County Derry Post

 Bosses at a doomed County Derry have written an open letter to the minister for education Caitriona Ruane.

By Connla Young

connla@derrypost.com

The axe will fall at Maghera High School next summer after education chiefs at the Northern Education and Library board voted to bring the shutters down earlier this year.

Parents are up in arms after they were told over 150 children who attend the school will be forced to travel to other towns.

But in a letter to the minister of education the school’s board of governors and senior staff have called for the minister to back their fight to keep the school open..

“I am writing to you in the hope that your department can play a role in making small schools continue to thrive,” the letter reads. “Small schools do achieve success and have produced excellent citizens for many years — ‘if something ain’t broke don’t fix it!”“On behalf of pupils, parents and staff, we are asking you to consider the value of small schools like ours in Northern Ireland.  The school serves the local community, keeping the Protestant identity in Maghera. Pupils learn the importance of good community relations.”