01:12Tell me how you find the theme in the park today.
01:16It's just amazing.
01:17Everything is just amazing.
01:18There are pictures and all and just the size.
01:21There's glasses.
01:22Yeah.
01:22And what are you looking forward about today?
01:26Just making friends and looking back to school.
01:30Trying to find a way about it.
01:32Good job.
01:33It looks massive, doesn't it?
01:35Are you looking forward to exploring?
01:37Yes.
01:38What about you?
01:39Are you looking forward to being up at St. Rowland?
02:04It's the first day of our students today.
02:10We've already had a first day for all of our staff coming back and our governors, which
02:13was amazing.
02:14It was a real party atmosphere.
02:16But it doesn't really start to feel like a screen cardinal until all of our young people
02:19are starting to come back to us.
02:20Do you have 2,000 people to learn?
02:22We have 2,000 in the whole school community, so about 1,800 students and then about 200.
02:28There's over 200 staff, so with 2,000 souls on board, I suppose.
02:32That's a lot, isn't it?
02:33It is.
02:34It's one of the biggest schools in the world.
02:35It is, yeah.
02:36It is.
02:37It actually feels like a small village at times.
02:40We're so lucky.
02:42Just the variety.
02:43It's so dynamic.
02:44It's such a dynamic place.
02:45I think we were very, very lucky in our contractors, basketball contracts, who worked with us to
02:50allow us to really shape the internal fabric of the building because, obviously, the architect
02:56had done the design many, many years ago, but we were able to really make it feel that
03:00we are in Lurgan.
03:01I wanted, I suppose our vision was that the schools in Lurgan, it's off Lurgan, the community
03:06is very much here, and so we've done a lot of nods to the history and heritage off Lurgan.
03:12So I'm really proud that we're sitting today in the linen lobby, which is named for the linen
03:17industry and the great impact Lurgan had on the linen industry.
03:22We have an A.E.
03:22Russell Ringling, who was a very famous son of Lurgan, with the John Hume Hall, and John
03:28Hume opened the first credit year in Lurgan, and also, obviously, as a Nobel Peace Prize
03:32winner.
03:33So when I spoke to the staff, I said to them, I want you to plant your feet and, you know,
03:38we take in where you are, who you are, what we're all about, and there's lots of nods
03:41to that in the school that I'm very, very proud of.
03:43I just think, maybe, you've seen there this morning, the excitement is just filtering
03:48through everybody, the enthusiasm, the optimism.
03:51We've waited a long time for this, and, you know, whenever it's just exceeded everybody's
03:57expectations, it's just a pleasure to be here, and it's a privilege to be working here, and
04:02we're just so excited for our children that are coming through them doors to an all-ability
04:08college where they are going to exceed to be the best person that they can possibly be,
04:12and with these facilities, I have no doubt that they're going to do that.
04:16There was one young excited boy now who was very keen to get on with the club.
04:21Yes, I know, and, like, the facilities down there, like, just the 3G pitch, and there's
04:27three massive pitches, and even if you go up to the Hilltop Cafe, the views that the students
04:31have of that there, the views that they have of just the local area, it just feels like
04:37we have, we've picked the perfect spot to be in Lurgan, and this is our own wee community
04:42here, and we're here, you know, for everybody.
04:45The design is going to aid us with that, Carmel, it's nearly like a figure of eight to help
04:49with people movement around the school, and pick our staff on tours, or all our pupils are
04:53going to have tours, or guide books, or map books for everybody, so hopefully people will
04:57be able to find their way around.
