Mid-Down Integrated College: New school set to open

Carl Frampton was among those who backed the plans for the new school

A new integrated post-primary school is to open in County Down, following a decision by the Department of Education's permanent secretary.

Dr Mark Browne has approved the plan for the 600-pupil Mid-Down Integrated College in the Saintfield and Crossgar area.

But the 250-pupil Blackwater Integrated College in Downpatrick will close to enable the new school to open.

Dr Browne said Blackwater's site served as "a barrier to development".

Many of the 250 pupils and the staff in Blackwater will be expected to transfer to the new school when it opens.

A location for the school has not been identified yet, other than it will be close to the main A7 road "from Carryduff to Crossgar".

It will hope to attract pupils who cannot get places in Lagan College, which is one of the most oversubscribed schools in Northern Ireland.

The boxer Carl Frampton was among those who backed the plans for the new school.

Co-chair of the Mid-Down Integrated College steering group, Tim Jackson, said he was "absolutely thrilled" by Dr Browne's decision.

Tim Jackson said there was "huge demand" for integrated post-primary education in the area

"We're all absolutely delighted at the opportunity this offers for integrated education in mid-Down," he told BBC News NI.

"We did a lot of analysis, we went out and asked the local community who would be interested in sending their children to an integrated post-primary school.

"A lot of the data we gathered showed that there was a huge demand in the area stretching between Downpatrick and Lagan."

"Also, there's a cluster of integrated primary schools in that area as well."

The Department of Education (DE) has to proactively "support" integrated education after the passing of a new law at Stormont in 2022.

It means that DE has to increase integrated school places and set targets for the number of children being educated in them.

What is an integrated school?

The integrated education bill passed through Stormont in 2022

While several schools have changed to become integrated since 2022, Mid-Down is the first new integrated facility to be approved since the act was passed.

About 7% of pupils in Northern Ireland are educated currently in just under 70 formally integrated schools.

They aim to mix pupils from Protestant, Catholic and other backgrounds.

The proposal to open Mid-Down College said that there was a need for more integrated post-primary places to serve the wider Lisburn, Castlereagh and Carryduff areas.

About 180 Year 8 pupils, who try to get into Lagan College every year, are unable to get a place.

'Finely balanced'

However, a consultation on the plans attracted more opposition than support, with particular concern about the impact of the new school on the existing Saintfield High School.

The department's own assessment said that any decision to open the new integrated school was "finely balanced," given "the lack of a confirmed site or location for the new school".

But Dr Browne decided that "the establishment of a new integrated college that offers 11-18 provision would provide an opportunity for pupils in the area to transfer to, or remain in, the integrated sector".

'Significant responsibility'

Mr Jackson said that the steering group was "realistic" about the work still needed to open the new school.

"We've got a lot of work to do to plan on how to deliver our development proposal.

"We have a significant responsibility to get this right.

"But we are very confident this builds on strong foundations and a want for integrated education."

Barry Corrigan, principal of Millennium Integrated Primary School, said he was "absolutely delighted" by the decision.

"It's a culmination of many years of planning from the steering group on a very high strategic level," he told Radio Ulster's Evening Extra.

"There's a great opportunity there just to bring integrated education closer to the Saintfield/Crossgar area, especially for children who are coming out of Carryduff and Saintfield."

However, Sarah Lucy-Hynds, principal at Saintfield High School, said she had concerns.

"I suppose our response continues to be embedded in a deep frustration that as a consistently oversubscribed post-primary school in this area we are continually disappointed that we are being deprived of growth," she said.

"For our current Year 8, we have been 87% oversubscribed."

She said while she is aware of parental demand for post-primary integrated education, she added: "I think we need to be very careful that we are not obviously ignoring the parental demand that we see every year".

The new school can open from September 2024 "or as soon as possible thereafter", according to the department.