| Shimna Integrated College | |
| Coordinates: | 54.1988°N -5.8905°W |
| Motto: | Learning from each other |
| Established: | 1994 |
| Type: | Integrated secondary school |
| Religious Affiliation: | Mixed |
| Principal: | Steve Pagan |
| Address: | The Lawnfield King Street |
| City: | Newcastle |
| County: | County Down |
| Country: | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode: | BT33 0HD |
| Local Authority: | SEELB |
| Enrolment: | 531 |
| Gender: | Mixed |
| Lower Age: | 11 |
| Upper Age: | 18 |
| Website: | https://www.shimnaintegratedcollege.org/ |
Shimna Integrated College is an integrated secondary school based in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The all-ability school was founded in 1994 with the hope of integrating young people from both sides of Northern Ireland's religious divide and giving all of its students 'self-esteem'.[1]
Integrated Education is a Northern Ireland phenomenon, where traditionally schools were segregated, either run as Catholic schools or Protestant schools. On parental request, a school could apply to 'transition' to become Grant Maintained offering 30% of the school places to students from the minority community. Lagan College was the first integrated school to open in 1981.[2]
It opened in September 1994 with 60 pupils.In March 2011, Shimna became the first school in Northern Ireland to organize a gay-straight alliance.[3]
The original buildings are in the process of being replaced with a £16.5m three storey building that meets 2021 design requirements.[4] The plans were approved at the planning committee meeting in April 2021 [5] with completion predicted for September 2023.