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.

Turns out a PP posted it while I was talking. I was thinking of wordy from Look and Read!

Kids don’t know they’re born these days with their Alphablocks and phonics!

Memories

@Onthehamsterwheel - we had SRA. It was a box of colour coded reading cards/books and comprehension question - went from white to Gold.

I remember SRA cards! The only thing I was any good at

I remember Banda machines and the stinky purple ink. I went to university in the early 1990s and my house mates mum gave us on. She was a teacher and her tiny rural school were finally upgrading! Our kitchen reeked of that ink!

The bbc computer with the Pod game! I got told off because I typed in Pod can poo and my so called friend dobbed me in!!!

Banda fluid was high in alcohol as well because legend had it that a teacher was found drunk with a bottle of it in their hand! I expect it never happened because the name changed depending on who told the story and how old they were!

Wordy was creepy as hell. Just levitating there in mid air writing letters!

Anyone remember the programme 'Watch' ? It had opening titles that were like a claymation representation of whatever the programme was about. I think it was history related. I remember programmes about the Romans, and about the Christmas story, but not a very religious aspect of the Christmas story, more about the travelling on a donkey and camels and navigating using the star.

Yes banda machine - I think even in the 1970s too.

Yes to the banda machine, I remember seeing it going in the school office. And yes to the smell.

OHP I was on a work course recently and the guy doing the course was - who knows what this is?
It actually worked really well as we did a group activity, wrote if on the sheet and explained to the other groups. Quicker than faffing doing diagrams on computer or tablets. .

Someone mentioned letter being on small strips of paper, DSs school does A5. I'm sure they are printed as 2 side by side and cut.

Did anyone else used to have to do those Music and Movement things, where you did what amounted to interpretive dance to some crappy music from a radio broadcast? You had to wear a leotard and plimsolls, and usually you would be told to "pretend to be a leaf dancing on the breeze" or some such hippy shit.

I still have a copy of Come and Praise and I'm pretty much word perfect on most of the hymns in there, despite now being an atheist. My favourite back then was number 65, "When I needed a neighbour", because it contained the line "I was cold, I was naked, were you there, were you there?" And everyone knew that naked was a rude word.

Wordy gave me nightmares! Hated him/it?

It’s all coming back to me now .
Did anyone else sing random songs in assembly alongside the standard ‘All things bright and beautiful’ type hymns? We sang ‘When I’m 64’, ‘Streets of London’ and I think various folky 60s songs our ‘groovy’, flares-wearing-in-the-1980s Headteacher must’ve liked .

@EoinMcLovesCakeJumper

I loved Music & Movement! It was a load of absolute nonsense, obviously, but great fun.

The horror of doing gymnastics in your knickers and vest if you forgot your PE kit, though...

Love this thread! Yes to the purply ink. Also having to go and find a teacher in the staff room and clouds of cigarette smoke coming out as they opened the door!
Was there an educational TV programme that had Janet Ellis in it?

Yes, I remember those purple duplicated sheets.

School letters home were often on green, yellow or pink paper for some reason.

We had 'Peak Mathematics' text books - the first one was numbered '0' and on the front had a slow shutter picture of someone tracing a 0 with a sparkler.

Janet Ellis - are you thinking of Jigsaw? With Jigg, the rather scary floating jigsaw piece and, in later series, the nightmarish Nosey Bonk?

@pelleas I just googled and yes, that was it! We used to watch it at school. I must have been in what is year 1 now.

Nosey Bonk was terrifying, running round with his big white face.

We had reading books at primary school that were colour coded so all the yellow books were about history (I particularly remember one about the Crystal Palace and the great exhibition), green was science and nature, red was geography or something. I think they had stories and then questions about the stories.

Oh christ, I'd managed to forget about Noseybonk. What the hell were they thinking, putting that in a kids' programme?

Loved tv day at primary not for the actual programme but because we would cover our hands in the pva glue, wait till it dried and sit and peel it off , I have no clue why myself and friends enjoyed this . Tv time was the only time the teacher couldn’t see us doing it .
Also remember getting in trouble if you didn’t cover your jotter with wallpaper , wrapping / news paper , we would all compete for the best looking jotter.
Loved going in the teachers cupboard, what supplies she had .

Heads down thumbs up was the best game ever and kumbi ya my lord song at assembly

Oh gosh so many memories! Fade purple smelly worksheets!

In my primary school only “big strong boys” were allowed to move the computer trolley between classes. Even though there were several bigger stronger girls in the class always two big strong boys required. .

If year one is what used to be called 'reception' so was I.

I remember they did a serial story about Jigg and there was a part where he was trapped in a cupboard with some horrible, bullying jigsaw pieces and I actually cried myself to sleep the night after I watched it, so sorry was I for his plight.

There are some episodes on YouTube if you want nightmares a trip down memory lane.

Look at the sinister bastard. He looks like he's in Slipknot.

I remember that really well. And my mum using it as well.

The ink used in Banda machines fades terribly in the lightest bit of sunlight.

@Alltherum I LOVED SRA cards! You can still get something similar. I think it was because you got to mark them yourself. And colours i’d never heard of like magenta
www.prim-ed.co.uk/series/the-comprehension-box/