Open Night 2009

Welcome message from the Headmaster:

You will be made very welcome if you come along to the Inst. Open Night. I am very confident you will enjoy the classroom displays and exhibitions in the Assembly Hall and all around the school and you will appreciate the pride we have in our community when you talk with members of staff and particularly boys about how much they enjoy school life here at Inst.

The school is attractively situated overlooking the River Bann and has 70 acres of school grounds and sports fields. Facilities include a hard-surfaced athletics track, tennis courts, rugby and football pitches, a spacious games hall, a 25 metre swimming pool and a riverside rowing pavilion.

Inst is a Voluntary Grammar School founded in 1860 and has many fine traditions in academic achievement, sporting success and cultural activities. The school has also moved with the times and pupils here are encouraged to achieve their maximum academic potential in the context of a modern curriculum. You will also have many extracurricular opportunities in sport, drama, music and over 20 other activities including chess, bridge and Christian Union. At Key Stage 3 (the first three years) we offer all the subjects detailed in this brochure and we are engaged with the Revised Curriculum. There are many options at GCSE and A level, and subjects which are recent additions include Journalism, PE and ICT.

The school draws its pupils from a wide catchment area, both urban and rural, and welcomes boys from a wide range of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. We provide pastoral care and careers education programmes to help in our aim: to produce well-balanced young men equipped with the skills and capabilities for the 21st century. If you engage with our Prefects whom you will meet on your tour of the school, you can judge our success in this for yourselves.

Our academic success is judged by the fact that these pupils can expect to achieve the grades required for their university course just like 95% of their recent predecessors. We have begun a program of independent testing this year which will rigorously demonstrate how much value is added to our pupils by the school.

In becoming a pupil at Coleraine Inst. your son and family will become part of the wider Inst. family and community. We have a vibrant Old Boys' Association and Friends' Association, both of which are great supporters of the school and encourage parents to become involved in the wider life of the school.

I thank you in advance for taking the time to come to see Inst. on Open Night and I hope that all that you see and hear about our high standards helps you to make Inst. your preferred grammar school.

Why not have a look at all the exciting opportunities we offer to our new Year 8 pupils in our Summer Camp, held at the beginning of July each year, which gives every new pupil the chance to take part in numerous fun-filled activities, to meet lots of new friends and to get a flavour of the commitment of the teachers. It's the perfect introduction to life in their new school!

(For a copy of the open night document wallet for more information click here)

Details of the 2010 open night will be available soon.