Strathearn School

Strathearn School
Address
Map
188 Belmont Road

, ,
BT4 2AU

Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°36′07″N 5°51′43″W / 54.602°N 5.862°W / 54.602; -5.862
Information
TypeVoluntary grammar school
MottoEncourage – Empower – Excel
Established1929; 95 years ago (1929)
PrincipalN Connery[1]
GenderGirls
Age range11–18
Houses
  •   Barbour
  •   Boucher
  •   McCaughey
  •   Watts
Websitewww.strathearn.org.uk

Strathearn School is an 11–18 girls voluntary grammar school in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

History

In 1864, 17 acres (69,000 m2) of land were bought by William Mullan and Robert Mullan, on which Strathearn House was built. In 1904, Mullan sold the house to Alexander Taylor, who died in October 1928. The house was then sold to the Victoria College girls' school, based in south Belfast, and which opened Strathearn School in 1929 to serve as a junior school, serving the Belmont and Knock areas. The initial enrolment was 63 pupils.

Miss Miskelly, who taught classics at Victoria, became the first headmistress. At this time, the school was co-educational. Boys, however, left the school at age eight, with most moving to Cabin Hill boys' school, while the girls stayed until fourteen, after which they could move to Victoria.

During the Second World War, the school was evacuated to the Argory, near Dungannon, and then to Portballintrae. In 1950, a separate Strathearn Committee of Victoria College was established and Strathearn adopted its own distinct uniform of green, fawn and wine. In 1952, Penrhyn House was bought and converted into a preparatory department. By 1980, there were 469 pupils in the secondary school, and this had grown to 759 by 1997. In 1987, the house beside this was also purchased and served as another school building.

In 1988, the control of the school by the founding Victoria College was relinquished and Strathearn School Belfast was established with its own board of governors.[2]

The school has recently undergone a complete rebuild, finished in 2016. In 2018, the senior chamber choir became the Songs Of Praise Senior Young Choir Of The Year after coming runners-up in the old format in 2015.

Principals

No. Name Tenure
1 Edith Miskelly 1929–1944
2 Adelaide Rodden 1944–1958
3 Eileen Hamilton 1958–1979
4 Audrey Lamb 1979–1997
5 David Manning 1997–2016
6 Nicola Connery 2017–present

Houses

The school is divided into four houses:

  • Barbour (yellow)
  • Boucher (blue)
  • McCaughey (green)
  • Watts (red)

Each house was named after a school governor, introduced by Miss Rodden in 1944. Inter-house sports competitions and house plays are held annually.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ "Staff Details". Strathearn School. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. ^ Strathearn School history