Historic Derry primary school votes by 90% to become integrated

90% of parents at Culmore Primary School voted yes for the school to transition towards integrated school status.

Located on Culmore Road on the outskirts of Derry, Culmore P.S. is one of Derry’s more historic schools, having been established over 150 years ago. The school has been an inclusive school for quite some time now but has never officially had integrated status.

Culmore Primary school principal Clare McMenamin said: “The staff and Board of Governors of Culmore Primary School are absolutely thrilled that our parents have decided to vote ‘YES’ for this move towards Integrated status. The successful outcome of this ballot just epitomises the progressive vision shared by all at our school. We have always been immensely proud of our inclusive, nurturing ethos here.

“We are excited to be able to progress with our Transformation Action Plan now, before finally submitting our Development Proposal to the Department of Education.”

The only way a school can transition to an integrated status is by having the majority of the parents consenting to it.

Culmore Primary had a ballot for all parents to vote on whether the school should become an integrated school.

Tina Merron, Chief Executive of the Integrated Education Fund (IEF), commented about the results: “We applaud the result of this parental ballot at Culmore Primary School and welcome the school to the growing network of Integrated schools offering Integrated Education in the Derry/ Londonderry area.

"We commend the Board of Governors for giving their parents this opportunity."

"The results from other parental ballots held in recent years suggest that when parents are informed and engaged on the issue of Integrated status for their child’s school, then an overwhelming majority tend to vote in favour.”

“This is most encouraging and reflects the results of many public attitude surveys held on this important issue.”

Roisin Marshall, Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Integrated Education, said: "NICIE is pleased to see parents voting yes for Integrated status at Culmore Primary and we look forward to working with the school on their Transformation journey.”

The next step for the school will be compiling a Development Proposal, which will be submitted to the Department of Education including a Transformation Action Plan. A Minister, or in their absence the Permanent Secretary, will then make the final decision.