Dear Madam, - I read with interest Mr Morton’s letter of 27 March 2014 in which he attempts to reassure the public in County Fermanagh that the proposed amalgamation of the Collegiate Grammar School with Portora Royal School will not compromise grammar school provision in County Fermanagh. His arguments provide no reassurance and they do not address the issues at the very heart of the matter. If this proposal goes ahead parents of pupils currently in primary schools across Fermanagh and Tyrone will have significantly reduced access to a grammar school in County Fermanagh. The justification for this reduction in the number of pupils going into grammar schools has long been attributed to the impact of falling pupil numbers resulting in grammar schools accepting lower grades/scores. However two sets of figures released recently make insightful reading in this respect. In an article in the Belfast Telegraph outlining the lowest scores/grades accepted by all the grammar schools across Northern Ireland and the number of P7 pupils applying to those schools it is very clear that the lowest score accepted by the Collegiate is considerably higher than many grammar schools across the province. Pupils in Antrim, Armagh, Ballyclare, Bangor, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Downpatrick, Dungannon, Larne, Limavady, Londonderry, Newtownards and Omagh are all accessing grammar school places with the same or lower scores as the girls entering the Collegiate. Furthermore, compared to many grammar schools we are much more heavily oversubscribed in terms of applications. Yet our community is being asked to accept a further reduction in the number of places available and to accept that more and more pupils who wish to access a place in a school and who could benefit from the experiences offered by such a school will be denied this opportunity in the future. The figures released recently by the WELB about the number of P7 pupils transferring this September are also very telling in this respect. In the controlled sector in Fermanagh there are 260 pupils transferring this year: currently the Collegiate has an admissions number of 70, Portora has an admissions number of 70 and Devenish College an admissions number of 120 which together totals 260. It is also important to take into account the fact that the Collegiate is pleased to welcome pupils from County Tyrone, from the SELB area as well as from primary schools in the integrated and maintained sectors. These numbers make it clear that the assertion that the grammar schools fill up at the expense of the secondary schools is losing validity. There is a growing population in our primary schools and, by the WELB’s own figures in the area plan published in October 2012, we will have 1848 pupils in the controlled sector alone and only 1700 places in the proposed two schools in 2025. Where then is the justification for the further rationalisation in the controlled sector through the closure of the Collegiate?

Mr. Morton is also exercised by the relatively small size of Portora and the Collegiate compared to other grammar schools across Northern Ireland. We find no reason to share his anxiety. The idea that the larger the school is, the more opportunities will be available needs to be treated with much caution for once we equate quality with size the assumption is that bigger will always be better and the biggest will be the best. Last Tuesday I was proud to see the Collegiate Tag Rugby Team lift the Ulster Championship for the fifth time in a well-fought match against a team from a much larger school. I was also proud in the same week to attend the CCEA Celebrating Excellence event where the achievements of two of our pupils who were placed first in Northern Ireland in GCSE German and Home Economics were recognised. They took their place as top Northern Ireland candidates again beside pupils from schools of all sizes across the province. Vani Boroorah and Colin Knox of the University of Ulster in their recent report found no statistical association between school size and education performance. They write: “Large schools are neither necessary nor sufficient for good educational performance-there are examples of high performing small schools and poorly performing large schools.” Mr. Morton urges the community to embrace change but what kind of change do we anticipate? Do we want change that will see the closure of the Collegiate, the reduction of the number of grammar school places in the controlled sector at a time when the primary school population is rising and the reality of pupils and teachers in both schools sitting on split sites with all the attendant difficulties? Mr. Morton writes of a £20 million + investment but we have no guarantees as to when or if such investment will ever take place.

There is a better way which allows the building of Devenish College, carefully planned investment at both grammar schools, each with its distinctive and proud tradition, and continuing collaboration with all schools within and between sectors. I say: let us in the interest of the whole community embrace an inclusive future which will enhance each of us as schools and diminish no one.

Yours faithfully, Elizabeth Armstrong Principal, Collegiate Grammar School