One OF Derry’s oldest schools is preparing to celebrate its 100th birthday.

Long Tower Primary School will mark the centenary of the school’s opening on May 29 with a special event during which ex-pupils and former staff will be treated to a special trip down memory lane.

The school first opened as ‘Longtower Boys’ in May 1914, before it became co-educational in 1988.

Over the past 100 years, the school has become an integral part of the surrounding community, where many generations of the same family having attended the school.

And it is that rich history that the school staff and committee will be drawing on to ensure that the celebration is a day to remember for all in attendance.

Speaking to the Derry News, the school’s principal Joyce Logue said that the school had a ‘long and proud tradition’ in Derry, and had played a huge part in the lives of many people in both the surrounding community and throughout the city.

“This is very old school with a lot of history, but it’s also is a very modern school, in that yes, it’s an old building, but it’s also a very colourful, bright and welcoming place,” she said.

“The motto of the school is ‘Our Children First’, and we pride ourselves on having a school where there is a very positive atmosphere and the children are very happy.”

Meanwhile, Catherine Hutchison of the school committee outlined more details of what the centenary celebrations would involve.

“There will be Mass celebrated, and after that, at around 3.15pm, we’ll all come back to the school, where we’ll have photographs put up all over the building, in the halls and in the classrooms, and people will be able to wander about and share their memories with each other,” she said.

“We’ll also be screening a film which has been converted for us by Eugene Quigley into a DVD after we put an appeal out for anyone with old footage of the school down the years to come forward.

“The whole idea of this is to bring people who were at the school, either as pupils or staff, together again for a look back down the years.”

She added that the school is still looking for contributions to the celebrations from the public.

The centenary comes after the school celebrated success in a recent inspection by the Department of Education, which rated the school as ‘outstanding’ in the four key areas of achievements, provision, pastoral care and nursery.

The inspection found that pupils were ‘extremely proud’ of their school.

If you would like to contribute any material to the school, which will be returned, contact 02871 261484.

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