'Sadness' as two Ballyclare schools to close next year

Straid Primary, which has been educating children in the village for 195 years, is due to close in the summer of 2024 alongside Upper Ballyboley Primary. The schools are just over three miles and five miles respectively from Ballyclare.

Principal of Straid PS, Mrs Dawn Boyd explained the school’s parents and guardians were due to meet on Tuesday evening (September 26) to discuss the development. It follows an unsuccessful bid to transform to the integrated education sector.

In May 2021, the Newtownabbey Times reported how the Education Authority (EA) was taking forward a proposal for the discontinuance of the Irish Hill Road school with effect from September 1 2023.

Residents from across the village commenced a campaign to oppose the proposal. Last year Straid PS submitted a proposal to transform to integrated status in a bid to secure the school’s future. However, in a letter from the Department of Education’s Permanent Secretary Mark Browne, Straid PS and Upper Ballyboley PS have been told they are to close in August 2024.

A statement, issued this week by the school’s board of governors said: “After 195 years of providing educational excellence for generations of children, the board of governors wish to put on record their disappointment and sadness in response to the Department of Education’s announcement to permanently close our doors on August 31 2024.”

The governors went on to express their frustration at the alleged “lack of transparency from the Education Authority throughout both the integrated application and school closure processes”.

The statement continued: “Moving forward we remain fully committed to providing educational excellence through Straid Primary, ‘Where Every Child Matters.”

The Upper Ballyboley community is also coming to terms with the news their school is to close in 2024.

Principal, Mr Stringer, who has been in post since 2021, stated: “The community of Upper Ballyboley are extremely saddened by the news of the school’s closure, but we aim to have an exciting final year in which the school’s rich history will be celebrated.

"I’d like to thank both current and past staff as well as the governors who have supported the school. I’d also like to thank the parents whose trust and support in our school has been important in creating such a positive learning environment. Finally, I’d like to thank all of the children who have made the school the best primary school I’ve worked in.

“It’s a shame that a school so special can be taken away from a community instead of being supported to continue the excellent education it delivers for every child.

“We promise to continue providing our children with the highest standards of education that we’ve always provided and ensure that we will celebrate this special school with our community throughout this final year.

“The governors have rigorously supported the school during the last few difficult years and will continue to sustain and promote the interests of the children, parents, and staff in our final year.

“Unfortunately, this decision is final, and the school cannot stop this process due to the number of children we have leaving for secondary at the end of this year. We continue to work with the EA to support the transition of children and staff into their future schools.”

The Department of Education and EA have been asked for comment.