Cookstown High School

Cookstown High School is a combined Grammar School and Secondary School in Northern Ireland. It is one of the largest in the area, falling within the Southern Region of the Education Authority Northern Ireland. Unlike many grammar providers in Northern Ireland the school does not make use of extra transfer tests instead it offers children grammar provision on the basis of their academic ability as evidenced through their primary school attainment. History and development Founded as Cookstown Academy in 1806 by Rev Thomas Miller Senior the school has been through numerous transformations in the centuries since then. It merged with the Ladies Boarding School in the town around 1924 by which time it was known as Cookstown College. The school was renamed Cookstown High School in 1934 by which time it was a grammar school. In 1955 a new, state of the art building was erected for it in Coolnafranky Demesne and placed adjacent to a newly created School, Cookstown Secondary Intermediate School. These two schools shared the site and some facilities until the nineteen seventies. In 1977 the two schools merged into one taking the badge and motto of the grammar school with a slightly amended uniform. Today's school has retained its academic tradition and focus while also providing vocational pathways to ensure that all pupils are able to access the curriculum. Pupils are placed on differentiated pathways guided by their academic ability and educational needs.