Lagan College

Lagan College was formed in 1981 as the first integrated school in Northern Ireland. It mainly combines students of both Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths however all faiths and none are welcome, and there are already students attending the school from other faiths. It is currently situated on National Trust land, overlooking Belfast. It is named after the River Lagan that flows though Belfast. Today it has over 1100 pupils and 80 teachers.

History

It was opened as a religious response to the conflict in the community and to the religiously divided school system in Northern Ireland. Most Catholic children attended Catholic maintained schools, while Protestant school children mainly attended state schools.

Since 1974 the All Children Together Movement (ACT) had been lobbying against the segregation in schools in Northern Ireland, however even by 1981 there had been virtually no initiatives from either the churches or the government in the direction of integration. So a small group of parents with children at the age of transfer from primary to secondary school decided to take the initiative with the support of ACT. They founded the school in September 1981. It opened in temporary premises at Ardnavally Activity Centre beside the River Lagan in South Belfast.

On the first day there were 28 pupils, and seven staff members including; the Principal, Mrs Sheila Greenfield, one full-time teacher and five part-time teachers. That Christmas the college had to find new premises and was able to move into a vacant primary school in time for the start of the Easter term. It was situated at Castlereagh, on a hill-top overlooking Belfast from the south-east. From September 1983 until Halloween 1984 the new first year pupils, were taught in the Manor House at Cultra until a new building was ready. For the first three years, the College received no government funding. Parents of pupils contributed what they could afford towards the costs. However over £500,000 had to be raised, so an appeal for benefactions by private individuals and charitable trusts was launched to bring the College to the point where it could develop into an economically viable institution. Lagan College gained maintained status in 1984, which meant they were eligible for full funding from the Department of Education. This meant 100% of running costs were met by the Department of Education and the College governors were responsible for 15% of capital expenditure. Its first Chairman was Basil McIvor, a former Ulster Unionist Minister of Community Relations, who was a proponent of integrated education in Northern Ireland.

From 1985 to 1987, due to accommodation difficulties, the 98 new first year pupils were taught several miles away from Castlereagh in the Balmoral area of South Belfast in premises shared with the newly opened Forge Integrated Primary School. A permanent home for the College was eventually found at Lisnabreeny, just outside Belfast thanks to the hospitality of the National Trust. The first temporary buildings were opened at Lisnabreeny in September 1987, however travelling continued between the two areas until September 1991 when the first phase of the permanent school building was opened.

Following new legislation in 1989 concerned with the development of integrated education the then Minister, Dr Brian Mawhinney, the College became a Grant-Maintained Integrated School in 1991. This means that 100% of the costs, recurrent and capital, are now funded directly by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland.

The first third of the permanent school building is open. Approval for the completion of the permanent buildings was given in 2002 under the Department’s Private Finance Initiative at a cost of £11.1 million. It is anticipated that the building programme will begin in 2008.

The School motto

The school uses the Latin motto "Ut Sint Unum" which translates to "That all may be one". This reflects the school's ethos of intregrated education between all races and religions. It is shown as part of the school badge, displayed on the students' uniform.

External links

* [http://www.lagancollege.com Official website]
* [http://www.lagancollege.org/moodle Virtual Learning Environment]
* [http://www.nicie.org Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)]