Wallace High School (Northern Ireland)
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Wallace High School is a co-educational voluntary grammar school situated in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
It was founded in Lisburn in 1880 by a bequest from the estate of Sir Richard Wallace, local landowner and MP, as the Lisburn Intermediate and University School on a site fronting the Antrim Road. A board of trustees took charge in 1900 to oversee the development of the growing school and, when they renamed it in 1942 in memory of its founder, they adopted the word "Esperance" as the school's motto from the Wallace coat of arms.
The post-war years witnessed rapid growth in pupil numbers and consequent accommodation provision. Land was purchased at Clonevin Park, initially for playing fields, and when the Antrim Road site proved inadequate, the decision was taken to build a new school in these extensive grounds.
Pupils and staff moved to the new building in 1976, and a programme of continuing development has ensured that the school still provides well resourced teaching areas and excellent sports facilities for some 1160 pupils in the Grammar School and 200 in the Preparatory Department.
Academically consistently amongst the strongest grammar schools, it was previously noted for men's hockey. It has recently enjoyed strong performances in the Ulster Rugby Schools Cup, reaching the final in 1989, 1994 & 2003. It also has regular sporting success in Badminton and Cricket.
The town in which the school is based (although a City by name) is largely Protestant, Unionist, and the background of the pupils reflects this; only a very small minority of pupils would hail from the Catholic, Nationalist tradition. The British flag sometimes flies outside the school, and the National Anthem is played at some school occasions.
