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{{Third-party|date=August 2023}}
{{Coord|54|28|19|N|6|20|53|W|type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Lurgan College
| image = Lurgan College logo.gif <!-- Lurgan College Logo.png -->
| image_size = 150px
| motto = ''Meliora Sequor'' (To Follow Better Things)
| established = {{Start date|1873}}
| closed =
| type = ]
| religious_affiliation = non-denominational<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/about/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
| president =
| head_label = Headmaster
| head =
| r_head =
| chair_label =
| chair =
| chaplain =
| founder = Samuel Watts
| specialist =
| address = College Walk
| city = ]
| country = Northern Ireland
| postcode = BT66 6JW
| coordinates = {{Coord|54|28|19|N|6|20|53|W|type:edu_region:GB|display=title,inline}}
| affiliation =
| ofsted =
| staff = 45
| enrolment = 487<ref>{{cite web |title=Post-primary enrolment 2021-2022 |url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.education-ni.gov.uk%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpublications%2Feducation%2FSchool%2520level%2520-%2520post%2520primary%2520schools%2520data%25202021_22%2520.XLSX&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK |website=Department of Education Northern Ireland |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
| gender = Co-educational
| lower_age = 14
| upper_age = 19{{ubl|{{Color box|#ecc908|border=darkgray}} Boulger |{{Color box|#032644|border=darkgray}} Cowan |{{Color box|#ba013a|border=darkgray}} Harper |{{Color box|green|border=darkgray}} Kirkpatrick}}
| colours = Navy, red, white<br />{{scarf|start}} {{cells|2|#032644}}{{cells|2|#ffffff}}{{cells|2|#ba013a}}{{cells|2|#ffffff}}{{cells|2|#032644}} {{scarf|end}}
| publication =
| free_label_1 = Board of Governors
| free_1 = 16 members
| free_label_2 = School Board
| free_2 = ]
| website = {{url|www.lurgancollege.co.uk}}
}}
'''Lurgan College''' is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School,<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/about/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref> situated in the town of ], Northern Ireland.


==History==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width="285px"
In lieu of the establishment of ] primary school in 1863, the town of Lurgan required a secondary education school which met the educational needs of the growing industrial town. The owner of a local brewery, Samuel Watts, set out plans for an endowment fund in his will for the formation of a ''middle class'', secondary school which provided education to boys in Agriculture, Classics and English. After Watts’s death in February 1850, a Trustee Committee was formed to ensure the £9000 in Watts’s will would contribute towards creating a new school. However, it was not until December 1872 that the Trustee Committee had gathered enough funds to commence construction of the school.<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/about/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
|+ <font size="+1">'''Lurgan College''' </font>
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" align="center" colspan="2" |
'']''
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" align="center" colspan="2" |
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Address
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | ]<Br />Lurgan<Br />BT66 6JW<Br />
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Phone
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | (+ 44 28) 38 32 20 83
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Email
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | info@lurgancollege.lurgan.ni.sch.uk
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Location
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | ], ], ]
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Head Teacher || bgcolor="#dfefff" | Mr T.D. Robinson
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | School type
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | Contolled 14-19 Grammar
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | School Colours
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | Navy, Red, White, Grey.
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | School Board || bgcolor="#dfefff" | SELB
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Enrollment || bgcolor="#dfefff" | 420 students
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Founded
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | 1873 by Samuel Watts Esq.
|-----
| bgcolor="#efefef" | Motto
| bgcolor="#dfefff" | ''] Sequor''
|}


The school was established at a residence on Market Hill, Lurgan in March 1873. The first headmaster was ] of Dublin. The construction of the school buildings in the township of Brownlowsderry was completed in August 1873 and the school accepted its first cohort of students in October of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |title=School history |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/history/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
'''Lurgan College''' is a selective age 14-19 ] situated in the town of ], ], ].


