27/10/2022

Education Minister Officially Opens Rossmar Special School

The new Rossmar Special School in Limavady has been officially opened by Education Minster Michelle McIlveen.

The school is split across three wings: nursery and primary; multi-purpose hall, school meals accommodation and classrooms for home economics, art, science and music and finally secondary level for pupils aged up to 19.

There are also two sensory rooms, a soft playroom, a total immersion room and specialist subject rooms including Home Economics, Music, Design and Technology.

Speaking at the official opening, Michelle McIlveen said: "I am so impressed with the fantastic facilities at Rossmar Special School following a significant investment of £14.5m from my Department.

"Students from nursery age right up to 19 now have access to bright and colourful classrooms and specialist rooms for therapy targeted at supporting children with special educational needs.

"I want to congratulate everyone involved in bringing this impressive project to fruition, including school staff, Governors, consultants, contractors, and officials."

Staff and pupils moved into the new school building in April 2021.

Principal of Rossmar Special School, Principal Caroline Clements said: "Today is another milestone for pupils and staff as we are finally able to celebrate our official opening. It has been a long journey with many challenges to reach this point with many years of waiting for approval up until the first sod was cut in 2018. In the middle of the pandemic, we had to move from the old school into the new one but thanks to the commitment and determination of our staff and governors we succeeded in making it as easy and comfortable as possible for our pupils.

"All of our hard work over the last years have resulted in a fantastic new school of which we are all very proud. I want to thank everyone who has been involved in bringing us to this stage including our staff, pupils, governors, contractors, the Department and the Education Authority and of course the wider school community."

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

02 March 2018
Schools Closures Across NI
The Department of Education have published a list of all schools across that have confirmed they will be closed today, Friday 2nd March, 2018 due to the adverse weather conditions.
22 January 2013
Heavy Snow Closes Over 80 Schools
Over 80 schools across Northern Ireland have been closed as the heavy snow continues to cause disruption on Tuesday morning. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning, as the snow is continuing to affect many roads. Areas which have been majorly disrupted include Lisburn, Castlereagh and Carryduff.
24 November 2006
Education Minister visits Special School
Education Minister Maria Eagle has today visited Dunfane Special School in Ballymena to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the school. Dunfane Special School currently caters for approximately 150 pupils between the ages of 4 and 17-years-old who have moderate learning difficulties.
10 March 2022
Two Major New School Construction Projects Underway
Two major school construction projects have gotten underway in L'Derry, Education Minister Michelle McIlveen has announced. The first sod has been cut on both the new £34 million Ardnashee School and College and the $4.7 million Our Lady of Fatima Primary School.
12 June 2007
‘School Watch’ launched by primary school pupils
Children from Acorn Integrated Primary School in Carrickfergus have today helped launch a new initiative to protect school property from vandals. ‘School Watch’ has been developed by the Policing Board, PSNI and the Northern Ireland Office Community Safety Unit.