| Motto | "Pollicitis addere facta" Fulfil your promise |
|---|---|
| Established | 1886 |
| Type | Grammar |
| Religion | Integrated Christian |
| Headteacher | Mr John Wilson |
| Chairman of Board of Governors | Rev Dr Colin McClure |
| Founders | Sir Edward Coey Mr. John Crawford |
| Location | Lower Cairncastle Road Larne County Antrim BT40 1PQ Northern Ireland |
| Local authority | North Eastern Education and Library Board |
| Staff | 50 |
| Students | 760 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Curran, Drumalis, Gardenmore, Inver |
| Colours | Navy blue and maroon |
| Publication | The Grammarian |
| Former Pupils | Grammarians |
| Website | Larne Grammar School Website |
Larne Grammar School is a co-education voluntary grammar school located in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1886 by Sir Edward Coey and John Crawford,[1][2] it has around 760 pupils and 50 teaching staff.
Contents |
R.M Jones (1888–1891)
William Dawson (1891–1900)
William Smyth Johnson (1901–1903)
James MacQuillan (1904–1914, 1918–1935, 1937)
John W. Darbyshire (1937–1943)
Ronald Henry Davies (1944–1950)
Joseph Alan Stewart (1950–1973)
D.J Thompson (1973–1989)
H.M Morrow (1989–2001)
John Wilson (2001–present)
Larne Grammar School was founded in 1886 by Sir Edward Coey and Mr. John Crawford. The trustees of the school were granted permission to site a school, beside the Rectory in 1885, at an annual rent of one shilling per year for ten thousand years. On Tuesday 10 April 1888, with the appointment of the school's first headmaster, Mr R.M. Jones M.A., the school opened its doors to the first pupils. However, for the following fifteen to twenty years the school struggled and was threatened with closure on many occasions.
By 1923 the Preparatory Department had opened and although the Grammar School had become an important aspect of Larne life, the school had made little progress, with few successes. Up to September 1935, Larne Grammar School had always been a boys' fee paying and boarding school. There had originally been two girls' schools in the town, but this was reduced to one and in 1935 Larne Grammar School amalgamated with the girls Larne Intermediate School.
During the 1980s, under the leadership of the Headmaster, Mr. D.J. Thompson, the voluntary grammar school was virtually rebuilt and the remaining old buildings completely refurbished.
The school was inspected in November 2000 by the Department of Education.[3] The following strengths were identified:
However, a number of areas requiring improvement were also itemised. At a follow-up inspection in March 2002[3] it was reported that the school had made satisfactory progress but that areas which still needed further improvement were:
In 2000, the School won the Ulster Senior Schoolgirls' Hockey Cup, an annual competition competed for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Women's Hockey Union, by beating Ballymena Academy 2–1 in the final.
The 1st XV have reached the final of the Subsidiary Shield competition of the Ulster Schools Cup on three occasions in 1981, 1991 and 1992, but unfortunately lost on each occasion.[4]
On 9 March 2007, the 1st XV rugby team won the Schools Trophy by beating Omagh Academy 11–3 in the final.[5] They won it again on 22 February 2008, beating Dalriada 12–0 in the final.[6]
At junior level, the school Medallion XV were finalists in the Medallion Shield in 1955.[7] The team won the subsidiary Medallion Plate in 1987 and were runners up in the Plate in 1998 and 1999.[8][9][10] The lowest of the subsidiary competitions, the Medallion Trophy, was won in 2008 when Downshire High School were narrowly defeated by 13–12 in the final.[11]
In the summer of 2008, the school senior boys 4 x 100m team qualified from the Ulster heats to reach the All Ireland School Athletics Finals. The team won the title in a time of 43.67 seconds, less than a tenth ahead of second place Castleknock College. [12] In 2009 the team retained the title, making them only the 6th school to ever do so.