Save St Columba’s Primary School, Newbuildings

Petition against Development Proposal No. 754

St Columba’s Primary School is a small, valued local school at the heart of Newbuildings, Northern Ireland. It provides a nurturing environment where children are known individually, supported and encouraged to thrive.

The school also plays an important role in the wider life of the village. Through its close relationship with the neighbouring Primary School, so children from different traditions have opportunities to learn, play and build friendships together within their own community. 

St Columba’s is also a Green Flag Eco-School, reflecting its commitment to environmental learning, pupil responsibility and positive involvement in the wider community.

We believe St Columba’s makes an important contribution not only to education, but also to parental choice, Shared Education, good relations and community cohesion.

We, the undersigned, formally object to the proposed closure of St Columba’s Primary School, Newbuildings, and ask that Development Proposal No. 754 is not approved.

We believe that closure at this time is premature.

The circumstances of both the school and the wider village are changing. Pupil numbers have the potential to grow, new families have expressed an interest in the school, and significant new housing growth is taking place in Newbuildings, with further development planned.

Closing the school now would risk dispersing children away from this community at precisely the time when the village is growing and the school is demonstrating renewed confidence and potential.

We believe decisions about the future of a school should consider more than historic pupil numbers alone.

Before any irreversible decision is made, we believe the relevant education authorities should fully consider all reasonable opportunities to keep the school open and to support it to grow:

• the quality of education and the wellbeing of the children
• recent and potential future enrolment growth
• new housing and planned development in Newbuildings
• the value of small-school provision and composite classes for children
• a full Equality Impact Assessment to understand the consequences of closure for pupils, families and the wider community
• the wider financial pressures caused by chronic underfunding
• how individual parents were engaged in consultation
• the support given to help the school to grow
• the potential for integrated status
• the impact of chronic underfunding in the education sector
• the impact of dispersing the pupils away from the community
• the potential for Specialist Provision in Mainstream Schools (SPiM)
• the potential for Looked After Children and neurodiverse children to thrive in smaller classes and a familiar environment
• the established Shared Education partnership and its contribution to good relations
• the potential of nursery provision
• parental choice and community cohesion
• all other realistic options for securing a sustainable future for the school 

We therefore call upon the relevant education authorities to fully explore every reasonable alternative to closure and give St Columba’s Primary School a fair opportunity to demonstrate that it has a sustainable future before an irreversible decision is made.

Our incredible award-winning school needs support from the local community, the wider city and district, from across NI and beyond.  Please reach out to all you think can support our campaign

St Columba’s – Every Child Known ; Every Gift Grown 

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