Catholic St Anne's primary school applies for integrated status

A primary in County Down has formally applied to become the second Catholic school to change to integrated status.

St Anne's Primary in Donaghadee has submitted a formal case for the change to the Education Authority (EA).

The school is facing a separate proposal from the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) to close it.

In September 2021, Seaview Primary in Glenarm became the first Catholic school in Northern Ireland to reopen as an integrated school.

Ballymena-born film star Liam Neeson, who has called for more integrated education, sent a message of congratulations to the school on the change.

Existing schools can change to become formally integrated as part of a process that includes a ballot of parents to find out if a majority favour integration.

St Anne's is a small Catholic maintained primary school but already has pupils from a range of backgrounds.

According to school enrolment data from the Department of Education (DE) 10 of its 50 pupils are Protestant, 13 are Catholic and 27 are from other religious backgrounds or none.

The case for change, submitted by the board of governors to the EA, proposes that the school formally transform into an integrated school from September 2023.

The governors said that would meet a growing demand for integrated education in Donaghadee.

Proposals are in place to close St Anne's primary

They said the nearest Catholic primary was six miles away in Bangor.

"Without a maintained or an integrated school, the town will be less attractive, in particular, to families from a Catholic culture, tradition or community background," they said.

The governors also said St Anne's could "substantially increase" its enrolment to 140 pupils by 2030 if it became integrated.

In a parental ballot, 96% of parents of pupils backed the change.

But CCMS has also submitted a proposal to EA to close the school in August 2022.

CCMS said there was no evidence that pupil numbers in the school would rise to more than 105, the threshold that DE regards as sustainable.

"CCMS recognises the commitment of the governors and staff but the current challenging circumstances do not provide for a sustainable school," their closure proposal stated.

It will eventually be up to the education minister to decide if St Anne's will close or be allowed to transform to an integrated school.

• Catholic school to become integrated in NI first

• Liam Neeson 'proud' of new integrated school

About 7% of pupils in Northern Ireland are educated currently in just under 70 formally-integrated schools, which aim to mix pupils from Protestant, Catholic and other backgrounds.

However, some non-integrated schools also have a mix of pupils from different religious backgrounds as well as those who are not religious.

A new law requiring the Department of Education (DE) to give more "support" to integrated education was recently passed in the assembly.

The first integrated school in Northern Ireland, Lagan College, opened in 1981.

Earlier this week, Glengormley High School became the first post-primary to transform to integrated status in more than a decade.