Boulger was a Classical scholar and uncomfortable among small boys, and left in 1875,<ref name=Wilson>{{cite journal|url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/wilsonievboulger.html|title=Edward Vaughan Boulger (1848–19??) - First Headmaster of Lurgan College|author=Ian Wilson|journal=Journal of Craigavon Historical Society |volume=8 |issue=3|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> to be replaced by ] of the ]. Kirkpatrick oversaw the student population grow numerically and was responsible for the growth in academics at the college. Kirkpatrick retired in 1899 and James Cowan of ] assumed principality of the college. Cowan was responsible for the introduction of Science education in the college in 1905 and the further integration of female student admission in 1918. Cowan retired in 1922 having failed to rectify the school's dwindling numbers with under 30 pupils enrolled when he retired.<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/about/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
== History ==
As befitted a growing industrial town, Lurgan had a strong educational establishment from the mid 19th Century. The opening of the Model School in 1863 had been the culmination of a period of sustained growth in the Primary Sector. However, the town had no soundly established secondary school, which must have been regarded as a serious short-coming in a middle-class interest. One of the town's leading citizens at the time, Samuel Watts, joint owner of one of the breweries, provided in his will for the endowment of such a school, which was to provide an English, Classical and Agricultural education for boys.


In 1968, it became 'a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, offering a predominantly academic education up to Advanced Level in a wide range of subjects.'<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://lurgancollege.co.uk/about/ |website=Lurgan College |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
Watts died in February 1850, and the endowment, when it was established, amounted to some £9000. This was to be invested, and the accrued interest used to build the School. It was not until December 1872 that the Trustees considered they had sufficient money to proceed. The School commenced business in a house in Market Street during March 1873, the first Headmaster being Mr. E. Vaughan Boulger, of Dublin. The School buildings themselves, constructed on a site in the townland of Brownlowsderry, were not completed until August 1873, and were officially opened in October of that year.


==Present Day==
Boulger left Lurgan in December 1875, to be replaced by Mr. W. T. Kirkpatrick from R.B.A.I. in Belfast. Under Kirkpatrick the school prospered academically and numerically, although not financially. On Kirkpatrick's retirement in 1899, Mr. James Cowan, of Manchester G.S. took over the principalship. Under Cowan, the school faced problems of declining numbers, although he was responsible for the introduction of Science teaching in 1905. Another major development was the admission of girls in 1918. Cowan retired in 1922, leaving a school of under thirty pupils.
The school continues to rank within the top 20 Northern Irish secondary level schools in the Sunday Times Parent Power Survey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/parentpower/search.php?t=region&region=Northern+Ireland&school_type=&gender=&x=68&y=14|title=The Times - UK News, World News and Opinion|work=]|access-date=23 September 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>


The school has received the necessary funding to proceed with plans to erect a new building, replacing all of the current accommodation except for the listed 1873 portion. Work was to commence in March 2009, but this still has not happened due to departmental cuts.<ref name="Building Expansion">{{cite web|url=http://www.lurganmail.co.uk/news/NEW-DAY-FOR-LURGAN-COLLEGE.4152269.jp|title=NEW DAY FOR LURGAN COLLEGE|work=lurganmail.co.uk|access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref>
The new Headmaster was Mr. V. M. Harper, from Campbell College. He presided over a major expansion in the school. Two major building projects (in 1925 and 1929) coupled with an amalgamation with the Lurgan High School for Girls (1925) transformed the College from a struggling thirty pupil school to a thriving one hundred and fifty pupil establishment. The 1947 Education Act further increased enrolments and led to an increasing dependence on temporary buildings. In 1952 Harper retired, to be replaced by his vice-principal, Mr. J. Trewsdale. Under Mr. Trewsdale the school ceased to be an independent, endowed school, (the endowments were then inadequate for the needs of the College) and became a County Grammar School. A series of building programmes beginning in 1955 and lasting until 1969 saw the provision of a modern suite of buildings well equipped to meet the needs of the area.


==Notable former pupils==
]In 1960 the new city of Craigavon was developing and with it a radical reform of education provision in the area. The ] introduced a modified two-tier system, based on the Leicestershire Plan. The College became a Senior High School under this scheme. Mr. Trewsdale retired in 1978 and was replaced by Mr. N. Eccles from Campbell College. The school suffered, in common with most other schools in Ulster, from a sharp decline in numbers in the early 80's but this has been reversed in recent years, the present population being 418.
{{see also|Category:People educated at Lurgan College}}
*], (born as Susan Jocelyn Bell, 15 July 1943) astrophysicist, attended Lurgan College Preparatory Department from 1948 to 1956 and returned to Lurgan College in 2007 while filming the BBC bio-doc 'Northern Star' and then again later that same year as the guest of honour at the school's speech day and prize-giving ceremony.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lurganmail.co.uk/news/Visiting-star-at-college.2053182.jp|title=Visiting star at college|work=lurganmail.co.uk|access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/jocelyn--bell-the-true-star-13450159.html|title=Jocelyn Bell: the true star|newspaper=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk|access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref>
*] {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|DSO|DFC1}} (1920-1945), World War Two Royal Air Force flying ace, attended the school from 1933 to 1939.