04:58But, um, people will get into the flow of it very quickly, uh, I've been here for weeks
05:03over the summer, and you really do, it makes sense, and our departments are organized together,
05:08so for the first time, our subjects are all together, and already the staff are sending
05:13me just to be able to see people in their own teams, because we've been operating across
05:18split site, and people weren't seeing each other, didn't have that time for joint planning
05:22now to be engineered in, it's very natural and organic now, um, and Emre's already referenced
05:28the playing fields, to have our own playing fields on site, for the first time, will
05:31be an amazing, um, resource for us, um, there's other things in the design as well, that we
05:37have never had in our school, like, um, our sensory room, and it's been sponsored by Smurfett
05:42Capa, so we've been able to fit that out, and it is absolutely expanding, um, we have an
05:47emerging room that was sponsored by a local businessman and a parent, um, and that is unbelievable,
05:52and I worked into it for the first time, I just was overwhelmed, because we really wanted
05:56it, we know it's going to have such a huge impact on learning and teaching, um, and we
06:01have a whole facility called Eden, which is really a people services, it's where our additional
06:06needs area is going to be as well, um, and a lot of parent spaces down there, or social
06:12worker, or youth worker, or medical assistant, will all be worker-led at that facility, but
06:16that's where every child they access from year 8 to 14, depending on their needs, so it could
06:19be a child who's been bereaved in year 13, goes in and has, you know, a bit of a time out in
06:23there, or somebody's maybe been off ill, that's catching up in coursework, and it can be for
06:30learning support, it can be for our newcomer students, it's just going to be that wraparound
06:35service, and we put that in ourselves, in the designing school, so, a lot of that centres
06:40round the flow, it's really at the centre of the school, our chapel has been refurbed as
06:44well, it's amazing, and the refurb is very much in harmony with the original design, and people
06:51who saw the original chapel burst into tears when we saw it, because it was such harmony,
06:56and it's such memories, so I was delighted, because I didn't see the original chapel, I
07:00was just involved in picking out the colours and helping with the refurb, so to see people's
07:04reaction to all of that has been really humbling, and a real privilege to me as well.
07:09So what's your standout part of the school?
07:15I think it's here, and I know I keep talking about this, but it's the tree of knowledge,
07:20it's the welcoming, as I come in, the round seats, you've seen yourself this morning, the
07:26Eriates nearly attracted themselves to the round seats, and we were able to talk to them
07:29about the heritage of the linen in the Lurgan area, and how that reflects that there, I feel
07:35that this, as soon as you open the doors you feel welcomed, you feel like, do you know what,
07:39wow, I'm part of this here, and the students are able to sit around, just like we are now,
07:45and work together, we've seen staff come in here, and they're working with the students
07:50around them, and it's that real sense of community, and for me, today we welcome the first first
07:56years, and I will see them through, right through to year 14, I will be with them every step of
08:01the way, and for me that is so exciting.
08:09So my name is Kieran, I'm from NIFAC Audiovisual, and this is the
08:39St Ronan's Immersive Experience Room, they've got six projectors in here, two for each of
08:45the walls, and we are just, at the moment, we've got the landscape behind us, but really
08:49it's for the likes of geography, if you've got volcanoes, you can explore the landscapes,
08:54if it's science, you can explore the digestive system, or even if it's drama, you could do
08:59the streets of Liverpool, and to be doing a production, or a little snippet from Blood Brothers,
09:05for instance.
09:06Pretty cool, isn't it?
09:07Yeah.
09:08Alright.
09:09So, basically, what we have here, up in this part of the school, is that the whole science
09:12department has 12 labs in total, we've got four biology labs, this is one of them, we've
09:20got four physics labs, and we've got four chemistry labs, okay?
09:25We also have lots of teachers, so we're talking, I think we have 13 science teachers in this school,
09:31so, alright.
09:32Now, all of the different room door, look, if you have a look over here on the room door,
09:37do you see the famous name, Charles Darwin?
09:39Everybody heard of him before?
09:41Famous biologist.
09:42So, all of your science labs are all named after a famous scientist.
09:47So, if you're in a physics room, it would be like a famous physicist.
09:51If it's a chemistry room, it's going to be named after a famous chemist.
09:55Someone like Albert Einstein is one of the names that's on one of our chemistry labs as
10:00well, okay?
10:01We're going to be using a dry area in the middle for all of our book work.
10:05So, whenever you come into school, you're maybe doing some written work or whatever,
10:09it's going to be in the centre of the lab here, and out and around the outside is where
10:13you're going to be doing all of your practical work.
10:15Does that make sense?
10:16Yeah?
10:17Yeah.
10:18All good.
10:19Now, people on the microscopes, there's some blood slides on there.
10:22So, if you can get it to go, you should be able to see some blood cells.
10:26And across here, everybody, we've got some biology food tests.
10:29We'll be looking for things like sugars and proteins and things like that.
10:33On the other side is the chemistry practical, where we're looking at acids and alcohol.
10:36Have you ever done anything yourself before?
10:38No?
10:39No.
10:40Okay.
10:41And then what we always do is we're going to have a bit of a competition to see
10:43who can be in my skeleton as well.
10:44I'm going to try that at some point for whoever's going to be in my class.
10:47Cool.
10:48I'm going to try that again in my class.
