Mr McIlhinney remembers the beginnings of the new Academy!
Saintfield Academy, originally a Classical School, was built in 1823 and opened on 3rd May 1824. The Academy had a chequered history over the following 150 years. By 1970 the building was considered to have served its generations of children and a replacement was being planned.
The Architects' Department of the Down County Education Committee prepared a plan of a 5/6 classroom school of an 'open plan' design - a design in vogue at the time, allowing relatively free movement between classrooms. A possible site somewhere behind the Health Centre in Fair View was being examined, but this plan was soon replaced by other ideas.
Saintfield High School in the early 1970s had a very reduced enrolment and efforts were being made by the County Education Committee to close it and use the building as a Primary School to serve the town and surrounding areas. Fortunately the arguments of the High School Management Committee, Principal, staff and supporters of the school prevailed and the High School remained open.
The Down County Education Committee finally decided on building a new school
of 10 classrooms, assembly hall and kitchen. An amalgamation of five schools
was intended; Saintfield Academy, Carricknaveagh, Ballymacaramery, Lisowen and Tullywest. The intended site on a hillside on Listooder Road disappointed me as I had hoped for a level site having no steps and so permitting handicapped children to be educated with the main stream of children. The plan was accepted and building commenced in 1975, with an anticipated opening in September 1976.
Having been principal of Lisowen Primary School for 16 years prior to being appointed to the Academy in 1970, I understood the alarm and concern parents and local people might feel at the proposed loss of their friendly neighbourhood school where life for the children could be described as being in an extended family. I took every opportunity to meet parents and children to allay any fears they might have. One of the contributory schools arranged an evening meeting of the parents to discuss the amalgamation with me. I arrived armed with plans and drawings of the new school and immediately sensed a degree of suspicion and distrust. After a talk about my hopes and ambitions for the new school and when the plans and drawings were explained, we continued with a question and answer session. We discussed staffing, curriculum, P.E., school bus routes, the advantages of a teacher for each class, the involvement of parents, a P.T.A. (already in existence),etc. By the end of the meeting the atmosphere had completely changed to one of enthusiasm, keen interest and support. What delighted me most was that at the end of the first school year in the new school , a man who had been the most sceptical and critical person at that meeting came to me and said, "I was wrong; this is a great school; my children have had a wonderful year here."
In the early months of 1976 I was busy arranging for new desks and chairs in appropriate sizes (there were four different sizes of desks and chairs) for the anticipated enrolment. Parents had the opportunity to choose what school their children would attend at the amalgamation and to the best of my knowledge all, apart from two, wanted their children to attend the new school.
All of the teachers in the contributory schools wanted transferred to the new school except Mrs Smith of Ballymacaramery P.S. As a consequence Mrs Sadie McClelland and Mrs Anne Hughes came from Carricknaveagh (Tullywest P.S. under Mrs Hughes had closed a year earlier in 1975, transferring to Carricknaveagh); Miss Doreen Brown came from Lisowen P.S., and Mrs Freda Wallace, Miss Cynthia Cole, Mrs Helena Adamson, Mrs Etta Webb, Mrs Yvonne Fieldhouse (later Mrs Elizabeth Morrow) and I from Saintfield Academy. I was fortunate in having such an experienced and capable teaching staff who readily agreed to the classes they would take.
Textbooks were a problem as not all the contributory schools used the same reading or maths schemes. New textbooks were ordered, as was classroom furniture. P..E. equipment, cleaning materials etc, -the list seemed endless.
By Easter 1976 it was obvious that the building would not be completed in time for September; indeed we opened in September without an assembly hall or kitchen as well as being without electricity. The Education Authority had given me permission to employ a teacher to relieve me part time in June so I could continue to prepare for a smooth transfer in September. I liaised with Principals of the contributory schools so that each child knew the class, the teacher and classroom he/she would attend on the opening day.
I spent most of the summer holiday supervising the movement of furniture and equipment; receiving deliveries of textbooks and stationery; distributing these materials to the correct classrooms along with the thousand and one things the transfer demanded.
During the building of the school I had been consulted on occasions but I found to my chagrin that any suggestion I made was politely ignored. I had asked for a level playground - not an impossible task in this age of earth moving machinery . Despite my protests the playground was made following the contour of the hillside. I stood with the builder at the top of the new playground and we both watched a football left at my feet roll downhill - and he shrugged his shoulders.
The school opened on 1st September 1976 without a kitchen or assembly hall and without electricity. At this stage there was no playground; the school being surrounded by a sea of mud. I had brought old mats from contributory schools to place at the various entrances and these sufficed until the playground and flagging was laid. Late the night before we opened I remembered that there were no soap dispensers in the children's toilets. So by torchlight my wife and I went round the school leaving bars of soap in the various toilet blocks.
The following morning we opened at 9am, and as the children entered , teachers guided them to their classrooms. By 9.30am everyone was placed, roll-calls were being carried out, books were being distributed, questions were being asked and answers given, smiles were being exchanged.
The Academy was alive!
James McIlhinney.
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