02/09/2026
I am deeply disappointed by the Education Minister’s decision to reject Killowen Primary School’s proposal to transform to controlled integrated status.
This decision is difficult to understand when 75.7% of parents who voted backed transformation. The school has been working towards integrated status since 2020, engaging extensively with parents, governors, staff, pupils, the Integrated Education Fund and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education.
Killowen is a sustainable school, with 196 pupils, well above the Department’s recommended minimum for an urban primary school and there is clear evidence of demand for integrated education in the Coleraine area.
Yet the Minister has rejected the proposal because he believes there is insufficient evidence that the school would attract “reasonable numbers” of both Protestant and Catholic pupils.
That raises an obvious question: how are we ever supposed to develop integrated education in Coleraine if schools that have overwhelming parental support and have done the work required to transform are simply told no?
There is currently no integrated primary school in Coleraine itself. Families who want an integrated education will have to look outside the town.
I stand firmly with the pupils, parents, staff and governors at Killowen who have worked so hard towards this goal.
The Minister’s decision should not be the end of this campaign. Killowen deserves every support in gathering the additional evidence required and bringing forward a new application.
Coleraine deserves an integrated primary school and Killowen deserves the opportunity to become one.
Killowen Primary School, Coleraine
Education Minister rejects Killowen Primary School’s bid for controlled integrated status despite strong parental support for the proposed transformation.
