Time capsule burial marks school's anniversary

Published by Kelly Elliott for Frank Haslam Milan in Housing and also in Communities

Pupils in County Durham have marked the 80^th anniversary of their school by burying a time capsule filled with items representing life in 2012.

A school sweatshirt, copy of a local newspaper, class photographs and street maps were among the items added by the children, from Bullion Lane Primary School in Chester-le-Street.

The idea for the time capsule came from community regeneration company Frank Haslam Milan (FHM) North East, which is currently carrying out improvements to homes in the area on behalf of social landlord, Cestria Community Housing.

Staff from FHM established links with the school after carrying out safety talks to pupils, making them aware of the dangers associated with the improvement works.

Heather Miller, Lead Resident Liaison Officer for FHM, said: “We’ve been working in the area for two years now and have built up a great relationship with Bullion Lane Primary School.

“We thought the children might enjoy putting together the time capsule and with the school’s 80^th anniversary also taking place, it seemed like a great way to mark the milestone.”

The school’s deputy head teacher Margaret Lloyd said the children had enjoyed choosing which items to put into the time capsule.

She said: “The pupils wanted to show people what it was like living and going to school in Chester-le-Street in 2012.

"As well as photos and maps, they also decided to put in an Argos catalogue so people in the future can see the sort of technology people were using in 2012 and also how much items cost.

“In 20 years time, we will celebrate the school’s 100^th anniversary and we have discussed the idea of digging up the capsule then. Who knows, some of the pupils involved in the project might even have children of their own attending the school then.”

Pupils and teachers from Bullion Lane Primary School were joined by staff from FHM and Cestria Community Housing for the burial of the time capsule.

Cestria’s technical officer David Tate said: “The time capsule is the perfect way of marking the school’s 80^th anniversary and it’s very exciting for the children to think that the items they included will be discovered some time in the future.”

The items included inside the time capsule were school and class photographs, pictures of school life, a school sweatshirt and polo shirt, a copy of a local and a national newspaper, fact files about the pupils, a list of the top 40 music singles for the week, pictures of fashions currently being worn, coins, a local street map, information leaflets about the local area and an Argos catalogue.