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.

Anyone else feel kind of sad that our children will never get the joy of seeing the huge tv in a wooden cabinet on wheels with a VCR being rolled into the classroom?

Will our children still waste time in class to watch Kes? ("Yer killed me burd!!!!")
My Fair Lady?
The Railway Children?
Maybe not even Little Shop Of Horrors? (That one was brilliant as an 11 year old)

No modern horror movie will ever match up to the terror of those primary school public information films. The one about electricity sub-stations haunts me to this day.

I've read the rest of the thread now. Oh man Apuskiduski! We also had Oki Toki Unga. SPMG Heinemann maths books, and doing gym in your knickers. Finefare Crisps and a Holly Hobby flask. So nostalgic.

There was a TV programme that started with a kind of rotating glass square thing. Was it Picture Box.

Might have missed it but has anyone mentioned the tufty club?

TV room and watching How We Used to Live
I'd love to see if this was actually as good as I remembered!

The Boy From Space? Early 80s school tv

Yes! He wrote in mirror writing. It was on the Look and Read programme with that weird orange Wordy character.

I remember the Tufty Club! I wish it still existed. I tell my kids “You’re just like Willy Weasel”. Preschools don’t seem to teach road safety at all any more. I can remember practising role play crossing roads!

We used to want to be the chosen one who cranked the handle on the Banda machine. It was an almondy sort of smell?

I went to lots of schools - army child. I remember them being called The Gestetner and The Ditto Machine. I remember text books with page after page of sums to do in our exercise books and how prized a new text book from the stack was.

Willy the Weasel was not at all sensible. I remember one incident where he spent all day collecting tadpoles in a jar, then jumped off the bus home before it had fully stopped, and fell over, smashing the jar. My brother thought this was hilarious because "Willy got off too soon, and now his tadpoles are all over the floor". Older brothers are a pita.

We used to do PE in the hall in our vest and pants. There were radio controls on the wall, and the teacher used to take us down in time for BBC Schools Music and Movement.

Being a teacher must have been an absolute doddle back then.

We used to watch a programme called Watch, and it featured a serialised adaptation of Robinson Crusoe for a while. It was our topic and we were all obsessed.

“Robinson, Robinson, Robinson Crusoe...all alone and all on his own...”

Do you remember those gym bags that came in various colours - orange was the most common though and they had an image of someone doing a sport on them. I was desperate for one with the glamorous gymnast on but my Mum could only find a swimming one so I was stuck with that . The boys all had football obvs. This was the one I had:-

*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*
Lyralalala are you from the North West? Mrs Randall by any chance?

This thread sparked an amazing conversation with my teens tonight.

They were absolutely shocked by infant monitors. Sensible P7’s chosen to monitor the infant playground at playtime and lunchtime.

We even used to put on a glove, dip some cotton wool in savlon or dettol and wipe skint knees. Only “proper” injuries or head knocks went to the office to be seen.

DD1 was genuinely gobsmacked by the thought of some little P1’s mum being told they’d fallen, but not to worry they’d been looked after by a p7, but it was a thing

DD2 was mostly horrified by the P7’s giving up their breaks. I was bullied so P7’s was amazing for me as there was only 5 other bigger kids around.

Oh god I remember the tadpole incident. I was very anxious about what would happen to those tadpoles.

And remember doing your BAGA gymnast levels at school and getting cool certificates and badges to sew on your leotard?

@Riddikulusness That particular teacher was Mrs Stirling in central Scotland.

When I moved to England I was very surprised to learn that Mrs Patterson was exactly the same, but with a different accent!

I think it was a music teacher thing

Look and Read also did a series about a Peregrine Falcon and heroic kids who saved the falcon chick from being stolen. We couldn't wait to see it each week.

I watched some How We Used to Live on YouTube a little while ago.

I can confirm it's not as good as you all remember.

Still watchable though - I remember being very invested in it as a 10yr old. I only remember the episodes from WW1 and slightly before. I think we might have stopped watching after that, probably because we moved up to secondary school.

Our music teacher used to make me stand at the front of the class and pull my pigtails to the rhythm when I got it wrong in recorder class.

Really bizarre, I was only thinking about computer paper with the perforated holes down the sides yesterday!

Was copydex the stuff that stunk of fish?!

This is for all the Granny’s Garden fans. I still regularly get that tune stuck in my head...

Does anyone else remember a drinks machine which came with pink or blue plastic holders for paper cups with black currant powder you could add hot or cold water to? Older children would get put in charge of serving them.

I used to rebel by insisting on a blue cup even though I was a girl, much to the bewilderment of children and staff alike.

Was it Mac something?

Do you remember those gym bags that came in various colours yes! I was just thinking of posting about them as I was catching up on the thread, but you've beaten me to it. Mine had a swimmer on it because that was my favourite sport. And yes to the boys all choosing the football ones!

The 'How We Used to Live' set in WW1 was heartbreaking. There was the poor family and rich family and the poor family had a father who drank too much and then beat them with his belt. Then they had a teenage son who had learning disabilities but he was conscripted into the army. And the rich family's son was the commanding officer and he died trying to keep the poor family's son safe.

I remember that stuff @Llyn !

Oh wow, so many memories on this thread!

I remember the banda but we called it something else. School letters were copied down from the blackboard.

The whole class gathered around the new fangled photocopier in awe as the teacher demonstrated. Magic

ITA reading scheme
Those purple and pink swirly hymn books
Chime bars
Gardening lessons
Swimming in unheated outdoor pools
Class pet, guinea pig or hamster
Tadpoles that stank at the back of the classroom
Tepid school milk in those mini bottles
Monkey bars over concrete
Earning the right to use a red Berol pen not pencil when your handwriting was deemed good enough
PE in vest and pants
Mittens on string, tie on elastic
Shiny square loo paper