St. Brigid’s Primary School Downpatrick Celebrates Major Inclusivity Milestone
St. Brigid’s is celebrating another transformative year reports Kelly Rice, Vice Principal and Learning Support Coordinator.
The school has successfully maintained their IQM Centre of Excellence Award. And through the academic year they have diversified their school culture from integration to deep, community-wide inclusion.
The school’s Senior Leadership Team launched a comprehensive review of its Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy.
Aiming to ensure every pupil, staff member, and parent feels a true sense of belonging, the school conducted extensive consultations with parents, staff, the Student Council, and dedicated focus groups of Newcomer pupils.
The resulting board-ratified policy serves as a thoughtful, community-backed roadmap for the school’s future.
The school’s commitment to inclusivity is vividly on display the moment visitors walk through the doors.
A striking new entrance lobby design features multilingual signage welcoming visitors, inclusive imagery including photos of smiling pupils from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, showcasing a safe and happy learning environment and the schools core Values framed by the school’s motto: “Learning and Growing Together.”
Beyond the lobby, colourful corridors highlight student voice via the Student Council and Eco Committee, alongside academic displays celebrating a successful grammar and punctuation, and problem-solving projects that has been driven by senior leaders.
St. Brigid’s has worked hard to ensure that diversity is not just accepted, but celebrated.
Newcomer pupils actively shape the school’s policies and present a vibrant “Christmas Around the World” assembly in December sharing cultural traditions with their peers.
St Brigid’s is also celebrating another successful year for student inclusivity and digital innovation following a highly successful rollout of its assistive technology initiative.
Driven by a clear vision from the Senior Leadership Team, the school has spent the past year upskilling staff and pupils to create a nurturing, tech-driven environment tailored to individual learning needs.
Central to the school’s success was a strategic partnership with the local SERC College, which placed a student technician on-site. This extra ICT resource proved invaluable, providing classroom assistants and pupils with hands-on support.
Students have also been thriving under the AI Integration programme Amira to support reading. The initiative has positively improved pupil confidence. During a recent assessment, students seamlessly navigated the advanced software package.
Assessors noted the effective use of adaptive AI tools that tailored reading materials to a child’s exact ability level while still offering a healthy academic challenge.
St Brigid’s is successfully adapting to a growing multi-cultural community in Downpatrick, using targeted data and cutting-edge technology to ensure no child is left behind.
Reflecting the diverse traditions moving into the local area, the school made it a priority this past year to enhance staff cultural competency and sensitivity.
Using data from June 2025, the leadership team identified pupils requiring extra assistance with a specific focus on Newcomer pupils and those receiving Free School Meals, carefully matching staff strengths to student needs for weekly support sessions.
The impact on Newcomer pupils arriving within the last 12 months has been profound. Younger students proudly demonstrated their rapid language improvements to a visiting assessor, supported by close communication between staff and parents to encourage English language dialogue.
The school’s data-driven strategy is also yielding excellent results in literacy and numeracy where students identified for additional support are withdrawn weekly from mainstream classes for targeted, small-group sessions with a specialist resource teacher.
By seamlessly blending digital innovation with deep community roots, St. Brigid’s has proven that true inclusivity is not just a policy, but a living practice.
As the school continues to grow, its unwavering commitment ensures that every child, regardless of background or learning need is empowered to learn, grow, and thrive together.
| ( A report from Kelly Vice Principal, St Brigid’s PS, Learning Support Coordinator. ) |
