Across the lake that in 1927 was nothing more than a river bordering sheep paddocks, the Ainslie School has celebrated nine decades of teaching with the help of its current crop of students.

In order to help future generations understand the school's heritage, a group of year 5 and 6 students became amateur historians and recorded the memories of those who used to grace the art deco halls of the iconic building.

Armed with audio recorders, headphones and curiosity, the schoolchildren spent a Saturday interviewing alumni and former teachers about their experiences.

The oral history project was provided through an ACT Heritage Grant and was part of a number of events Ainslie School prepared to celebrate 90 years since its opening.

Year 5 student John Webber said he was interested in what had changed in and around the school since it opened.

"The person who I spoke to said there was nothing around near the school," he said.

"He was telling me many suburbs there were for the northside and the southside. They only had four for each side."

While times had changed, the students also found some things had stayed the same.

"The person we interviewed was the vice-captain in the late 80s, and so when she showed us her badge, it wasn't that different to the badges we have nowadays," year 6 student Aarya Gururaj said.

For year 6 student Thea Coddington, the recording process was both rewarding and challenging.

"When we interviewed people, they didn't answer how you expected them to answer so you had to come up with a completely different question."

Teacher Vicky Harrington said the process was interesting for students and alumni alike.

"We've been working with excellent students, that's made it so much easier," she said.

"We've been fascinated by what we've found out about what school was like in the early days."

Chelsea Green, in year 5, also found there were some similarities between her and some former school students

"The person who we interviewed told us about how she really wants to be the best that she could be in everything, and that's what I want to do."