Strangford College

Strangford College, also known as Strangford Integrated College, is a school in Carrowdore, Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is an integrated co-educational secondary school with a grammar stream for 800 pupils. Clare Foster is the school's current principal.[1]

Strangford College
Address
Abbey Road

Carrowdore, Newtownards
County Down BT22 2GB

Northern Ireland
Coordinates54.5796°N 5.5531°W / 54.5796; -5.5531
Information
Typestate post-primary school
Religious affiliation(s)integrated
Established1 September 1997 (1997-09-01)
PrincipalClare Foster
Genderco-educational
Enrolment800

Context

Integrated Education is a Northern Ireland phenomenon, where traditionally schools were sectarian,[2] either Catholic or Protestant. On parental request, a school could apply to 'transition' to become grant-maintained and offer 30% of the school places to students from the minority community. Lagan College was the first integrated school to open in 1981.[3] As of January 2022, pupils at Strangford College are approximately 45% from a Protestant background, approximately 25% from a Catholic background and approximately 30% from "other" backgrounds.[4]

History

Strangford College opened 1 September 1997, with 64 students and 7 staff. It was awarded grant-maintained status in September 1999.[5]

A new build was approved by the Department of Education in April 2016 and a contractor appointed in 2021.[6]

In 2021, the college applied to raise its official enrolment number from 670 to 760; the minister at first refused the request,[7] but on appeal, reversed his decision. This allows the college to accept 130 year 8 students a year.[8]

The college applied unsuccessfully in 2019 to use transfer tests to select the 35% of pupils it admits to the grammar stream in Year 8.[9] It reapplied in January 2022.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Proposal 622 Strangford Integrated College expansion" (PDF). www.eani.org.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. Lord Baker of Dorking, Daily Hansard, 18 July 2006 : Column 1189 www.parliament.uk, retrieved 22 July 2007
  3. "The History of NICIE | Integrated Education Northern Ireland". Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  4. "Strangford College makes another bid to use transfer test results". BBC News. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  5. "History and Ethos". Strangford College. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  6. "New Build Consultation Boards" (PDF). storage.googleapis.com/siteassetsswd/399/. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. Doyle, Simon (6 February 2021). "Heavily oversubscribed Strangford Integrated College loses bid for extra places". The Irish News. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  8. "Strangford Integrated College – Minister Retakes His Decision". Integrated Education Fund. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  9. Meredith, Robbie (10 July 2019). "Strangford Integrated College 'cannot use academic selection'". BBC News. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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