Trustees welcome decision by the Minister of Education

The vision that has informed this proposal is the desire of the trustees to continue to provide high quality Catholic education for all pupils in the Colleges’ catchment areas, whilst retaining a distinctive Loreto, Dominican and Diocesan ethos.

The schools will work together, and in partnership with other educational institutions in the area, to enhance pupils’ educational opportunities.

The trustees of the three schools recognise the contribution that St Joseph’s College has made to Catholic education over many years and the high standards of educational provision that it has provided.

They look forward to supporting the creation of the new arrangements for Catholic post-primary provision in the Coleraine, Portstewart and North West area that will sustain into the future.

The trustees of the three schools have worked closely to advance the project to this stage and will now continue to provide support to the staff, governors and parents of the schools in terms of taking this decision forward.

These changes involved in the development proposals are the phased closure of St Joseph’s College, the expansion of both Loreto College and Dominican College, and the phased transformation of Dominican College to a non-academically selective voluntary grammar school. Work on implementing the proposal will begin in September 2017 or as soon as possible thereafter.