This year we celebrated our school’s 50th anniversary with a jubilee week on a 1950s theme. The staff and children created displays all round the school on topics such as transport, clothing and household items. The amount of material we pulled together was remarkable: a Fifties ambulance and fire engine came to the school, staff and parents searched for clothes, household objects such as telephones and radios, and fashion items such as handbags and hats. Year 2 pupil Alexander Summers, pictured, looked very authentic in his stripy tanktop playing hopscotch.

The children did a history topic on the period during our preparations for the week, and produced booklets and artwork as well as learning dances and songs from the era. Very popular were rock ‘n’ roll songs such as “Hound Dog” and old children’s favourites such as “Windmill in Old Amsterdam”, which children performed at a concert for parents and guests, who included education minister Stephen Twigg.

The Fifties theme gave the children a real sense of the past, as grandparents and elders could talk about their memories. And, looking to the future, we have created a jubilee garden at school for future generations to enjoy.

Sue Walker

Headteacher, Shears Green Infant School, Kent