What is an Integrated School?
Integrated Education brings children and staff from Catholic and Protestant traditions, as well as those of other beliefs, cultures and communities together in one school. Since 1981, in a deeply divided society, Integrated schools have been intentionally and proactively developed to encourage more mixing in schools.
Integrated Schools ensure that children from Protestant and Catholic religious and/or cultural backgrounds, as well as others who identify differently are educated together every day in the same classrooms.
It is important to note that Integrated Schools are essentially Christian in character but proactively strive to ensure everyone’s tradition is respected and included.
Empowering adults, children and young people as thinking individuals is a priority for Integrated Schools so that as they grow and mature, they’ll be able to affect positive change in the shared society we live in.
Our Integrated Ethos
As an integrated nursery school, Bangor Integrated Nursery School welcomes, respects and cherishes children of all religious and non-religious backgrounds. It is committed to educating children of differing beliefs together and strives to maintain a balanced enrolment as defined by the Statement of Principles of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).
Our Values
Equality - there is equality and equity, everyone is given what they need to succeed and the school has an anti-bias approach to education.
Faith - the school has a Christian character but makes sure that all faiths, cultures and beliefs represented in the school community are recognised, accepted, included and celebrated.
Kindness - we encourage kindness and compassion in how we treat each other, social responsibility in how we support those around us, those we can help globally and how we care for the environment.
Respect - we promote a culture of respect, ensuring the diversity of our school community is reflected in our environment, our curriculum and our calendar of events.
Inclusion - all are welcome and actively catered for in the school environment. We actively strive to ensure equity of access to learning and opportunities for all members of the school community.
Parental Partnership - parents are the child's first teacher and the home is the first learning environment. We promote close partnership between parents and teachers as we recognise the vital role parents have in supporting their child's learning and development.
Nurture - our approach in working with the children recognises every child is unique. We aim to nurture and support each child's development taking into account their own individual needs and interests. At times this may mean children have additional barriers to learning, as a school we are trauma-informed, attachment-aware and our approach is influenced by the principles of nurture theory. We aim to provide a safe, supportive, caring environment for every child in the school, where emotional well-being is a priority.
