A 150-year-old integrated primary school is set to close next year, it has emerged.
Groarty Controlled Integrated Primary School, based in Derry's cityside, will close with immediate effect from August 31, 2021.
It was originally due to close at the end of August 2020, but the final decision was delayed due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Education Minister Peter Weir said the decision to close the school was taken after it failed to gain above 41 pupils in the past ten years.
In the 2018/19 school year, 32 pupils enrolled at the school, while just 17 enrolled for the 2019/20 school year.
The decision sparked schoolchildren from the school to hand deliver letters to the then education chief Derek Baker last year.
Supporters of Groarty IPS argued that the school was the only integrated college on Derry's mainly Catholic west bank.
The school, a former state school, established integrated status in 2006 when numbers were expected to increase.
The other integrated option for primary school children is Oakgrove Primary School in the Waterside area.
Speaking following the decision, Minister Weir said it was ' unfortunately not sustainable' to keep the Coshquin Road school opened at present.
Mr Weir added: “Having weighed up all the information, including the fact that seven of the 17 pupils will be exiting P7, with no new intake for 2019-20 or September 2020, it is clear that, unfortunately, the school is not sustainable and that provision for any pupils in an integrated setting can be made elsewhere in the city.”
