Victoria Primary School & Nursery Unit Carrickfergus

Dear Parents and Carers,

We’re really looking forward to our Colour Run tomorrow — a brilliant, positive and fun way to end the day together.

All children taking part have already been paid for via the School Money app.

The Colour Run will take place just before home time, so it may be worth thinking about something to protect car seats on the way home, as the colours can transfer a little.

Children are welcome to come to school in non‑uniform, and something white works especially well for the Colour Run.

If your child is attending an afterschool club or Kids Cave, please send a spare change of clothes so they can get changed afterwards.

Let’s enjoy a really fun, colourful day together.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for your understanding and support today during what has been another deeply unsettling period for communities across Northern Ireland.

As you will be aware, we made the decision to close school early today following the circulation of further social media posts similar to those shared yesterday — posts which contributed to the violence, disorder and disruption witnessed across the country last night. Given the knowledge of what had already taken place, and the speed at which these messages were spreading again, our priority had to be the safety of our pupils, staff and families.

Education should never be disrupted in this way, and it is not acceptable that schools are being placed in these positions. However, one of our core responsibilities is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our entire school community. In circumstances where information is unclear but risk is increasing, we must act cautiously.

I want to express my sincere thanks to all VPS parents and carers who responded so quickly and positively to the early closure today. I fully appreciate the impact this will have had on your own work, routines and commitments, and your cooperation is genuinely appreciated.

We are aware of further reports of planned protests tomorrow morning, again circulating widely on social media. At this stage, it is impossible to verify the legitimacy of these posts, but they are understandably causing confusion and concern among families.

School will be open tomorrow as normal.

It is important for our children to be in school, and we are committed to maintaining as much normality and stability as possible during this difficult time.

However, we also recognise that some parents may feel uncomfortable travelling during any planned protests. If you feel you need to delay travel or make alternative arrangements for safety reasons, please simply let the school know — we fully understand.

This is a challenging moment for many across our community. While we may all hold different views on many aspects of life, I am confident that we are united in one belief: our children deserve to feel safe, supported and in school.

Thank you once again for your continued cooperation, patience and partnership.

Yours sincerely,

Mr C Fulton

Principal

Parents / Carers,

Many parents and carers have been in touch regarding the information circulating social media in relation to potential protests from 1pm this afternoon.

At this moment in time, school remains open as normal as we await updates from both the Education Authority and Department of Education.

Given past experience, guidance comes very last minute from EA and DE, so I would be prepared for an early school closure.  However, as said, school remains open as normal for now.

Parents are, however, welcome to come and collect children, at any point, if they wish.

I will continue to communicate with parents / carers as and when I have further updates.

Thanks

Mr C. Fulton

Principal

Thanks to our parents and carers for taking the time to complete our Parent and Carer Survey 2026.

After a review of the responses, it is lovely to know that VPS is still a school which is deeply rooted in the local community, with a set of visions, values and aims that parents feel are still appropriate for today.  

The vast majority of responses reflect incredibly positively on aspects of school life.  

We have highlighted 2 areas to work on.  These include working on how we seek you views and listen to your concerns and a review of our homework policy in coming year.

Please see the attached image for some more results.

I'm afraid, due to tomorrow's weather forecast, PTA have had to cancel the Summer Fair.  The planned colour run has been postponed.

We intend to complete the colour run, in school, on Thursday 11 June.  THIS WILL BE FOR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL ONLY.

If you have purchased a colour run ticket, via school money, then your child will take part in the colour run on Thursday 11 June, just before their home time, and will then go straight home at normal school time. 

If you have purchased multiple colour run tickets on school money, for family, friends etc, and they can now not take part, due to the colour run taking place during the school day, you are welcome to give the school office a call and Mrs Ritchie will issue a refund on school money for you.  Alternatively, if you wish to donate the payments to PTA funds you do not need to do anything.

If you have not yet purchased a ticket for your child to complete the colour run, you can still do so via the school money app.

On Thursday 11 June, children who have paid to take part in the colour run can come to school in non-uniform (white t-shirts work best).  Please ensure that they wear clothes that you are happy to have covered in wonderful colours.

Thank you for your understanding.