==Sports==
Mr Eccles retired in 1988 and was replaced by Mr W. D. Johnston, the second old boy of Royal School Dungannon to become Headmaster of Lurgan College. The Johnston era was characterised by an increase in pupil and staff numbers and a steady improvement in pupil performance in public examinations. The rise in pupil numbers in the senior school, however, was not reflected unfortunately in the Preparatory Department which closed in 2004. In his years as Headmaster Mr Johnston skillfully oversaw the introduction of GCSEs, Curriculum 2000 (changes in sixth form curriculum), Classroom 2000 (ICT provision) and the Local Management of Schools programme which delegated to the school overall responsibility for the spending of its own budget. Working with his Board of Governors, Mr Johnston played a significant role in planning and bringing to fruition the impressive renovation of the school's reception area which was officially opened in March 2005. His retirement in 2005 coincided with the decision of Mr Cyril Johnston, Chairman of the Board of Governors, to retire from the Board after 35 years of sterling service to the school.
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2015}}


===Girls' hockey===
Mr Johnston was succeeded by Mr T. D. Robinson, who had previously been Vice Principal at Banbridge Academy.
The 1st XI girls hockey team have had notable success in the past number of years. In 2003 they won the Ulster Girls Senior Schools Cup and went on to win the Kate Russell All Irelands in 2003. They repeated this success three times more in 2011, 2013 and 2014. They have been in the final of the Ulster Girls Senior Schools Cup in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.


The 2nd XI have also had great success. They reached the final of the McDowell Cup in 2012 and won this trophy in 2013.
== Today ==
Under the previous Headmaster, Mr W.D. Johnston, the school was characterised by an increase in pupil and staff numbers and a steady improvement in pupil performance in public examinations; there were also extensive improvements to the school buildings. Mr Johnston retired in 2005, and was succeeded by Mr T.D. Robinson who faces the challenges of steering the school through the changes to the educational system announced in the Bain Report of 2006.

The school currently enrolls just over 400 pupils. Pupils are required to sit their ] examinations in their second year at the school. The school also offers a limited number of places for pupils to return to the school after their second year to sit their ] and ] (commonly referred to as A-levels) examinations. The current headmaster of the school is Mr T Robinson, who began his career at the school in September 2005.

The school continues to rank within the top 20 Northern Irish secondary level schools in the Sunday Times Parent Power Survey.<ref>See </ref>

The school has received the necessary funding to proceed with plans to erect a new building, replacing all of the current accommodation except for the listed 1873 portion. Work was to commence in March 2009, but this still has not happened. <ref>See </ref>

==Notable alumni==
'''Albert Lewis''', father of the author C.S. Lewis (1898–1963), attended the school from 1877-79 under Headmaster ]. Albert later became Kirkpatrick's solicitor. When Kirkpatrick retired and began to privately tutor pupils he taught both of Albert's sons, first Warnie Lewis whom he prepared for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and later C.S. Lewis himself.<ref>See </ref>

'''William "W.T." Kirkpatrick''', headmaster of the school in the late 19th century, was a private tutor to C.S. Lewis in the mid 1910s. He was inspiration for the character ] (a professor) who was created by C.S. Lewis for the ] a quarter of a century later.<ref></ref>

'''Dame ],''' DBE, FRS FRAS, Ph.D (born as Susan Jocelyn Bell, 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist, who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars with her thesis advisor ], for which he (but not she) won a Nobel Prize. Some feel Bell Burnell's contribution was deliberately understated.<ref>See Zuckerman, H. (1977). Deviant Behaviour and Social Control in
Science. pp. 87-138 in Sagarin, E. (ed.) ''Deviance and Social Change''. Beverly
Hills: Sage Publications.</ref> She attended Lurgan College Preparatory Department from 1948–56 and returned to Lurgan College in 2007 while filming the BBC bio-doc 'Northern Star' and then again later that same year as the guest of honour at the school's speech day and prize-giving ceremony.<ref>See articles in the and .</ref>

==Clubs & Societies==
The School boasts a large number of Clubs and Societies:
* Army Cadets Force,
* Art,
* Chess club
* Community Service,
* Computer,
* Debating,
* Drama,
* Duke of Edinburgh's Award,
* Environmental Club
* First Aid,
* Geographical,
* Historical,
* Modern Languages,
* Public Speaking,
* Rugby club - 1st XV, 2nd XV and medallion XV
* Boys Hockey Club
* Scripture Union
* Skiing


