Strangford College
Address
Abbey Road

Carrowdore, Newtownards
County Down BT22 2GB

Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°34′47″N 5°33′11″W / 54.5796°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

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]

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. 1 2 "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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