Regent House School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

controlled

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 ...

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the civil parish of Newtownards and the historic baron ...

, County Down, Northern Ireland. It comprises two parts: the preparatory department, known as "the Prep", and the main school itself. It has over 1450 pupils from ages 4 to 18. The school is divided into four houses: Castlereagh, Strangford, Scrabo and Clandeboye.

Inspections

The school was inspected by the

Controlled Schools' Support Council The Controlled Schools’ Support Council (CSSC) is a non-statutory body, currently classified as a Third Sector Organisation, providing services in supporting and representing the controlled schools sector in Northern Ireland Education in Nort ...

in 2015 and judged Satisfactory. In 2019 another inspection was carried out, but could not reach a judgement because of industrial action being taken by staff.

Music

In 2017 the school's choir won BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year.

Sport

Regent House has won the

Ulster Schools Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competition, having bee ...

and Medallion Shield. Regent House won the Schools' Cup Final in 1994 where it defeated Wallace High School 8–3 in what has proved to be its only outright victory. Two years later, Regent shared the Schools Cup with

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

following a 9–9 draw. The cricket team won the McCullough Cup.

Air Training Corps

Regent has an air cadet squadron, 2241 sqn, a school squadron. The squadron was created out of an army cadet unit in 1951 by Flt Lt Duff, a teacher and the squadron's first Commanding Officer who had been a pilot during WW2 flying B-25 Mitchell bombers. There are a number of opportunities on offer from the squadron including Gliding/flying training. The squadron is well located as Newtownards Airfield is nearby; this was the home of 664 VGS flying Grob 109 Vigilant T.1 motorised gliders until 2016. 2241 are winners of the NI Wing SRAFONI (Senior RAF Officer Northern Ireland) Trophy for best overall ATC squadron in Northern Ireland 2011–12. The 2013 shooting competition for both the team award and the individual award was won by the 2241 team of four.

Notable former pupils

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served ...

, Unionist politician and MLA in Northern Ireland * Nigel Carr, former British Lions rugby player * David Coulter, Church of Scotland minister and Chaplain General in the British Army *

Holly Hamilton Holly Hamilton is a BBC journalist and presenter, on ''BBC Breakfast'' on BBC One, the ''Victoria Derbyshire'' programme on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. Hamilton grew up in Greyabbey in County Down, Northern Ireland, was educated at Regent ...

, BBC journalist and presenter *

Simon Hamilton Simon Hamilton (born 17 March 1977) is a former Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Hamilton was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2007 to 2019; Ham ...

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

politician and former minister in the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ...

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing driver * Phillip Matthews, former Ireland rugby union international *

Maxine Mawhinney Maxine Mawhinney (born 18 September 1957) is a former newsreader on BBC News, the BBC's 24-hour rolling news channel. Biography Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Mawhinney was educated at Regent House School, Newtownards. She trained as a n ...

, BBC newsreader * Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne DSO & 3 Bars, founding member of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

, former British Lions rugby player *

Michael McGimpsey Michael McGimpsey (born 1 July 1948) is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 1998 to 2016. McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee, County Down and was educat ...

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

MLA and Minister of Health in the

* Catherine Jean Milligan, former

Miss Northern Ireland Miss Northern Ireland is a national beauty pageant in Northern Ireland, run by Alison Clarke. History Before 1999, the winner of Miss Northern Ireland would have to compete in the Miss United Kingdom competition and win it in order to be appl ...

* Colin Murray, Broadcaster * Colin Nixon, football player and manager *

Ottilie Patterson Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Anna Ottilie Patterson was ...

, blues singer with the Chris Barber jazz band

External links

Official websiteRegent House School's history

References

{{authority control 1924 establishments in Northern Ireland Educational institutions established in 1924 Grammar schools in County Down Newtownards