Rockport School

Rockport takes pupils from two and a half to eighteen. Early Years covers Playgroup and Reception, with a day running from 8.40am to 2pm, before pupils move into the Junior School from R1. In R2 to R4 the day runs to 3pm, and from R5 the Upper Juniors have a longer day to 4pm with residential trips, daily games and optional supervised prep. The Senior School covers R8 to R12, ages eleven to sixteen, working towards GCSEs in small classes, and the Sixth Form adds two further years leading to A Levels.

Rockport presents itself as a school with strong values and a sense of adventure, where education is expected to go well beyond the classroom. It is a member of Round Square and organises much of its ethos around that network's six IDEALS: international understanding, democracy, environmental stewardship, adventure, leadership and service. Pupils volunteer in the community and take part in environmental work, speak in public from an early age and are encouraged towards what the school calls confidence without arrogance, on the understanding that privilege carries a duty of service.

The school occupies a 29-acre wooded estate on the edge of Belfast Lough, with its own private beach and a forest classroom that the youngest pupils use for outdoor lessons; ten miles of coastal path run alongside the grounds. Boarders live in the main school building, where the boarding house operates as a single community for boys and girls. There is an on-site uniform department that stocks much of the school dress, and the McBride Room, a dedicated memorial room holding the school's Remembrance Book. Buildings and facilities have been added over the years, although the school says the estate remains recognisable as the one established in 1906.

Break and school lunch are provided within the fees, on a three-weekly menu rotation with hot meals and vegetarian options every day alongside a salad bar, sandwiches and fresh soup. Learning support is available for pupils with specific learning difficulties, with one-to-one tuition from specialist teachers coordinated by the SENCO and timetabled to avoid core lessons. Wrap-around care runs from 8am to 6pm for the youngest pupils, with afternoon day care and supervised prep for older ones. Scholarships and bursaries are offered, and there is a parents' association.

Rockport describes itself as the only independent day and boarding school in Northern Ireland, and takes boarders aged eleven to eighteen. Boys and girls live in the main school building, and the school offers weekly, full and flexi-boarding; boarding fees are charged per term and include tuition, with flexi-boarding priced per night. Boarding prefects take a leading role in the house and pupils are encouraged to work towards the BSA Boarding Skills Award. Evening activities for boarders include private access to the Holywood coastal path and beach, ice skating, swimming, cinema and bowling, and weekends bring trips across Northern Ireland. Airport transfers to Belfast and Dublin are arranged for a fixed charge.

Sport has a daily place in the timetable: every pupil takes Games each day, and the programme ranges from football, rugby and netball to tennis, swimming, gymnastics and Pilates. Rockport runs what it describes as the only school-based golf academy in Ireland, led by an in-house PGA professional, with coaching from the age of three and an elite squad for those competing nationally; recent graduates have taken up golf scholarships at universities in the United States. Participation in Music and Drama is high, and almost every senior pupil takes part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Pupils from the age of eight go hillwalking and sailing, and internal clubs are included in the fees.