St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls (Irish: Scoil Ghramadaí Naomh Doiminic do Chailíní), formerly St Dominic's High School, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

for girls aged 11–18 (Years 8–14), in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

History

St. Dominic's was founded by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

in 1870 at the invitation of the Most Reverend Dr. Dorrian, Bishop of Down and Connor on the Falls Road in

. It was originally named St. Mary's Dominican Convent. When it opened on April 25, 1870, there were four pupils enrolled. The Boarding School opened on April 29 with one pupil and the Study Hall Block was built in 1897. The school has grown significantly over the years with the addition of the St. Margaret's Wing in 1950's, St. Thomas's Building in 1960s and the erection of St. Ita's and St.Raymond's in the 1970s.

Academics

St. Dominic's has topped the A-Level league table of schools in Northern Ireland with over 95% of entrants receiving 3 or more A-levels at Grades A* to C. In 2019, the school was placed 2nd out of 159 secondary schools in Northern Ireland in its A-Level performance with 94.5% entrants in the 2017–18 academic year receiving this level. In 2021, 98.5 per cent of pupils achieved grades A* to C in three subjects at A Level. Of these A-level students, 69 per cent of grades achieved were A* or A and 92 per cent were A* to B. In the 2018 ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' GCSE League Table, it was ranked joint ninth in Northern Ireland for its GCSE performance with 99.3% of its entrants to the exam in 2016–17 receiving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including the core subjects English and Maths. In the 2019 League Table it was ranked joint sixth with 99.4% of its GCSE exam entrants receiving five or more A* to C grades. The school is a

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

for

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. Since 2022, St. Dominic's has collaborated with

Friends' School, Lisburn Friends' School, Lisburn is a Quaker voluntary grammar school in the city of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, founded in 1774. History Friends’ School Lisburn was founded – as The Ulster Provincial School – on the basis of a bequest in 1764 of ...

in the development of a Shared Education Signature Project. The primary focus of the project has been creating a ‘Shared History’ based around the events of 1916. History Departments in both schools felt that a more ‘joined-up’ approach to the teaching of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

and the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

was necessary.

Sports and Extra-curricular activities

Students can participate in a wide range of sporting activities including athletics, netball, basketball, gaelic football, camogie, fitness training, rugby, soccer, swimming, volleyball, trampolining, water polo and dance. There is an increasing variety of extra-curricular activities and clubs in which the students are encouraged to participate. These include: African drumming, book club, cookery club, Cumann Gaelach, dance club, Spanish club, Habitat for Humanity, Homework club, Maths club, Mock Bar Trial, needlework club, poetry reading, science club, technology club, art club, choir, creative writing club, cumann ceoil, French club, Geo club, history club, library club, music, orchestra, public speaking, and young enterprise.

Awards

In 2018, it was awarded ''The Times Northern Ireland Secondary School of the Year''.

Alumni

External links

St. Dominic's High School website

St. Dominic's Past Pupils' Union

References

Educational institutions established in 1870 Grammar schools in Belfast Dominican schools in the United Kingdom Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland Girls' schools in Northern Ireland 1870 establishments in Ireland {{NorthernIreland-school-stub Specialist colleges in Northern Ireland