Neil Morton, Principal of Portora Royal School
THE PRINCIPAL of Portora Royal School, Neil Morton insisted this week that the proposed amalgamation of Portora with the Collegiate Grammar School, if approved, will not mean a reduced intake.
And, he argued that the proposal allows for the growth of a non-grammar school with the consequent increase in resources and opportunities available to all children.
Mr Morton said that, in letters to your paper and others, he had tried to allay the fears of correspondents by providing evidence that, under the proposal, the proportion of young people accepted to the new coeducational grammar school will be greater than it was for all of the last century and most of this.
“It is proposed that the new grammar school intake will be 130 pupils. That is 10 pupils fewer than the combined intake of the present schools, and it is less than the number of pupils who leave both schools after GCSE and AS levels, having decided that a grammar school education is not for them.”
He submitted that not all of those pupils who enrol in grammar schools at age 11 continue through to A level study; for a significant number of students, a grammar school education does not provide the best ‘fit’ between aptitude and curriculum.
He referred to tables that set out the numbers and percentages of students who attended (Fermanagh) post-primary schools in the controlled sector and Portora.
Figures for the year ending March 31st this year show that 1,000 students (mostly from the Protestant community) attended the two grammar schools, ie Portora and the Collegiate, and 537 Lisnaskea HS and Enniskillen HS (now Devenish College).
The respective ratios are – 35 per cent secondary schools and 65 per cent grammar.
However, he submitted that, post proposed amalgamation, there will be a smaller percentage of students (53 per cent) attending grammar schools compared to 47 per cent secondary schools.
“These figures clearly show that the proposed amalgamation will mean that it will still be easier to achieve a grammar school place in Fermanagh than in other counties.
“Just as importantly, it allows for the growth of a non-grammar school with the consequent increase in resources and opportunities available to all children.
“Supporters of the proposed amalgamation have decided on the retention of academic selection at age 11, but they believe that it must be paralleled by a strong, healthy, non-selective option. They have placed the needs of all the children in the county at the centre of their considerations.”
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