Extra Curricular

Friends for Romania is a collaborative project between secondary schools in Northern Ireland. Our pupils and teachers have been working in Romania since 1991. The aims of Friends for Romania have been to assist people in need within Romania, and to bring together pupils from different schools and communities in Northern Ireland. In the pursuit of these aims our objectives are to contribute to the development of community relations and mutual understanding between young people in Northern Ireland, and to secure, by joint ventures, material assistance to relieve poverty and improve the well-being of people in Romania.

We have a Year 8 Club on a Friday at lunch-time in our school Library.
This is just an opportunity for Year 8’s to get to know others in their year group.
They have sole use of the Library - to enter weekly competitions, use the computers and kindles, play chess, ask for help with projects or simply sit and chat to their friends.

Chess Club is an after school club held in the library every Wednesday 3.30pm – 4.30pm. It is run by 6th form pupil Michael McPeake who is very keen to encourage all playing abilities. We look forward to welcoming you to our first meeting which will take place on Wednesday 28th September!

Drama Club runs on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 and is offered for all year 8 pupils to avail of. During Drama Club, pupils will play games to develop different skills used in performance. Pupils will also explore a wide range of plays as well as participating in improvisation activities with others. Drama club offers year 8 pupils a chance to engage with others outside of their own class which allows them to forge friendships with other pupils in their year group.

Sixth Form Debating Team

Each year we establish a Sixth Form Debating team, entering various debating competitions for NI schools. Debating increases pupils’ confidence and powers of persuasion while developing their communication skills.

KS3 Fiction Addiction

Pupils meet fortnightly to discuss best-sellers. This is a club for literature enthusiasts who want to share their recommendations and experiences.

Public Speaking Competitions

Pupils from all Key Stages regularly take part and are hugely successful in National and International Public Speaking competitions to include BPW and Soroptimist Public Speaking events.

The President’s Award is the world's leading youth achievement award which gives 14-24 year olds the opportunity to gain recognition for all the fantastic activities that they partake in. There are three progressive levels of programmes, which when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold. The award is a direct challenge from the President of Ireland to young people aged 15-25 to dream big and realise their potential. By taking part in this award, pupils of St Louis will take on exciting personal, physical and community challenges and develop new skills and new friendships. Pupils will complete this award over a period of eighteen months. Throughout this time, they will be involved in various community projects, sporting events and residential opportunities.

Annually St Louis students are given the opportunity to complete Gold and Silver qualifications. The Gold Award pupils will complete a 4 day hill walking expedition in the Lake District National Park. The aim of this expedition is to develop initiative and a spirit of adventure by planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey as part of a team. The expeditions across all levels will involve one practice expedition and a qualifying expedition. The Silver Award pupils will complete a 3 day hill walking expedition and this usually takes place in the Mourne Mountains. Pupils will be hiking, camping and using small stoves to cook from for the duration of the expedition.

After school Art Clubs run Monday - Friday for all GCSE and A Level Art & Design students.

Annually, our students enter the Junk Kouture competition. The preparation for this runs after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Also on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Art Department run Open Club. This is time for all students who are interested in Art & Design and will cover additional art projects, competitions, fundraisers etc. Everyone welcome!

The St Louis Irish Traditional Music Group meets on a regular basis throughout the school year.
Their main purpose is to learn and rehearse Irish traditional music and promote the great work done by the local Comhaltas branches and Irish Traditional Music organisations such as Portglenone CCE, Crosskeys CCE, Dunloy CCE and the Derry and Antrim Fiddlers Association.
The group have played at many concerts and venues over the years and have entertained audiences right across the Ballymena and surrounding area.
These range form cross community concerts in the Braid Arts Centre, the fantastic ‘Factory’ concert hall at The Wild Duck complex in Portglenone, the Slemish and Glenravel Folds and of course entertaining the pupils of Castletower / Loughan Special school to name but a few.

SLG Coders

Code club is a after school club which allows students to explore and learn all about coding and all kinds of Technology.

We meet after school on Monday and we begin with looking at different uses for Micro Bits as well as how to use block coding to programme sprites.

Each week we programme Micro Bits to do different jobs, games or activities which help us to learn how to use block code to create a workable algorithm.

Your imagination is the limit!

Together we will develop skills in coding including app development and will aim to be entering competitions such as BT Young Scientist and SciFest.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday afternoon in the Technology Building!

Year 8 ICT Club

During ICT club, Year 8 pupils are given the opportunity to further expand their skill set taken from Key Stage 2, discrete ICT lessons in St Louis and their own knowledge base. They will also be introduced to new software such as Moviemaker, Photoshop, Game Maker and more.

Our Sixth Form Digital Leaders will play a part in the ICT Club. These pupils have been chosen to act as Digital Leaders for the school due to their expertise in the ICT and Computing fields and will relish to opportunity to help younger pupils.

We look forward to seeing all the new and eager faces this year!

First Lego League Challenge

The First Lego League Challenge introduces Science, Technology and Maths (STEM) to pupils through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Our students will gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program. helping students and teachers build a better future together!

There are many extra curricular areas of the Music department.

• Junior Choir
• Senior Choir
• Orchestra
• String Quartets
• Woodwind ensemble
• Ballymena Festival
• Carol Concert
• Easter Concert

Rehearsals take place on a weekly basis.

Choir rehearsals take place during break time. Orchestra takes place after school on a Tuesday 3.30 – 4.20.

Pupils work towards performing at our annual concerts.

The BT Young Scientist Exhibition is a 4-day exhibition which runs every January. It allows students to showcase projects they have worked on throughout the school year.

Approximately 500 projects are chosen over the whole of Ireland from over 4000 entries.

Our students are given time and resources to be innovative. They will develop their team working skills and home public speaking skills.

This programme will is also great for UCAS points, student's CVs and can contribute to the President's Award etc. They will also work with outside agencies and have increased industry exposure and networking opportunities.

Film club takes place every lunchtime for our Year 8 pupils.

Members will have the opportunity to watch, analyse and discuss films. The club will also allow them to further a hobby and develop friendships and listening skills.

This club allows our students to use French/Spanish in real-life situations, such as creating a product, advertising and selling in French/Spanish or promoting an area in a pretend tourist information office.

The activity is organised by NICILT at QUB (Northern Ireland Centre of Information for Language Teaching) and culminates in an event where the pupils set up a stall and are judged on a number of aspects - language-based, creativity etc.

Pupils work in a team of four and have to organise themselves into various roles - teamwork/leadership/creativity etc. Afterwards, they get a tour of Queen's University.

The Homework Club is held on Thursday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm in the Library for all Key Stage 3 pupils.

Pupils will have access to ICT and library facilities. Homework Club provides an excellent opportunity for pupils to meet new friends as well as complete homework and be provided with extra support if required.

Miss McKeown and the Sixth Form Homework Prefrects will supervise the club.

A healthy snack will be provided!