IT was a trip down Memory Lane for a whole host of former pupils when they returned to Our Lady and St Patrick's High School on Friday for one more look around.

The Castlehill-based school opened its doors in the afternoon for a special event designed for current and former pupils to say their goodbyes.

Later this month the entire school will relocate to the new £25m campus in Bellsmyre.

The new school will accommodate 1000 pupils and feature state-of-the-art classrooms, an ICT suite, construction skills area, hospitality kitchen, outdoor teaching spaces and an allotment garden.

But for the old school it was a chance for many former pupils to walk along its corridors one final time and reminisce about their old 'Alma Mater.'

The school's origins can actually be traced back to the closure of two previous Roman Catholic single-sex schools in the area; St. Patrick's (an all-boys school) and Notre Dame (an all-girls school).

When the schools closed, the two were merged into a new school building under one name.

Now it's the end of an era for the current pupils at OLSP and the start of a new one in Bellsmyre.

On the day there were a variety of things going on and plenty of old pictures to help spark some happy memories while some former pupils got the chance to catch up with their favourite teachers again.

The school closes for the very last time today and pupils will settle into their new surroundings on Wednesday, October 25.

Yesterday, (Monday) head teacher Christopher Smith travelled to the new school along with a team of staff and pupils to work with colleagues from the Corporate Communications Team.

It's understood that they will be producing a video showing all students the main features of the building and creating a virtual walkthrough so that they will know how to move throughout the building by the time they arrive on Wednesday, October 25.