Poor sports facilities holding us back, pupils tell Givan

The minister also spent time hurling with some of the senior pupils

More than 1,000 pupils at a west Belfast school have written to the education minister asking for a new sports hall and better facilities.

Paul Givan was presented with the letters on a visit to St Mary's Grammar on Wednesday.

The minister also spent time hurling with some of the senior pupils.

But he was told by some pupils that they were "being held back" by the state of the sports facilities at the school.

A recent report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) said many schools needed "significant repair and upgrade to meet modern standards of safety, accessibility, and functionality".

St Mary's was built in 1968 and it has plans for a new sports hall which can also be used by the local community at evenings and weekends.

But it is relying on those plans being funded by the Department of Education (DE) for the new sports hall to be built.

Givan has previously told the assembly that in recent years smaller school building works had been "restricted to emergency and statutory schemes to keep schools open and children safe".

"This is not acceptable," he said.

Pupils at St Mary's told BBC News NI that the state of their sports hall was "frustrating."

Education Minister Paul Givan was presented with letters on a visit to St Mary's Grammar in west Belfast

"It's frustrating because you see great talent in the school and people that have the potential but it's sometimes annoying to see facilities in other schools when it isn't really here," 18-year-old Seán said.

He said sport was "very important to him."

"I play soccer or football and it's a good form of escapism," he said.

"It's really good to take your mind off studying all the time."

Michael says he thinks pupils at his school are "being held back"

Michael, 17, is a hurler but said it felt like pupils were "being held back."

"It dates back to the 70s, some of these buildings and it doesn't work for us," he said.

"I think we're being held back and compared to other schools we don't have the facilities that they do."

"I know this is my last year but we want this sports hall to push on and bring all these kids coming through from first year all the way up and develop them."

He said sport allowed people to connect with their friends and was "a stress relief from exams."

Givan said sport was "a great thing for everybody to be involved in".

"It's something that I very much enjoyed when I was at school and it's something I want to support in all of our schools," he said.

"It makes a big difference, not just in terms of people's physical health and wellbeing but it also helps them academically in schools as well."

But he said he shared the frustration that many principals felt about the state of their school buildings.

Holy Family Primary in Magherafelt has severe damp in classrooms, crumbling brickwork, mould on children's toys, holes in the ceilings, and mice infestations

"I'm deeply frustrated and many principals share their frustration with me that they're in school buildings that are not fit for purpose," he said.

"And the Northern Ireland audit office report recently published said that there's hundreds of millions needed to be invested into our school estate."

"Twenty-five years ago the school I went to had a better sports hall than the one now I'm currently standing in."

"And when you have a school this size - over 1000 boys coming here - they want to be able to access the proper facilities and they're not able to do that."

"That's where the resources are so vitally important, that we can invest in our schools estate."