Orangefield High School
Encyclopedia
Orangefield High School is a secondary school
in east Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. Formerly Orangefield Boys' Secondary School and Orangefield Girls' Secondary School, it is now coeducational.
Notable alumni of the Boys' School include Van Morrison
, Brian Keenan, David Ervine
, Gerald Dawe
, Walter Ellis
and Ronnie Bunting
.
Orangefield High School has a student population of approximately 300 pupils from age 11 to 18. This means that the school has a Lower and Upper Sixth forms. The school offers a wide range of subjects from compulsory such as English
, Mathematics
, Science
that are required through years 8-12. The school also offers other subjects such as technology
and design, home economics
, information computer technology, media
, music
, geography
, history
, business studies
, physical education
and religious education
.
The school educates pupils of many different ethnic origins and races. The school is predominately of the Protestant community. The school also accepts pupils from other countries such as South Africa
, Denmark
& Poland
. There are about 25 members of staff.
The school's main competitors for pupils are the local Ashfield Girls' and Ashfield Boys' schools.
" and included it on his 1989 Avalon Sunset
. He also referred to his school days in Orangefield in the songs "Got To Go Back" (1986 album No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
) and "On Hyndford Street" on his 1991 album Hymns to the Silence
. John Malone was the headmaster in the 1960s.
and Orangefield Primary and was built in an area away from the local area of Orby in the corner, creating a very quiet and wildlife
friendly school.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in east Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Formerly Orangefield Boys' Secondary School and Orangefield Girls' Secondary School, it is now coeducational.
Notable alumni of the Boys' School include Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Brian Keenan, David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
, Gerald Dawe
Gerald Dawe
Gerald Dawe is a Northern Irish writer and poet.-Early life:Gerald Dawe was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up with his mother, sister and grandmother. He attended Orangefield Boys School across the city in East Belfast, a leading progressive liberal state school...
, Walter Ellis
Walter Ellis
Walter Ellis is a Northern Ireland-born, United States-based writer.Ellis is the author of The Beginning of the End: The Crippling Disadvantage of a Happy Irish Childhood, the story of his early life in Belfast, Durham, Cork, and Brussels, and his uneasy relationship with his cousin, Ronnie...
and Ronnie Bunting
Ronnie Bunting
Ronnie Bunting was an Irish republican and socialist activist in Ireland. He became a member of the Official IRA in the early 1970s and was a founder member of the Irish National Liberation Army in 1974. He became leader of the INLA in 1978 and was assassinated in 1980.-Background:Bunting came...
.
Orangefield High School has a student population of approximately 300 pupils from age 11 to 18. This means that the school has a Lower and Upper Sixth forms. The school offers a wide range of subjects from compulsory such as English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
that are required through years 8-12. The school also offers other subjects such as technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and design, home economics
Home Economics
Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...
, information computer technology, media
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, business studies
Business studies
Business studies is an academic subject taught at higher level in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, as well as at university level in many countries...
, physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
and religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...
.
The school educates pupils of many different ethnic origins and races. The school is predominately of the Protestant community. The school also accepts pupils from other countries such as South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
& Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. There are about 25 members of staff.
The school's main competitors for pupils are the local Ashfield Girls' and Ashfield Boys' schools.
History
Orangefield has had a long history within the east Belfast community, with many local celebrities and international icons having been educated at the school. The most famous former student is Van Morrison. Morrison wrote a song entitled "OrangefieldOrangefield (song)
"Orangefield" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. The song takes place on "a golden Autumn day" and is named for the school for boys that Morrison attended during his youth in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The song was...
" and included it on his 1989 Avalon Sunset
Avalon Sunset
Avalon Sunset is the nineteenth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1989 The album has been described as "a powerful statement that the often turbulent muse had stabilized and was now a sublime force flowing through Van Morrison".The 29 January 2008 reissued and...
. He also referred to his school days in Orangefield in the songs "Got To Go Back" (1986 album No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
This album was hailed by most critics as a return to form and gave Morrison his best reviews of any of his albums in the eighties. John Wilde in Sounds remarks, "the crescendos here are never dampened by their subtle nature and never fall short of blinding. The whole album aches with a steady...
) and "On Hyndford Street" on his 1991 album Hymns to the Silence
Hymns to the Silence
Hymns to the Silence is the twenty-first album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1991 It peaked at No. 5 in the UK...
. John Malone was the headmaster in the 1960s.
Location
Some of the older school buildings are still in use today, although the original boys school building is now used ony for physical education lessons. The new buildings added throughout the years have brought together the girls and boys schools with additional add ons such a dedicated science wing built in 1991 and a reception area added on to the school building. The school shares the area with other local schools, Grosvenor Grammar SchoolGrosvenor Grammar School
Grosvenor Grammar School is a co-educational controlled Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This inter-denominational school, with an increasingly multi-cultural population and outlook, has a staff of 73 full-time teachers....
and Orangefield Primary and was built in an area away from the local area of Orby in the corner, creating a very quiet and wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
friendly school.
Principals & vice-principals
- John Malone / Brian Weston
- Brian Weston / Ken Stanley
- ? Hyndman / Jennifer Mussen
- Karen Burrell / Maurice Johnston
School houses (boys)
There were 4 school houses during the period to 1974 (linked to local businesses with respective colours) i.e.:- Davidson (red) - Davidson Sirocco Work
- Hughes (blue) - Hughes Tool Company
- Musgrave (green) - replaced by O`Neill house after the Musgrave company went bankrupt.
- Bryson (yellow) - Spence Bryson ??