to the delight of the kitchen staff

I must add I was delighted I could still fit into my red honours blazer which I wore when I was at the school in 1965-66 although it did not quite button!

While this event was not primarily a fund raising one but purely a social one, you may be glad to hear the through the generosity of the attendees we raised over £1,000 for the Bursary Fund. We are so grateful to all who contributed.

A massive thank you to Mary, her staff so many boys who gave up a day off school and the catering staff who produced a lovely dinner and were so friendly and fully entered into the spirit of the day. They collectively made this a truly memorable occasion.

Sir Nigel Hamilton

Chair of the Bursary Fund

I am delighted to say that the Fund is in a healthy state in terms of its finances but as always we continue to seek more funding to allow the school flexibility on award and bursary giving each school year with the circumstances facing the eligible boys varying across the cohorts.  

This year we agreed to increase the annual value of each Bursary i.e. new and existing bursaries are now £1200 to reflect inflation since our first Bursaries I n 2016.

This year we awarded 3 full bursaries i.e. for each of 3 years (assuming academic progress); 3 single-year bursaries for the runners-up in each category; a one-year bursary for HND; and a new Award of £500 for a Higher Level Apprenticeship.

This means that since we began, we have awarded bursaries/ awards to 33 boys, to the value of £76,000. I am sure that you will take considerable pleasure, as we do, from the success to date

When  John Nelson a Model Old Boy, who was over from Singapore to visit family, he  was  asked to come along to the school to give a talk to the current lower and upper 6th form and to answer questions about his early life in north Belfast, going to the school back in the 80’s and how he had fared in his business life.

For you who don’t know, John is the younger brother of George Nelson.  Indeed, it was very generous donations from these brothers which helped  ‘kick started’ the fund and led many others to follow.  These  first donations are always the hardest to land and the most vital.

John recalled that while the school did everything to encourage and support him to do his best in all his subjects, he was not a natural studier. In fact, his poor mother was forced on occasions to lock his bedroom door and bar his window to prevent him making his escape from his homework and studies.

The Model and his mum persevered, and John did well enough in his A levels to win a place at the University of Ulster where he really blossomed, not only achieving a degree but also a Doctorate in Physics no less.

It was a time of great excitement and growth in the world of electronics when John moved out of the physics labs at Coleraine. A time of the birth of desk top computers from new companies like Apple and Dell and software start-ups such as Microsoft.  Google, twitter, the internet and mobile phones were still 2 decades away.

John went to Cork to join Analog Cevices, an American based companies and one of the pioneers in silicon design. He went to a city where he knew no one and had no connections but he felt that this was the company to be with, one that would allow him to use the knowledge he had gained in his research and one he could learn from and enhance his career. This was exactly a pattern of calculated risk taking that John would take all his work life, as he moved from company to company around the globe.  His reputation and profile rising to a point where over the last decade he has been head hunted to run extremely large organizations particularly in the Far East.  No more so than UTAC Holdings Ltd, the current company he heads, a silicon device testing company with revenue in excess of $1.7 billion dollars based in Singapore. He has worked previously in California, Boston and Philadelphia. 

John has exhibited the courage and belief that he could make a difference wherever he would end up  and so it has proved time and time again

One of the key messages he wished to impart to all the boys present was that while they should be proud to be a ‘Model’ boy and come from North Belfast, that this should not be any kind of barrier or impediment to having rewarding careers in their business or vocational lives and being good citizens.  He never dreamed when he sat where they were sitting in a school on the Ballysillan Road all those years ago that he would achieve what he has achieved.  As someone who was also a physics degree and understands the silicon industry, I can say that I am in total awe of what John has achieved and know many high achievers in this very demanding industry.

He did also emphasize at the end of his talk; he was not advocating that everyone needs to travel the globe to be successful in life. Indeed, his own brother is a very successful entrepreneur with all his companies based in NI.  George has also travelled the world but mainly in the support of either the Irish rugby team or the British and Irish Lions.

Despite what John has achieved he delivered his talk with great humility. His message was never about the ‘great I am’   but that he had sat were they were sitting coming from the same background and upbringing.  John emphasised that each of the boys sitting in the room to-day can do and achieve more than they probably believe they can right now. 

 The boys present then took part in a lively Q&A session

John thanked the school for all they did to help him achieve what he has done in life and wished all the  boys good fortune in their exams and their lives. Mary (Montgomery)  in turn, thanked John for taking time out from his visit back to NI to give such an inspiring talk to the boys  and for his kind word about the school.  And of course, for his very generous support of the Bursary Fund.

John and George are two very remarkable and very generous brothers who are a credit to themselves, their families, society, and the Boys’ Model.

Directors
Sir Nigel Hamilton (Chair ) - email
Dr Bryan Keating (Company Secretary) - email
Dr Roy Adair (Company Treasurer) - email

Officers
Mrs Mary Montgomery
Mr Tom Andrews
Mr Ronnie Armour
Mr George Nelson
Mr Mark Gilmore
Mr Frank Shivers

You will also be aware that we were determined to appoint new Board Members from younger generations of former pupils who could, in time, take over the Fund governance. I am delighted to say that Mark Gilmore and Ronnie Armour (both of whom reached very senior posts with large public organisations) joined the board last year and are already making significant contributions. We have just appointed Frank Shivers who has a range of business interests and who is especially skilled in PR/PA and communications. We are pleased with this progress, and Mary (our esteemed Principal) and I are still, of course, hugely grateful to our other Board members for their continual personal contributions and interest in helping set up and develop the Fund.

I am also pleased to report that through the personal contacts of several Board members, the school has benefitted from the tremendous and very generous gift of a 7-person people carrier, to help transport pupils to sport and other events (the school also purchased one from its savings, and this impressed the donor!).   A commercial barista quality coffee making machine plus coffee beans to help the boys set up a small business and improve their potential for part-time jobs was also purchased with funds provided by other individual donors.   The boys will receive professional training from an external experienced Barista as well as commercial coaching on how to run a profitable business.  Both these gifts will make a significant impact on the lives of many boys over the next number of years.

During the summer we received a cheque from the USA for $12,000 for the Fund from an individual - John H Crawford - whose father came from Belfast and fought in World War I. He had found us through the website and wanted to help.  As always, we wrote him a very fulsome reply, following which he has sent another $12,000, this time for the school to use in helping pupils through sport.  This wonderful and very generous donation will be used by Mary (our esteemed Principal) in various ways.  It proved the worth of the work done on the Fund and school website, especially by Kerry Deehan, a teacher at the school who kindly volunteered to support and update all the Fund’s web pages.

I hope that you will be pleased with this progress and, like us, continue to take great satisfaction in being able to help give back something to the current generation of pupils. 

We thank you all for your continued support.