If you were at primary school in the 80s

[isabellerossignol]

I've spent what seems like all morning printing off worksheets for my primary aged child. And I was suddenly struck by a vivid memory from primary school. Hand typed or handwritten worksheets that were printed on a machine, in the days before printers, with really poor quality paper and all the writing came out with a bluey/purple tinge.

I've had a Google and apparently it was called a Banda machine, and was used a lot in schools because it enabled relatively cheap printing. Does anyone else remember it?

The thing I remember most is that the printed sheets had a really strong, distinctive smell. If I could smell that now, I'd feel like I was 8 all over again.

I remember that even in 2012 a school local to me still used a dot matrix printer for their register.

Yes, I was at primary school in the 80s.
I started teaching in 1984.
I still have all of my fingers and most of my brain cells, which is something of a miracle really.

Remember Geordie Racer?

School music was often facilitated by a cassette tape that was played to the class on a huge ‘portable’ tape player. This usually lived in the ‘resource room’ with the Banda machine, the tv trolley and the computer trolley. And also the first aid stuff for when you skint your knee on the playground.

There’s be a new tape series to enjoy in each year of primary school. They were all crap. And there were tapes of hymns for assemblies too

Unless, of course, you got a piano playing teacher. In which case, music involved her banging loudly on the piano and us singing. Or playing woodblocks if we were lucky.

Any takers for Singing Together, recorded off the radio on a huge reel to reel tape machine?

Ah yes, was that the one where there was a song from maybe 20 different countries, or meant to represent 20 different countries?

Lots of nice memories on here

I remember the blue tinged copy worksheets

Also The projector which was used for primary assemblies to put the hymns up on the big screen which we would all sing along to while a teacher banged about on the upright piano . Still remember most of the words to random hymns 30 years later ...

Big wooden tv on wheels for tv time - shows included something about a dragon and lots of paper mache sets
The magic pen show too , to show you how to write letters

At primary we had one computer in the “ big end” of school open area , bbc computer I think which also had a dragon / Apple / witch kind of game on ?

Head teacher was stuck in the 70’s fashion wise , he used to wear pale baby blue flares

Love primary school memories

I remember because I was teaching then !!

I remember the BBC printer being wheeled in. Only the P7's were allowed to move it at my first school. At my second school two kids from the class went - even the youngest kids. I'm amazed more damage wasn't done to both computer and walls!

Going to the tv room to watch Button Moon was the highlight of the week. I can still remember the name of the kid who regularly got our tv time cancelled for bad behaviour until a group of parents complained that we were missing so much (we didn't get a class trip one year because of him either as the teacher threatened it then felt it had to be carried out)

I remember whenever we started a new maths book waiting excitedly to see if I'd be one of the people who got an actual workbook to write in or a photocopy version with some pages that were almost impossible to read.

No, I don't remember that but I did have a flashback to the orange SMP maths books

Our Maths books were called Fletcher. They had textured covers in different colours depending on level.

I remember the purple/blue print outs too!

Don't forget the overhead projector !

And yes to the TV on wheels. We watched Middle English, How we Used to Live and Science Workshop

Oh and Look and Read when I was in Year 3 in 1981. Best one was The Boy from Space, scary!

What about the paper with holes down the sides?

Oh yes, computer paper. Sheets and sheets of it perforated on the edge. It came out for wet play!

We had SMP maths books

Remember the music cassettes too , in our school the music classes also usually had a bible / church theme too

Just a standard Scottish primary but think it was more “ churchy “ back in the 80’s

Forgot about the wooden block instruments

I love this thread. After a shit morning homeschooling my two it has really made me laugh. Thanks OP

We had to say the Lord’s Prayer every morning in my (allegedly non-denominational) scottish primary school. Plus assemblies always involved the minister (and there were church visits at the end of term too).

I hated it.

We played skittleball and had big tournaments with other schools. I was in Lancashire and I remember mentioning it at uni and no one else had ever heard of it

The music teacher who visited once a month or something used to get really pissed off that we hadn't learned the hymns or songs properly when in reality she played the piano at a completely different pace to the cassette version we'd learned from

She'd stand for ages stamping her feet yelling "Dum, dum, da, da, DEE, dah" trying to teach us a rhythm and leaving us sounding worse than ever

“when did they change from infants ,,juniors and seniors to year 1_etc?”

I went from second year seniors to Year 9 (third year seniors) in 1990. Never been quite sure why it happened then, but was it connected to the new National Curriculum?

I just googled the kids school tvshows - seeing the pictures totally brings back memories ...

Yes! Forgotten about that, was it called a duplicator? had a handle you wound whilst paper passed through a roller ???

readily your school sounds like mine , we had the minister at most assemblies too

*@LoadsaBlusher * At primary we had one computer in the “ big end” of school open area , bbc computer I think which also had a dragon / Apple / witch kind of game on ?
**
Granny's Garden! I loved that game!!

Yes to Geordie Racer. Also one with a weird flying ufo thing that had illuminated letters or maybe I was high on copydex?

Yes that was it ! Granny’s garden , it was so fancy to get a shot on that wasn’t it