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Press Release, Maghera High consultation closes on December 31
20 December 2007
The closing date for making comments on the future of Maghera High School is December 31 and anyone who wishes can do so on line at www.neelb.org.uk and follow the link.
Meetings have taken place involving the Boards of Governors of Maghera High and Magherafelt High, the staff of Maghera High, around 150 parents of pupils at Maghera High, the various trade unions and a delegation of political and church representatives.
The outcome of the consultation meetings and views expressed on line will be reported to the North Eastern Education and Library Board’s Education Committee (Schools) meeting in February.
That meeting will decide which recommendations will be made on the way forward.
The options include leaving things as they are at present, the closure of Maghera High or a rural learning partnership arrangement to enable the 154 pupils at the school to receive a broader curriculum and greater subject choice.
The percentage decline in the number of post primary school children in the Magherafelt District Council area up to 2017 is estimated to be around 2 per cent.
The 2006-07 school census showed that there was a surplus of 31 per cent of school places in the controlled post primary sector.
A large investment in the building of schools is planned during the next ten years and the North Eastern Education and Library Board wants to ensure that it can provide enough school places of the right size in the right locations.
Children need schools which can provide them with a high quality educational experience.
This means every pupil having the choice of a full range of subjects and courses as they progress through school.
Planning for a new £10.5 million post primary school on the existing Magherafelt High School site is at an advanced stage.
Planning for a new £10.5 million post primary school on the existing Magherafelt High School site is at an advanced stage.
Depending on the appropriate Department of Education approvals, it is anticipated that site works will start in mid 2008 with the new school expected to open in September 2010.
