New nursery unit opens in Killyleagh

New nursery unit opens in Killyleagh

17 January 2018

KILLYLEAGH Integrated Primary School’s new nursery unit has been officially opened.

The ribbon to mark the opening of the new facility was cut last Friday morning by Baroness May Blood, chairwoman of the Integrated Education Fund who was the guest of honour.

She was joined for the short ceremony by Amber Carroll and Jacob Munyangaju and the guests were entertained by the children who serenaded them in song.

School principal, Jason Milligan, was joined by US Consul General Dan Lawton and senior officials from the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, including Denise Morgan. 

Other guests included Donna O’Connor from the Controlled Schools Support Council and Tina Merron, chief executive of the Integrated Education Fund.

Guests were welcomed to the official opening, which had been postponed after heavy snow and plummeting temperatures last month, by Jim Lindsay, chairman of the school’s Board of Governors.

Mr Lindsay said he was delighted to see Baroness Blood back at the school and extended a particular welcome to Mr Lawton who was making his first visit to Killyleagh.

“The official opening of our nursery unit is a very special occasion. The unit has been an outstanding success and a great community asset. Killyleagh Integrated Primary School is going from strength to strength and we very proud of what we have achieved in such a short space of time,” he continued.

Mr Lindsay also thanked Mr Milligan and the staff for their continued hard work over the past number of years. He said there is no doubt a good part of the Shrigley Road school’s success is down to them.

Mr Milligan thanked the Integrated Education Fund and Northern Ireland Council for their support and guidance.

“They have been a key part of the success we have had and I wish to formally thank them for all they have done for us over the past few years,” he added.

Baroness Blood believes integrated education has a critical role to play in Northern Ireland’s future and said she was “delighted” to open the new nursery unit.

“I am very passionate about integrated education as I believe this is the only way we are going to have a shared future in Northern Ireland when we start to mix our children together when they are as young as possible so they learn about each other and not be afraid of each other,” she continued.

Baroness Blood said she still gets a great thrill attending the opening of new integrated primary schools and nursery units.

“Events like this in Killyleagh absolutely make my day,” she continued. “I would encourage any school that is thinking about moving towards integrated status to do so. In my opinion, this is the way Northern Ireland has got to go if we are ever really going to change ourselves.”

Baroness Blood also believes there is a role for politicians to support the integrated education agenda.

She added: “Politics as we all know is in a mess here at the moment, but there are a lot of good people on the Stormont hill pushing this issue and I think that is vitally important. We have to change the policy and we have to move towards getting a better, shared future for everyone, especially our children.”

Rowallane councillors Billy Walker and Terry Andrews said they were delighted to be attend the official opening of the nursery unit and praised everyone associated with the school for their hard work.

The councillors said the Killyleagh school continues to go from strength to strength and praised parents in the town and surrounding area for continuing to support it and the excellent teaching staff.