There are other suitable integrated primary schools within the locality.

If the integrated school was situated in Moira village then the nearest integrated primary schools would be at Hilden, Oakwood (Derriaghy) and Portadown. We feel that it is simply not realistic nor economically or environmentally sound to ask parents to transport children of primary school age these distances and further to school. Since many parents work, it is important that school and after school care fit in with the parents' schedules.

Other local schools are already 'integrated.'

Although there are schools in this area which currently accept children of other faiths and welcome them into their schools this is not what 'formally integrated' means.

We believe that 'natural integration' does not exist. Our experiences over the past three years exploring Integrated Education as a concept have allowed us to appreciate the enriched experience that it can offer children. Through visits to other integrated primary schools we have seen the benefits of integration being at the core of school policy and management, curriculum, and engagement with the school's wider community. We would encourage parents to contact us to speak with the school principal or to arrange a visit to an existing integrated school to see this for themselves. We look forward to Rowandale being able to provide such opportunities for parents when it becomes established this year.

At Rowandale, children will be actively encouraged to discuss, talk and think about other religions and cultures, as well as their own, through classroom discussion, assemblies and citizenship classes. Children won't simply 'be mixed' in one class, but instead guided into learning about each other's background and faith, which ultimately leads to acceptance and understanding.

It is also expected that the Board of Governors and staff of an integrated school reflect the community balance of the pupils.

Parents are encouraged to read the Anti-Bias Curriculum - a resource developed by NICIE highlighting not only the potential 'obvious' bias in the education environment, but also the underlying and often unintentional bias. View this document as a pdf at http://www.nicie.org/archive/abcrev2.pdf.

The steering group just wanted a new school with new equipment and facilities.

As a group we have been accused of just wanting a brand new school. This is simply not the case. Our aim is to have integrated education for our children. If a good local school had decided to transform then we would have been delighted. Not only would we have an integrated school in our locality but we would also have all the facilities and equipment of an existing school. However, although our existing local schools were contacted, none opted for transformation.

We believe that this integrated school will have long term benefits for the local community including for example, in the longer term, the school building being a resource for the whole community to use.

The children attending Rowandale IPS are provided with equipment etc. to the same extent that any other school can expect financial support for. This means that the school has all the equipment needed to deliver an excellent education for all of the children. We also have an active fundraising campaign to further enhance the equipment and facilities.

Religion is 'diluted down' in integrated schools to cater for 'both sides.'

Integrated schools are essentially Christian in character.  Like any other school in Northern Ireland, Integrated Schools have an obligation to deliver the Northern Ireland Curriculum, which, in the case of religion, has been agreed upon by the four main Churches.

When children have to be separated e.g. when Catholic children are being prepared for the Sacraments, they will be nurtured in their own religion using tailored resources, e.g the Alive-Oh programme for Catholic children during Sacrament preparation and the Delving Deeper programme for Protestant children during these years.  However, children are also taught to respect each other’s religious, ethnic and cultural beliefs through school assemblies, citizenship classes and the general ethos of the school environment. All parents have the right to withdraw their children from religion classes.

There have been some reports recently that in many integrated primary schools children do not receive sacramental preparation because the local priest will not come into the school. In reality, there are 40 integrated primary schools in Northern Ireland and sacramental preparation is offered within each and every one of them. This sacramental preparation is supported by a programme based on the 'Alive-O' religious education programme which is also used in Catholic Maintained Primary Schools.

Surplus places in existing schools.

We not do wish to detract from the good work done in the existing schools in the area. Rowandale Integrated Primary School means provision of choice to parents so that they can choose integration.

We do not believe that surplus places in the other school sectors should mean that integrated education is a choice not given to parents in our area. This is a management issue which is beyond our control. Not each and every integrated school is oversubscribed, however the integrated sector is growing while others are not, and in fact hundreds of children had to be turned away from integrated schools last year due to oversubscription.

The conditional approval granted for Rowandale Integrated Primary School suggests recognition that surplus places in an alternative school sector are not deemed satisfactory provision for parents in this area wishing their children to be educated in an integrated school.

* Enrolment myth * I have already enrolled or registered my child in the local school.

Your child's enrolment application cannot be treated any more favourably because of any pre-registered interest in a school.

It may be that the school has made a record of your interest in order to be able to contact you about school events e.g. an open evening.

The fact is however that the school must apply its admissions criteria fairly and consistently to each and every child who applies -any pre-registered interest cannot be considered. You should not feel committed to a school as a result of having shown an interest previously.

You can register your child's details with Rowandale Integrated Primary School so that you receive information about the school, and specific enrolment information when your child is old enough. To do this, please complete the Expression of Interest Form and post it to the NI Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) as indicated on the form.