Elmgrove Primary School (Sometimes referred to as simply Elmgrove and originally known as Elmgrove Elementary School) is a state-controlled Primary School situated in East

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland. It opened on 9 January 1933 as Elmgrove Elementary School. The original Elmgrove building at Beersbridge Road closed in November 2024. A new building at the former Avoniel site will be home to Elmgrove from December 2024.

History

Elmgrove opened in 1932/1933 as Elmgrove Elementary School. Pupils from nearby schools were all moved into Elmgrove. Several famous/well-known people from Belfast attended the school. In 2008 Peter Robinson visited the school and several P7 pupils got to ask him questions about his childhood and career. In 2009

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

(The Fonz) visited the school to talk about reading books and his new book. During elections, the school is used as a polling station. In 2008 Elmgrove celebrated its 75th anniversary. Special medals made from Mambco, were given to all the pupils. Special balloons were also present and two students from each year group got a balloon and released it into the air with a note attached saying that, when found, contact the school, to see how far the balloon travelled. The farthest known distance was to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Nearby Avoniel Primary closed in 2015 and was merged with Elmgrove. With the school building still used to teach students in. The school introduced a house system named after four past pupils of the school, Bingham,

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, Jones and

Ervine Ervine is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ervine Metzl (1899–1963), American graphic artist and illustrator best known for his posters and postage stamp designs * Ervine Mosby (1877–1916), Engl ...

. The original Elmgrove at Beersbridge closed in November 2024, after a final tour for past pupils and staff to see the building one last time. A new site was built on the former Avoniel Primary School site, with Elmgrove at Avoniel due to open in December 2024.

Principals

*John Sullivan 1932–1948 *Arthur Clemitson 1948–1972 *Dr Jim Hunter 1972-1995/1996 *Frazer Thompson 1995/1996-2000 *David Hutchinson 2000–2011 (his death, 11 August 2011) *Andrea Brown 2011–2013 (Acting) *Jayne Jeffers April 2013–present *Pauline Russell 2024–present (Acting)

Former pupils

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, ...

, footballer *

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, musician * George Cassidy, jazz musician * Sammy Wilson, politician * David Ervine, politician * Ian Paisley Junior, politician *

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, musician and presenter

Projects

Out of this World

In 2006, pupils from Elmgrove took part in a new CCEA teaching resource called ''Out of this World''. They were joined with St. Teresa's Primary School for the activity. Pupils made different objects with recycled materials.

Connswater Community Greenway Project

Elmgrove has been involved with the local project to refurbish the local walkway and river next to the school. Over the years, the Conn O'Neill bridge and river nearby has been vandalised. The school has represented the project several times, first on 14 November 2007 and the second on 24 October 2008. One of the bridges along the Greenway was named after former principal David Hutchinson.

Over the Halfpenny Bridge

In 2009, Elmgrove stated that a new production was in the works with Dance United NI. The show was later named ''Over the Halfpenny Bridge''. It was about the History of Belfast and starred the P7 pupils of that year, and Elderly members from nearby nursing homes, Elmgrove Manor and Greenville Court. 'I am staggered by the range and the quality of what has been produced this evening,' said school principal David Hutchinson. 'The children have acquired so many new skills by working with this terrific company and, through them, all of our minds have been opened.' The children worked with Writer Ruth Carr, Rastafarian poet Levi Tafari, printmaker Robin Cordiner, musicians Nikki Such, Patrick and Bronagh Davey and Irish, Greek and Indian dancers. On 2 April 2009, the show was performed live in

St George's Market St George's Market is the last surviving Victorian architecture, Victorian covered Marketplace, market in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located on May Street, close to the River Lagan and the Waterfront Hall. Belfast Corporation (now Belfast ...

Eco-Schools programme

Since 2009, the school has taken part in an Eco programme to make the school more eco-friendly. The School has Recently won the

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

Sesame Tree

In 2010, P2 pupils from the school starred in a T.V series that aired on CBeebies called Sesame Tree, Northern Ireland's version of Sesame Street.http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/community-telegraph/east-belfast/news/elmgrove-children-branch-out-into-new-sesame-tree-14886102.html?r=RSS

References

{{authority control Primary schools in Belfast Grade B+ listed buildings Van Morrison