St. Nicholas' Primary School (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: ''Bunscoil Naomh Nioclás, Carraig Fhearghais'') is a Catholic Maintained

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

located in

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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. North ...

History

The school origins date back to Mount Saint Nicholas National School, an inter-denominational national school, which opened in 1871, formerly located in the current school/chapel car park. In 1910, St. Nicholas' Boys and St. Nicholas' Girls Primary Schools, replaced the national school, whose building was subsequently used by Mount St. Nicholas playgroup until the 1990s. In 1959 the school building was refurbished, helping to accommodate the growing Catholic population in the town. This population growth is largely attributed to the industrialisation of the town in the mid 20th century, with the town becoming a hub for the textiles industries, which attracted employees from

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 Kingd ...

and further afield, to settle in the town. This population growth resulted in the formation of St. Nicholas' High School in Carrickfergus, which opened its doors in September 1969. In September 1992, the school amalgamated to form St. Nicholas' Primary School. This accommodated both boys and girls, in the same class, for the first time in the primary school's history. This date also coincided with the closure of the St. Colman's Catholic Primary School, Greenisland, resulting in an immediate influx of pupils from this area to St. Nicholas' P.S. Work began on building a new school in the former playground of the old St. Nicholas' P.S., which was completed and opened by September 1996, and officially opened and blessed by Patrick Walsh (Bishop) in March 1998. The new school has eight classrooms, one of which is used as a playroom for younger children, and a multi purpose gymnasium in which P.E., assembly and after-school clubs occur. In the 1990s, the school numbers have declined rapidly, with an enrolment of circa 100 pupils but since then has started to grow again with the arrival of Lithuanian and Polish families in the town.

Initiatives

The school is involved in various initiatives including Shared Education and the

Comenius programme The Comenius programme is a European Union educational project. It concerns school-level education, and is part of the EU's Erasmus + 2014-2020 Programme. It aims "to help young people and educational staff better understand the range of European ...

. It has partner schools not only in Carrickfergus and Northern Ireland but also internationally in Spain and Germany. It is also a host school for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh la ...

Awards

The school has received a range of awards including the Green Flag through the

Eco-Schools Eco-Schools is an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that aims to “empower students to be the change our sustainable world needs by engaging them in fun, action-orientated, and socially responsible lear ...

Programme, the Rights-Respecting School Foundation Award and the Sustrans Bronze School Mark. In 2022, the school was ranked first out of twenty primary schools in the Carrickfergus area by the School Guide star rating.

References

Educational institutions established in 1910 Primary schools in County Antrim Catholic primary schools in Northern Ireland Carrickfergus 1910 establishments in Ireland {{NorthernIreland-school-stub