The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) is the managing authority for Catholic maintained schools in Northern Ireland. It was established by the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order (1989) and is responsible for:
- Employment of teaching staff & school leaders
- Promoting the effective management of schools by Boards of Governors
- Planning effective and sustainable school provision
- Support & advice to Trustees and DE
Our schools makeup over 40% of schools in Northern Ireland and we are the largest teaching employer, employing approximately 6500 school leaders and teaching staff. Our founding purpose was to raise standards, and we do this by:
- Empowering effective leadership in our schools
- Developing our family of catholic schools, their ethos and sustainability
- Advocating for all children and the Catholic maintained sector
- Shaping policy, provision and transformation
We also work in conjunction with the Department of Education and our sectoral partners on a wide range of issues impacting education including shared education, Irish medium and integrated education.
We have three Directorates:
- Planning & School Provision - which has responsibility for Area Planning and Building & Development Teams
- Workforce Planning & Governance - which has responsibility for finance, HR, governance and Recruitment
- Education - which includes our Educational Adviser teams and Localities Administrative Support
Support to schools often requires a multi-disciplinary approach so CCMS has three Locality teams with Officers from each Directorate. These teams work collectively to provide support to schools in the localities below, as well as the five dioceses. These Teams are a primary contact point for schools, but staff work flexibly across areas according to demand and need.
| Locality 1 |
Fermanagh and Omagh, Mid Ulster, Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon |
| Locality 2 |
Derry & Strabane, Causeway Coast & Glens, Mid & East Antrim, Antrim & Newtownabbey |
| Locality 3 |
Newry, Mourne & Down, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Belfast |
OUR SERVICES
CCMS provides support and advice to school leaders, Boards of Governors and Trustees of Catholic maintained schools in the key areas of:
CCMS also provides advice to Trustees and schools on a range of building matters to support the effective management of their school. School buildings are owned by Trustees and maintained by the Education Authority.
We also work with schools to develop and embed the ethos and values of Catholic education throughout their teaching, learning and pastoral care.
Further information on CCMS is available on our Publications page.