Loreto College in Coleraine is planning to end academic selection

LORETO College Specialist School in Coleraine is to abandon academic selection.

The Casterock Road school is planning to admit children of all academic abilities from 2012 or 2013.

This means that the school will not be using an entrance exam at age 11 to decide which children they will select.

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In a statement issued yesterday, principal Brian Lenehan said: "The issue attracting recent media attention in Loreto College has been in the public domain for some considerable time now.

"The college is pursuing a development proposal which will remove academic selection as a criterion for entry to the college for the September 2012 intake.

"This is being done following consultation with staff, parents and pupils and with the support of the Board of Governors and the Loreto Trustees.

"The development proposal is now with the NEELB and the Department of Education and, following publication shortly, will be subject to further consultations for a two month period. It is the imminent publication of the development proposal that precipitated the recent media attention."

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Mr Lenehan said it was "important to emphasis that the status of the college will not change".

"(The school] will retain its Voluntary Grammar designation despite discontinuing academic selection.

"The Board of Governors is acutely aware of the historical links that families, primary school and communities have with the college and this will be reflected in the entrance criteria following the ending of academic selection.

"The college has a long, proud history and tradition of excellence. The Loreto ethos permeates all that we do and we are very proud of the achievements of our pupils and staff.

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"We will continue in this tradition and strive to do the very best we can for every child who comes to us now and in the future.

Under the new selection criteria, Loreto will retain its links with its traditional feeder primaries and the community.

The school is the first to choose voluntarily to end entrance testing. It also become the first to respond positively to a call by the Catholic Church that all its grammar schools phase out 11-plus style exams.

The Catholic Principals' Association which represents primary and post-primary Catholic principals in NI has backed the school's decision.

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CPA chair Seamus Quinn said: "Loreto has followed the moral and spiritual guidance provided by the Commission for Catholic Education (NICCE).

"Their decision is an important step and it directly challenges those claiming that Catholic schools are based upon rejection.

"All children are welcomed to experience academic excellence and personal fulfilment within Catholic schools.

"Rejection of any kind runs contrary to our Catholic ethos."