Portadown Integrated Primary School

Portadown Integrated Primary is a primary school which opened in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1990. When the school first opened it was housed in portable cabins in Chambers Park, home of Portadown RFC. Initially it had a small number of pupils, around 20-30, and lunch was held in the rugby changing rooms. The first head teacher was Mrs Kathy Magee. After growing quite rapidly, it moved to a new semi-permanent building in 1992 in the Kernan area of the town, one of the few areas in Portadown which was considered a mixed area. There are currently 223 pupils enrolled, and the current head teacher is Feargal Magee. The school was one of the first primary schools in the area to openly educate children of both Protestant and Roman Catholic parents together.

History of the school

In November 1989 a group of Protestant and Catholic parents who had been meeting under the auspices of the North Armagh Group for Integrated Education (NAGIE) resolved to form a committee with the aim of establishing an integrated primary and nursery school in Portadown. The decision was inspired by the belief that Catholic, Protestant and those of other faiths and beliefs should have the opportunity of being educated together on a basis of equality, mutual respect and understanding. The school officially opened on 3 September 1990 with 22 primary pupils and 20 nursery pupils. The school was opened by the NAGIE and supported by The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. According to 'In the Frame' it was a grant maintained integrated primary school, which means it comes under the direct authority of the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI), though for the first few years it was not directly funded by any education authority.

Proposed new school development

In January 2013 the education minister for Northern Ireland, John O' Dowd, announced that the school would be granted funding for a full new build. The announcement was welcomed by parents, students and staff with the current head teacher Mr. Feargal Magee describing the news as "a major milestone in the school's history." The construction is highly likely to take place on the current site, which is the preferred option of the school community and will see the prefabricated building in which the school is presently housed totally replaced. It is also hoped that with the new school building enrolment numbers can increase meeting the current high demand for places which, at the moment, with the present facilities cannot be met.

Location

• Kernan Road, Portadown, Co. Armagh, BT63 5RR.

See also

• Education in Northern Ireland
• Integrated Education
• List of integrated schools in Northern Ireland

External links

• Portadown Integrated Primary School online - School Website September 2007
• Portadown Integrated Primary School - Old Website
• NICIE page on PIPS