Save St Mary’s Primary School Fivemiletown

The Campaign

St Mary’s Primary School Fivemiletown was recommended for closure in August 2023, despite signification opposition from across the community and a lack of evidence to justify the proposal.

Inspection reports showed the school was achieving very good educational outcomes and it continued to operate within its allocated budget. Closing the school would have removed education provision for Catholic children in the area and caused significant damage to community relations built over the last 50 years.

However, once they are published, proposals to close small schools are almost always implemented, with little consideration given to the impacts on small communities, and virtually no attention paid beyond the immediate locality. The Save St Mary’s campaign was determined to fight for the school and for the right to accessible education for children in the local area.

The Change

With only 42 children in the school, the Save St Mary’s campaign knew they faced a significant challenge. They started by drawing media attention to flawed evidence in the closure proposal, which laid the groundwork for continuous regional and local coverage throughout the campaign.

Building support across the local community, they engaged with businesses, sporting clubs, neighbouring schools, and community organisations to encourage them to oppose the closure. A team of volunteers spent several weekends travelling around the locality, eventually gathering “the largest petition on record” opposing a school closure, with almost 10,000 signatures. Hundreds of people marched through the streets in protest against the proposal. Extensive policy submissions and testimonies from families and children about the impact the school closure would have on them were prepared, and focused briefings, regular engagement, and “good old persuasion” was used to secure cross-community political support for the school.

Using Freedom of Information requests, they undertook a forensic analysis of the decision-making processes, and they believe that uncovering an unmanaged conflict of interest was another factor that eventually forced the managing authority to withdraw the proposal to close the school.

The Future

With rising enrolment, new housing developments growing in the area, and a new-found confidence, the future is bright for St Mary’s in Fivemiletown.

They are now focused on creating provision for children in the local area with special educational needs, who currently have to travel excessive distances to access appropriate educational support.

They are also trying to support other schools across Northern Ireland who face similar challenges, while working with the Department of Education and others to change the way such decisions are made in future, recognising the particular value of small schools in rural communities.