ASSUMPTION Grammar School’s new multi-million pound building will be officially opened next Friday.
The launch will mark the end of an eight-year project that has turned the Ballynahinch school into a state-of-the-art facility specialising in music.
School principal Mr. Paul McBride said the launch represented a “very special day” in the history of the school, which will soon mark its 80th anniversary.
Although the new school is very contemporary, he said it still adhered to the traditions of Assumption Grammar.
He said staff and governors of the school regarded the eight-year project, that has how drawn to an end, as an “investment in people.”
“We have opened our doors increasingly to the wider community by offering our facilities in the evenings and at weekends,” he said.
“During the school day we regularly welcome our primary and post primary partners who can avail of our pitches and halls.
“Our new building has been properly used as a vehicle to attract expertise from outside, to develop real collaboration and improve our outreach programmes. We are proactively demonstrating that our school exists not only for us but for the good of all in the community.
“The new building and its resources have been of great benefit to us in the planning and delivery of shared Key Stage 4 and 5 courses between the five post primary schools from the Ballynahinch Learning Community.
“We strived to provide the best possible accommodation and tools for our staff, both teaching and support.
“In this way we aimed to match the quality of our physical environment to that of our tremendous staff team with great confidence as we move towards our 80th anniversary celebrations, knowing that we still have all those secret ingredients of success that are dynamic and timeless, and ready to embrace developments which will maintain our status as an ever-improving school.”