Catholic schools could be merged

Catholic schools could be merged

11 July 2012 - by Ciara Colhoun

DOWNPATRICK’S Catholic secondary schools are on the brink of great change following the publication of a report indicating a move towards streamlined co-educational provision.

St. Mary’s High School, De La Salle Secondary School and St. Patrick’s Grammar School will face the biggest changes of all schools across the district as a result of the report, which was published on Thursday.

They are understood to be working towards a long-term vision of a single merged school on one site, which would most likely be centred on the newly developed St. Patrick’s Grammar School. It would be designed to provide an extensive range of subjects and facilities to girls and boys between 11 and 19, but financial constraints mean it is unlikely that such a school will be developed in the immediate future.

Instead, the report suggests a move towards formal collaboration between the three schools, which have been asked to draw up a development plan this academic year with a view to implementing major changes by next September. These changes are likely to centre on the creation of a merged school operating across a split-site campus over the short-term.

Brother Patrick Collier, from the De La Salle congregation, which is leading the development plan with support from the Down and Connor Diocese, told the Down Recorder the congregation would not “shy away” from new development and he confirmed the overall vision for the town was to create a school for all young people.

He said this was more likely to be across a split site in the short-term due to financial constraints but trustees and governors were expected to draw up a model over the coming months that would meet co-educational needs.

He said the collaboration was likely to become more formal with the eventual establishment of a legal board to oversee the united school body.

“We are morally and socially obliged to address the best interests of all our young people and we have to streamline our provision,” he said.

“We will not shy away from this development.”

Meetings between trustees of St. Mary’s HS, De La Salle HS and St. Patrick’s Grammar School will begin in September to determine the best way forward for

the schools over the coming year.

Other schools across the district will also face changes as a result of the new report, which looks at a number of options for each main town including the possibility of a strategic alliance between Ballynahinch High School, Saintfield High School and Down High School, collaboration between St. Colman’s High School and Assumption Grammar School, which will remain as an 11-19 girls’ grammar school, and the continuation of St. Malachy’s High School as a stand alone model.

The report also recommends monitoring St. Colmcille’s High School in Crossgar depending on the future provision in Downpatrick and monitoring St. Colman’s High School depending on the changes in Ballynahinch town.