Shimna Integrated College

Shimna Integrated College
Address
Map
The Lawnfield
King Street

Newcastle
,
County Down
,
BT33 0HD

Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°11′56″N 5°53′26″W / 54.198798°N 5.890528°W / 54.198798; -5.890528
Information
TypeIntegrated secondary school
MottoLearning from each other
Religious affiliation(s)Mixed
Established1994
Local authoritySEELB
PrincipalSteve Pagan
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrolment531
Websitehttps://www.shimnaintegratedcollege.org/

Shimna Integrated College is an integrated secondary school based in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The all-ability school was founded in 1994 with the hope of integrating young people from both sides of Northern Ireland's religious divide and giving all of its students 'self-esteem'.[1]

Context

Integrated Education is a Northern Ireland phenomenon, where traditionally schools were segregated, either run as Catholic schools or Protestant schools. On parental request, a school could apply to 'transition' to become Grant Maintained offering 30% of the school places to students from the minority community. Lagan College was the first integrated school to open in 1981.[2]

History

It opened in September 1994 with 60 pupils.[3] In March 2011, Shimna became the first school in Northern Ireland to organize a gay-straight alliance.[4]

Site

The original buildings are in the process of being replaced with a £16.5m three storey building that meets 2021 design requirements.[3] The plans were approved at the planning committee meeting in April 2021 [5] with completion predicted for September 2023.

Notable former pupils

See also

References

  1. ^ "NICIE". Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  2. ^ "The History of NICIE | Integrated Education Northern Ireland". www.nicie.org. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Plans submitted for new 620-student Shimna College". www.thedownrecorder.co.uk. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Shimna Integrated College forms gay-straight alliance". BBC News. 25 March 2011.
  5. ^ "Planning_committee_agenda__08-04-2021" (PDF). www.newrymournedown.org/. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Your Candidate in South Down is". Alliance Party v2. Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Interview with former student Dara McAnulty featured in Cambridge University magazine". Shimna Integrated College. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.