Coleraine College is a secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 in Coleraine

Coleraine

Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...

, County Londonderry

County Londonderry

The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It was formed by an amalgamation of the Coleraine Boys' Secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 and Coleraine Girls' Secondary School and became Coleraine College in September 2001. The headmaster

Head teacher

A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....

 is D J Grainger and there are currently around 500 pupils

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

.

Aims

The college's mission statement is "To achieve success for all, the college provides a supportive environment delivering innovative, challenging learning experiences. As part of the local learning community, we promote partnerships, positive relationships and tolerance." The College aims to equip young students for FE College, Sixth Form and towards University. Skills taught include partnership and team skills.

Site

In preparation for the amalgamation a £7 million refurbishment of the Girls' School was carried out.

The school is situated on 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) of land. However, the school is split between two sites, set well back from any main road, and this encourages vandalism which by March 2005 had cost thousands of pounds.

The school was mentioned in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 in July 2006 when the Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Office

The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...

 Minister

Minister of State

Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...

 Maria Eagle

Maria Eagle

Maria Eagle is a British solicitor and Labour Party politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Garston and Halewood, having been the MP for Liverpool Garston from 1997 to 2010....

, in answer to a question from Gregory Campbell, stated that the main buildings were then 49 years old.

Academic standards

The Education and Training Inspectorate

Department of Education (Northern Ireland)

The Department of Education is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...

 carried out a follow-up inspection in February 2006 in which they stated that "The school has some strengths in aspects of its educational and pastoral provision that can be built upon. The areas for improvement need to be addressed urgently if the school is to meet effectively, the needs of all the pupils."

However, in a further follow-up inspection in January 2007 they found that the school had made a range of substantial improvements in the past year.

Sport

Student Gordon Patton was member of the Northern Ireland under-18

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

squad in 2006-07.