BREAKING NEWS: ‘St Joseph’s to close’ in radical schools shake up

Parents and teachers have been told that St Joseph’s College in Coleraine is being earmarked for phased closure from September 2015 in a radical shake up of post-primary Catholic education in Coleraine and Portstewart, The Coleraine Times can exclusively reveal.

By David Rankin

Published 28th May 2014, 10:51 BST

This will mean that there will be no admission from Year 8 at the Beresford Avenue school from that date and closure would take effect from August 31, 2017.

The proposals include the establishment of two all-ability, inclusive centres of excellence - one at Loreto in Coleraine, on a single site, with a minimum enrolment of 1,100 and one in Dominican Portstewart, on a single site, with a minimum enrolment of 600.

Parents and teachers were informed of the proposals at meetings in the three schools on Tuesday.

The proposals will now go out to a one month consultation.

Watch this space for further developments and reaction. We will carry a full report in The Coleraine Times on Tuesday, June 3.