There are currently a number of schools throughout Northern Ireland who have recently held parental ballots to become integrated through a process called Transformation , four of these schools are awaiting a decision from the Department of Education. (more…)

This past year has been a difficult one for many, not least for our school communities. However, the IEF and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) have continued to support schools and parents that are interested in finding out more about integration. As part of this support, we are holding an online event specifically for School Governors to find out more about the Transformation process and to ask questions of those who have already gone through the process. (more…)

New-Bridge College Release:

On hearing the exciting news that the Northern Ireland Women’s football team had qualified for Euro 2022, New-Bridge College was keen to celebrate this momentous and historic occasion.

Mrs Anderson met with Year 11 student Molly Hoey who plays for the U17 NI team and plans were put in place to invite team captain, Marissa Callaghan to visit the College. Molly reached out to Marissa who responded immediately that she would be delighted to accept the invitation. (more…)

Independent polling company Lucid Talk completed a micro-poll on education among parents in Derry~Londonderry during February. More than 180 responses were received from a representative sample of parents living in the area with at least one child under the age of 12. The results show substantial support for integrated education and were launched at an online event hosted by Lucid Talk and the IEF on Thursday 29 April 2021. Those attending the event included parents, political representatives, local schools and community organisations.

The results of the micro-poll confirm that a majority of the parents (80.6%) have a preference for a school for their children which is openly welcoming to pupils from all sections of the community and that they would also be supportive of their local school becoming integrated (70.97%). (more…)

Integrated schools and supporters of integrated education are urged to have their say on a new funding programme which seeks to support peacebuilding work in NI and the border counties of Ireland.

The SEUPB are seeking your view on the draft content of the European Union funded PEACE PLUS Programme (2021-2027), worth approximately €1bn. It has been designed following a comprehensive cross border stakeholder engagement process, early last year that included 16 different consultation events, with over 1,000 people in attendance. Over 300 survey responses were submitted. A full report of the survey’s findings can be found here. (more…)

Education Minister, Peter Weir, approved Development Proposal (DP) 622 on 26 April 2021 after turning the same proposal down on 01 February 2021. Strangford Integrated College had requested reconsideration of DP 622, supported by the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) and with legal assistance sourced via The PILS Project.

The proposal for Strangford Integrated College to grow year 8 pupils from 110 to 130, with an annual phased increase in the enrolment number from 670 to 760, and to take effect from 01 September 2021, was approved after the Minister reconsidered all the information. (more…)