Protestant church leaders have revealed plans for Northern Ireland's first inter-denominational school.

Stormont's Education Committee was told yesterday that the Department of Education is currently drawing up guidance for what will be a brand new category of school here.

The plan was revealed as clerics from the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist denominations gave evidence to the committee's inquiry into shared and integrated education.

They said the initiative for what they termed a 'multi-faith school' was inspired by requests from the grassroots. The Protestant clerics said they have been in talks with Catholic bishops over the matter and almost all elements have been agreed.

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Rev Trevor Gribben, Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, emphasised the school is not a "one size fits all" solution, but said he believes it has "the potential for so much good".

While guidelines are currently being drawn up by the Department of Education, decisions over religious education at these multi-denominational schools would be made at local level.

Rev Donald Kerr, Secretary of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland, said the schools would be jointly managed.

"It would be a new type of school but founded on a common Christian principle," he explained to the committee.

"We have been working together with the Catholic bishops in an agreed way to found the school. Work is at a fairly advanced stage.

"We see it as one option for sharing in the future. If it did come about, in our view it would be effectively an integrated school, with both faiths represented."

Mr Gribben said the Transferors' Representative Council, which comprises clergy from the three main Protestant churches, has received expressions of interest from a number of schools about becoming mixed denominational. He did not wish to name any schools but gave the example of a village where both a controlled and a maintained primary school had become not viable in terms of numbers.

"There are schools that want to pilot this," he said. "Structural issues have been dealt with, we are almost there with ownership, and decisions on religious education will be left to governors at a local level.

"These requests are coming from the grassroots. Schools have asked for this. There is a great willingness in some areas to explore this."

Rev Ian Ellis, Secretary to the Church of Ireland Board of Education, said the clergy behind the proposal had been inspired by a school in Liverpool, Hope Academy, which was formed in 2011 by merging Catholic and Anglican schools.

Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn asked for clarity whether the proposed schools would have joint management.

Mr Ellis responded: "The jointly managed church schools in our vision would have joint trustees, a common curriculum. Effectively they would be a single school under the one roof. No physical separation."

Mr Gribben added that they have not got into the detail of the proposals yet.

The Protestant churches originally owned and ran schools in Northern Ireland until they transferred them to the state, creating the controlled sector. Churchmen remain to this day on the boards of controlled schools.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education confirmed it is "drawing up guidance on the establishment of jointly managed schools where both the main Protestant churches and the Catholic church working together will have a joint role in the management of the school".

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Belfast Telegraph