Ollie's Afterschool Care

As the oldest educational institution in North Lisburn, Ballymacash Primary School is now in its 90th year of learning.

Opened on its current site in May 1931, the school is set in a semi-rural setting and enjoys a pleasant situation with extensive, mature grounds. The original building, opened in 1931, has been extended and now includes a purpose built Nursery Unit, library, music room, sports changing room and Playgroup.

The modern and spacious main school building was opened in 1981 and consists of 11 classrooms, each with an interactive touchscreen panel, plus an assembly/physical education hall, staffroom, learning support room, 30 station computer suite, a central courtyard, an outdoor classroom and refurbished school kitchen and dining hall. The classes are situated in groups of two and three around activity areas, each of which has its own entrance door, cloakroom area and toilets.

Continued growth over the last number of years led to the addition of a new three classroom annex (opened September 2011) for senior classes. In total there are now over 400 pupils on the site daily, drawn from a mixture of private and public housing developments close to the school and from rural areas further afield. An all-weather sports facility adjacent to the school opened in 2012 and our pupils have exclusive use of it between 9am-4pm for playtimes, PE lessons and after school clubs. The school is very well equipped with audio-visual equipment and each class is given the opportunity to make use of a wide range of computer hardware and software, both in their classroom and in our computer suite. This provides extensive opportunities for the development of ICT and pupils are awarded external levels through the CEA ICT Accreditation Scheme.

An extensive number of after-school clubs offer extra-curricular activities to the P3-7 children and these are fully participated in by all staff. Parents are actively encouraged to take an interest in their child's education and school life in general. There is an enthusiastic Parent-Teacher Association, which contributes greatly to the financial and social success of the school.

Ollie's Afterschool care in situated on the school grounds and provides childcare for P1 to P7 children between the hours of 1pm and 5pm. Over the years it has been become an integral part of the school. Parents rate the standarded of care very highly and the staff at Ollie's have been complemented my numerous inspectors over the years, achieving an 'Outstanding' rating after annual inspections.