Limavady: Work to begin on £11m shared education campus

Work will formally begin on Wednesday on what is set to be Northern Ireland's first completed shared education campus.

The £11m campus, in Limavady, County Londonderry, will see Limavady High School and St Mary's High School share new buildings with science, technology, drama and media classrooms.

They will remain separate schools but with share some classes and facilities.

The project was approved by the Department of Education in 2014.

However, it has taken seven years for work to formally begin.

It is expected to take about two years for the new facilities to be built.

Plans for shared campuses were initially part of the Northern Ireland Executive's Together: Building a United Community (TBUC) strategy.

They would allow pupils from different backgrounds in separate schools to come together to share classes and new buildings.

Principals of both schools say they are delighted that work on the shared education campus gets underway on Wednesday

Education Minister Peter Weir said the campus was a "significant milestone" for both schools.

"Once completed, these new facilities will provide much needed education benefits for pupils, staff, teachers, parents and for the wider community," the minister said.

"I hope the use of these shared facilities will promote good relations and equip the children and young people of Limavady to meet the challenges of being an adult in a shared society."

Limavady High School principal Darren Mornin said the shared campus is an "investment into the future of our children".

"We are one of the first of the three projects in 2014 to be announced to progress to the planning stage," Mr Mornin said.

He added: "This is a significant investment for our children, with over £11m in investment."

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, Rita Moore, principal of St Mary's in Limavady said the shared building should hopefully be ready by Christmas.

"This shared campus is one of the first in Northern Ireland, and many people said it may not come about.

"However, myself and Darren have always had a strong belief that shared education is the way forward for Northern Ireland."

Plans for shared campuses were part of the NI Executive's Together: Building a United Community strategy

The biggest shared campus was set to be the Strule campus on the former Lisanelly Army base in Omagh, where six schools will eventually be built.

But though plans for that project were first announced in 2011, it has run into a number of delays.

Arvalee Special School, which opened in 2016, is the only one of six schools to be built so far and the campus will not be completed until 2025 at the earliest.

Therefore, the smaller Limavady campus will be the first built.

Many schools, though, do take part in shared education partnerships.

St Mary's Limavady and Limavady High School will share some classes and facilities

Shared education involves pupils from separate schools and different backgrounds engaging in some joint classes and activities.

Teachers and school governors from different schools can also work together.

It differs from integrated education where pupils from Catholic, Protestant and other backgrounds are educated together in the same school.

Limavady High School and St Mary's High School are both on the town's Irish Green Street and are separated by a single footpath.

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Pupils from the two schools have been coming together for some classes and extra-curricular activities since the 1970s.

Limavady High offers subjects like drama and learning for life and work to pupils from St Mary's High.

In return, pupils from Limavady High go to St Mary's High to study some technology-based subjects.

The new shared campus buildings will include one of the only engineering suites in a post-primary school in Northern Ireland.

A sixth-form centre, drama, careers and media hub are also part of the new campus.

Education Minister Peter Weir will cut the first sod on the £11m project on Wednesday.