75th Anniversary
Published on: Thursday 26th March 2009
A Gala Celebration was held in the Ramada Hotel, Belfast on Saturday 23 May, including a dinner, a full swing band and memorabilia display. A great night was had by all!
Alastair Mackay (Principal):
' Life was quite different when Finaghy Primary School opened in 1934:
It was the year in which Marie Curie died, Hitler became Fuhrer and Henry Cooper was born. Stanley Matthews made his England debut, Bonnie and Clyde met their end and Clarke Gable won an Oscar. It was also the year in which the Kings Hall opened and Belfast Castle was gifted to the city by the Earl of Shaftesbury.
Finaghy PS opened with 6 classes and 161 pupils. Pupils stayed on until they were 14. There was a cookery room, a handwork room and 'rhythmic training' was taught in PE. The inspector's report for 1934 reads 'the boys have successfully cultivated an excellent crop of parsnips.' During the war years, Andersen Shelters were erected in the grounds along with a gas-mask distribution and instruction centre.
Uniquely, the school had its own swimming pool from 1966 until the early 80's, by which time many pupils were being taught in mobile classrooms.
Throughout all this time there have only been four Principals serving the school. As the current Principal I have had the privilege of overseeing the most radical transformation of the 7 acre site. The old buildings have all gone, replaced in 2004 by a state-of-the-art high-tech school, a community SportsZone, a public library and a Daycare Centre. We now offer wrap-around care, community activities, night classes and holiday programmes. Up to 90 children come for breakfast at 8.00am and there could be as many as 150 adults and young people using the facilities on a week-day evening.
Peter Breene (Chair of Govenors)
Our school motto is 'preparing today's children for tomorrow's world' Our vision for the future is based on our historical traditions of excellence and service, but we constantly seek new ways to remain relevant and dynamic in a rapidly changing world.
A Gala Celebration was held in the Ramada Hotel, Belfast on Saturday 23 May, and a great night was had by all!