== Notes == == Notes ==
Line 101: Line 73:
== External links == == External links ==
* *

{{authority control}}


] ]
]

Latest revision as of 01:12, 27 September 2024

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Selective grammar school in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Lurgan College
Address
College Walk
Craigavon, County Armagh, BT66 6JW
Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°28′19″N 6°20′53″W / 54.47194°N 6.34806°W / 54.47194; -6.34806
Information
TypeSelective Grammar school
MottoMeliora Sequor (To Follow Better Things)
Religious affiliation(s)non-denominational
Established1873 (1873)
FounderSamuel Watts
Staff45
GenderCo-educational
Age14 to 19
  •   Boulger
  •   Cowan
  •   Harper
  •   Kirkpatrick
Enrolment487
Colour(s)Navy, red, white
Board of Governors16 members
School BoardSouthern Education and Library Board
Websitewww.lurgancollege.co.uk

Lurgan College is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

History

In lieu of the establishment of Lurgan Model primary school in 1863, the town of Lurgan required a secondary education school which met the educational needs of the growing industrial town. The owner of a local brewery, Samuel Watts, set out plans for an endowment fund in his will for the formation of a middle class, secondary school which provided education to boys in Agriculture, Classics and English. After Watts’s death in February 1850, a Trustee Committee was formed to ensure the £9000 in Watts’s will would contribute towards creating a new school. However, it was not until December 1872 that the Trustee Committee had gathered enough funds to commence construction of the school.

The school was established at a residence on Market Hill, Lurgan in March 1873. The first headmaster was E. V. Boulger of Dublin. The construction of the school buildings in the township of Brownlowsderry was completed in August 1873 and the school accepted its first cohort of students in October of the same year.

Boulger was a Classical scholar and uncomfortable among small boys, and left in 1875, to be replaced by William T. Kirkpatrick of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Kirkpatrick oversaw the student population grow numerically and was responsible for the growth in academics at the college. Kirkpatrick retired in 1899 and James Cowan of Manchester Grammar School assumed principality of the college. Cowan was responsible for the introduction of Science education in the college in 1905 and the further integration of female student admission in 1918. Cowan retired in 1922 having failed to rectify the school's dwindling numbers with under 30 pupils enrolled when he retired.

In 1968, it became 'a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, offering a predominantly academic education up to Advanced Level in a wide range of subjects.'

Present Day

The school continues to rank within the top 20 Northern Irish secondary level schools in the Sunday Times Parent Power Survey.

The school has received the necessary funding to proceed with plans to erect a new building, replacing all of the current accommodation except for the listed 1873 portion. Work was to commence in March 2009, but this still has not happened due to departmental cuts.

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Lurgan College
  • Jocelyn Bell Burnell, (born as Susan Jocelyn Bell, 15 July 1943) astrophysicist, attended Lurgan College Preparatory Department from 1948 to 1956 and returned to Lurgan College in 2007 while filming the BBC bio-doc 'Northern Star' and then again later that same year as the guest of honour at the school's speech day and prize-giving ceremony.
  • Robert Wilkinson "Paddy" Turkington DSO DFC & Bar (1920-1945), World War Two Royal Air Force flying ace, attended the school from 1933 to 1939.

Sports

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Girls' hockey

The 1st XI girls hockey team have had notable success in the past number of years. In 2003 they won the Ulster Girls Senior Schools Cup and went on to win the Kate Russell All Irelands in 2003. They repeated this success three times more in 2011, 2013 and 2014. They have been in the final of the Ulster Girls Senior Schools Cup in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The 2nd XI have also had great success. They reached the final of the McDowell Cup in 2012 and won this trophy in 2013.

Notes

  1. "About us". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  2. "Post-primary enrolment 2021-2022". Department of Education Northern Ireland. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  3. "About us". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  4. "About us". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  5. "School history". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  6. Ian Wilson. "Edward Vaughan Boulger (1848–19??) - First Headmaster of Lurgan College". Journal of Craigavon Historical Society. 8 (3). Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  7. "About us". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. "About us". Lurgan College. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  9. "The Times - UK News, World News and Opinion". The Times. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  10. "NEW DAY FOR LURGAN COLLEGE". lurganmail.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  11. "Visiting star at college". lurganmail.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  12. "Jocelyn Bell: the true star". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2015.

External links

Categories: