History of the Department

To commemorate the college’s 10th year a competition was launched to find items to include in a time capsule which would represent life in the Year 2005. The competition was very well supported by both students and staff and the variety of artefacts on offer made the final decision to choose only five items very difficult.

Having looked at the criteria for the competition and the students personal reasoning behind their choices the following items were chosen:

• A charity wrist band: symbolic of the campaign to make poverty history and especially relevant in the year of ‘Live 8’.
• A manual from a Rover car: the year the last British car manufacturer passed into foreign hands.
• A newspaper reporting on the tsunami: the national disaster that devastated South East Asia.
• A commemorative picture of Pope John Paul II: 2005 was the year the longest serving Pope of modern times died.
• A copy of the college’s newsletter which featured Mr Dolan and Mr Sleeth, as Mr Sleeth took over as Acting Principal for one year.

In 1997, a Year 8 class worked with students from Lisanally Special School in Armagh on a project on the 1960s. With the help of parents, the students recreated an entire sixties living room, complete with wallpaper, radio, television, lava lamp, wall hangings and sofa all from the period.

The finale of the project was a concert of 60s music which the students presented in authentic period costume. The evening ended with dancing in the 60s room to the strains of Buddy Holly and The Beatles.

1995 – Timeline

January

• An earthquake in Kobe, Japan kills over 6,000 people.
• American Football star OJ Simpson goes on trial for murder.

February

• Barings Bank collapses after disastrous speculation by one of its traders, Nick Leeson.

March

• Russian Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after spending a record 437 days in space.

April

• 168 people are killed when a Federal Building in Oklahoma City is bombed by terrorists.

May

• Jacques Chirac becomes President of France.

July

• A volcanic eruption on the island of Montsserat forces evacuation.
• NATO carries out airstrikes against Serbian forces in Bosnia.

November

• Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by right-wing activists opposed to his policies towards the Palestinians.

Other Facts:

• Number One in September 1995 was ‘Fairground’ from the album ‘Life’ by Simply Red.
• The price of a barrel of oil – September 1995: $18 a barrel (June 2005: $60 a barrel!!!!!)

History Trips

Each April all Year 8 students visit the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh. This is part of their study of the development of the American Frontier between 1700 and 1840. They participate in a range of activities, including traditional children’s games, frontier cooking and a study of the development of the Conestoga Wagon.

In Year 9, students visit the Plantation of Ulster Visitors’ Centre in Draperstown. A highlight of the visit is the costume session when everyone gets a chance to try on reproductions of 17th century clothes.

In Year 10, students visit the Somme Heritage Centre in Newtownards.

John Ross/Louise Burke (History Department)

The Sixties Room

Year 9 students at The Plantation of Ulster Visitors’ Centre, Draperstown

Year 10 students visit the Somme Heritage Centre in Newtownards