The Integrated Education Fund was delighted with the strong parental support for integration at Glengormley High School, where a ballot has returned a resounding “Yes” vote for the school to begin the journey of working towards achieving integrated status.

Principal Ricky Massey declared himself thrilled with the result and thanked parents for their support and engagement in the process. Commenting on the next steps, he said,
“The Board of Governors, leadership and staff are delighted with the overwhelmingly positive outcome from our parental ballot and a very strong message of ‘Yes’ for integration.” (more…)

MLAs debated a motion yesterday (10 March) calling for the implementation of the independent review of education in NI as a matter of urgency. The New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement contains a pledge to establish an external, independent review of education in Northern Ireland, encompassing all stages from early years to post-16 provision and beyond including Further Education and its interface with Higher Education.

The IEF was pleased to see that the NDNA paper pledged an independent review, which is something we have called for; research has also shown overwhelming public support for this. (more…)

Senior figures from the IEF were in London yesterday (04 March 2020) where the Fund hosted a roundtable discussion focussing on the commitment in the New Decade, New Approach agreement to establish an external, independent review of education provision in Northern Ireland.

The event was supported and sponsored by Shadow Northern Ireland Minister, Karin Smyth MP, who was joined by MPs from across the political spectrum, including former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith MP. (more…)

The Minister of Education has announced three new member appointments to the Board of the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), to fill vacancies arising from resignations in 2018. (more…)

The latest paper in the Ulster University series looking at the NI education system examines the Catholic RE Certificate and its impact on employment patterns in NI primary schools.

The author of “The Certificate in Religious Education”, Dr Matt Milliken, argues that reviewing the requirement for all permanent teachers in Maintained primary and nursery schools to gain this qualification could open the way for teachers of all backgrounds to apply to work in all sectors. (more…)

Following the successful parental ballots of two nursery schools to become integrated, the IEF is encouraging more parents to consider the option of transformation to integration for their nursery school. The ‘Integrating in the Early Years’ initiative supports schools wishing to become actively welcoming to children of all backgrounds and traditions. IEF hopes that the initiative could encourage more nursery schools to transform to integrated status and thus to help break down barriers and nurture community relations among children, families and communities.

Both Bangor Central Nursery School and Brefne Nursery School in north Belfast held parental ballots last year, with the vast majority of parents voting for their nursery school to go through the process officially called “transformation” to integrated status. At Bangor Central NS 97.6% of parents voting said yes to integration while 92.6% of parents voting at Brefne NS supported the motion. (more…)