The Royal Belfast Academical Institution

🏃Junior Sports Day 2026 🏃‍♂️

Last week, even the rain didn’t dampen spirits at Junior Sports Day!

Our Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 athletes competed in a range of events including 100m – 1500m races, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot, discus, javelin and the closely contested relay races.

Competition was fierce, and with superb displays of sportsmanship, resilience and talent from all we are very proud of every pupil who played their part on the day.

The winners of each Year group were:
Year 8 - Kelvin
Year 9 - Stevenson
Year 10 - Pirrie
Year 11 - Pirrie

And the overall House results were:
🥇1st - Larmor
🥈2nd - Pirrie
🥉3rd - Kelvin
🏅4th - Dill
🎖️5= - Stevenson and Jones

Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Zac, Year 10, on his fantastic achievement at the Four Nations Boxing Championship.

Representing Ireland in Scotland, Zac delivered an outstanding performance to secure a silver medal against top opposition from across the four nations.

We are incredibly proud of Zac's dedication, hard work and success on the international stage, and we look forward to seeing what he achieves next.

Well done, Zac! 🇮🇪🥊🥈

Mr Brian Todd is the latest guest on our RBAI podcast, Beyond the Pillars.

Brian is the former Pastoral Vice-Principal, who has also previously authored a book on the history of RBAI. In this episode, Brian provides an extensive, and very interesting overview of the history of the school.

Listen now:

Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/episode/3WRrmqQP7s9R5imAuYcQYg?si=J5GwmRs4TRes9EcrTAx_wQ

Apple- https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/an-inst-history-with-brian-todd/id1798940685?i=1000772980839

Pictured are the Schools’ Cup winning rugby team of 1890, who defeated Coleraine Inst 16-0!

🏫Year 13 Site Visit and Careers Talk📋

Many thanks to RBAI Board member, Michael Shaw and Architect, Mark Finlay, who organised a careers talk and site visit to our new South Wing building here at RBAI.

Our Year 13 boys firstly gained a detailed insight into the wide range of careers involved in the planning and construction of our new building. They were then given guidance on the career pathways to becoming an Architect, Structural Engineer and Civil Engineer, along with the employability skills employers are looking for within these career areas. The boys then enjoyed a site visit to our new South Wing building, where they got to see first hand what is involved in a building project of this scale.

Thousands of RBAI pupils will benefit from this investment in the coming decades and it will provide a state of the art setting to help us prepare future leaders and innovators.

To find out more about South Wing and how you can support its development visit www.rbaifoundation.org

Blazers won’t button, trousers too short?

Our very popular uniform repurposing shop is opening up once again this summer.

We are gratefully receiving donations of school uniform and sports kit, which can be dropped at the school office on Monday 29th June, Wednesday 1st July, Thursday 2nd July and Friday 3rd July between 9am and 3.30pm. All items must be washed and in good condition for repurposing.

The pop up repurposing shop will be open for purchases on Friday 21st August between 9.30am and 12pm.

🏑Ulster and Ireland Hockey selections🏑

Congratulations to our talented hockey players, who have been selected for the Ulster Under 13 squad heading to Beeston this weekend.

Ben, Conor, Declan, Felix, James, Tom, Archie, Jack, Noah, Omali, Paul and Ross will be joined by Henry from Inchmarlo who has also been selected.

Some of our Under 16 and Under 18 players have also been selected to represent Ireland this summer - well done to Charles, Riley, Zac, Josh and Robbie, an amazing achievement.

Best of luck boys, we are very proud of you all.

🥇Jago aims high!🥇

A massive congratulations to Year 9 pupil Jago, who took part in the Ulster and Northern Ireland Championships last weekend. He achieved a PB of 160cm in the high jump event and came first in the Under 15 category. Well done Jago!

J Ivor B Ferguson

Tremendously sad to hear that Ivor Ferguson has passed away.
Ivor taught at Inchmarlo for thirty years (1961 – 91), serving as Deputy Headmaster.

An absolute gent, Ivor will be remembered fondly by many, especially for his organisation of school trips. Alongside his teaching role, Ivor was elected as a Parent Governor in 1985.

Our thoughts are with Rosemary, sons Stephen (Inchmarlo & RBAI 1971-85) and Jonathan (Inchmarlo & RBAI 1974-88), along with the wider family at this time.