Earlier this week, Twitter user Michael Daniels asked people to share photos of British school life.
He got more than 4,000 responses, with images and anecdotes of the weird and wonderful world of UK education.
1. GCP revision guides and study books
I’ll start pic.twitter.com/4UkaOnq7am
- Michael Daniels (@MichaelDaniels_) January 15, 2021
2. Lily Allen shares her thoughts
January 17, 2021pic.twitter.com/wnjuL6kPvk
- LILYALLEN2.0 (@lilyallen) January 16, 2021
3. School desserts
pic.twitter.com/bhq84usigU
- Ersatz (@Ersatz_F) January 17, 2021
4. Tricolore Total
(I’m not sure if this is what the cover actually looked like as I had to cover my copy in a piece of wallpaper for homework in week 1!) pic.twitter.com/xdqNu0BPQr
- Karen Wespieser MBE (@KarenWespieser) January 17, 2021
5. These ropes (the bane of many lives)
X pic.twitter.com/2IBHydDWkR
- Shobna Gulati ? (@ShobnaGulati) January 16, 2021
6. PE kits have come a long way
Girls’ navy PE kit in the 70’s and 80’s. No shorts allowed- these were all that were needed. Who made that rule? pic.twitter.com/bOp8lTLwuw
- Janet Woolnough (@Woolnough1) January 17, 2021
7. This guy
Please someone tell me they remember this... Or was it all in my head?? ?? pic.twitter.com/lj7uvcqXfZ
- D ? (@DomFord1) January 17, 2021
8. French skipping
pic.twitter.com/VtSfgQWSbd
- Anne Kinahan (@AnneKinahan) January 19, 2021
9. Everyone loved this teacher
pic.twitter.com/yfPrYACNIy
- B-List at Capital (@BListAtCapital) January 16, 2021
10. Freezing swimming pool
Our school swimming pool. pic.twitter.com/nSuiuKp9wh
- Jon (@samuriinbred) January 16, 2021
11. Belting out the bangers from this
Every assembly pic.twitter.com/h4DPgGJl8S
- Francesca Anderson (@FranAn_Actress) January 16, 2021
12. Tagging time
Scratching your name into one of these bad boys with a compass - happy days! pic.twitter.com/PPZZ4UqXM9
- Joanna Di-Bella (@JoannaDiBella) January 17, 2021
13. These elite pens
pic.twitter.com/bqBkqTlzE3
- Imy (@Imy_85) January 17, 2021
14. Footballs that turned to concrete in the rain
pic.twitter.com/BnkWpRP0G3
- ⚡️j a k e. (@jakeoshea96) January 17, 2021
15. Health and safety nightmare
Jumping over these ancient antiquities pic.twitter.com/EzrjzWYO21
- Emma Reynolds ? (@EmmaIllustrate) January 16, 2021
16. Whoever sold these benches had the market cornered
Only year 6 were allowed on these and you felt like royalty ? pic.twitter.com/NH62M2N9UV
- Jonny Lewis?️? (@LGBT_Collector) January 15, 2021
17. Did these actually help with handwriting?
Waiting all year for “A Pen Licence” pic.twitter.com/YPgtP6xNIs
- mark shelley (@_markshelley) January 16, 2021
18. ‘Temporary classrooms’
Temporary classrooms that were anything but. pic.twitter.com/KUq3oa1eh9
- Heather (@Hedzie) January 17, 2021
19. ‘Traumatising’
Stitting in the hall with the whole school in the dark to watch these films on a reel to reel. Still traumatised today (especially about the one on a building site) pic.twitter.com/4SdEXZ0wjl
- Katherine Jones (@glasgow_kat) January 17, 2021
20. Jam and rice pudding
From the olden days, when we still gave schoolchildren food.
(Pic h/t @CommodoreBlog) pic.twitter.com/aIa3PZ41Rb
- Susie Symes (@susiesymes1) January 17, 2021
21. Maypoles
pic.twitter.com/mdcowJFA1c
- Claire Bills :raising_hand: (@clairelbills) January 17, 2021
22. British bulldogs
Who didn’t love a bit of Bulldog! pic.twitter.com/lTFICrfkXt
- Chris Thomas - Working from a Bloomin Boxroom ? (@cmthomas1980) January 16, 2021
23. Selling these
Flogging these bad boys 50p a go pic.twitter.com/4jdvW3JaOj
- Conor_Moughton24 (@moughton24) January 17, 2021
24. Losing the lids was a nightmare
Basically the Swiss Army Knife ?? pic.twitter.com/VlW8LBg9YF
- Rich (@richieday85) January 17, 2021
25. Big Trak
BigTrak! Deemed educational enough to have running around our classroom in the mid-1980s, but nobody else seems to remember it. pic.twitter.com/QByqCVPIFf
- Urban Pictures (@Urban_Pictures) January 17, 2021
26. School wouldn’t be complete without these...
pic.twitter.com/u8AXc00JKV
- Simon (@backtothewater) January 15, 2021
27. Something wicked this way comes
Being forced to watch Macbeth (Judi Dench & Ian McKellen) over and over again for English Literature O’ level in the 80s ? pic.twitter.com/oSaGHsVdRX
- RHÔNE??☘? (@QueenRhone) January 17, 2021
28. Life education centres
I hope these weren’t just in my area because this was the most exciting thing that happened at my primary school pic.twitter.com/kqos3ujAk8
- Connor (@Connor_Cashmore) January 16, 2021
29. Strange pencil cases
The pencil case with a million different compartments pic.twitter.com/U4wwQnMF9u
- GG (@XXGeorgie78XX) January 16, 2021
30. The cure for all sicknesses
pic.twitter.com/U9okpHNR52
- Edweign (@edweign) January 16, 2021
31. Jungle gyms
Sat at the back of the hall, never used pic.twitter.com/eGG2xZ6r9o
- bea (@itrainedflowers) January 17, 2021
32. Pogs
I was struggling to find a photo for the playground “game” British Bulldogs, or as my class called it Frenchie. So settled for Pogs instead pic.twitter.com/vlWwwm4TvK
- Donna??????? (@Apar3cium) January 17, 2021
33. VO5 got involved
pic.twitter.com/tlKDLSFuAC
- VO5 (@VO5) January 18, 2021
34. Only certain kids owned these
pic.twitter.com/sUH687ytp7
- Lawrence Monk?❤️ (@trendylefty) January 17, 2021
35. Conkers!
Haven’t seen a single Conker pic yet. Primary school in autumn was amazing. pic.twitter.com/wDuDLkO8FW
- Cameron McGrath (@camgottaplan) January 17, 2021
Send us your photos if we’ve missed anything at @tes.
