@Anoisagusaris - that is exactly my memory of bags, coats (some backpacks - my Dad bought us lovely yellow backpacks in the Netherlands one time - but in the 70s big, heavy old-fashioned leather satchels were more common), and general school arrangements in Ireland except we had to use indoor and outdoor shoes at my school, and we had cubbies lining all the walls of the corridors where we hung our coats and kept our indoor/outdoor shoebag, which also held gym shoes and shorts for PE, art smock and art kit. We could leave wet outdoor footwear on the floor of our cubbies.
We brought schoolbags into the classroom, along with lunchbox, flask or bottle of water. Bags were kept on the floor under the desk, all books and copies for the session (morning, midday or afternoon) were neatly stacked on the desk with a pencil case too.
In my primary school we ate lunch at our desks.
In secondary school we had lockers into which we stuffed coats, ingredients for Home Ec cooking (the ingredients for baked stuffed fish left quite a lingering odour), art kit, gym uniform, books not needed for homework, tampons, pads, occasional verboten items.
No coats were allowed in classrooms but bags were, and we lugged them from room to room through the day, stopping at lockers during lunch to exchange books and kits.
My DCs had lockers in elementary and high school in the US.
What does a young child need a locker for.
They kept outerwear, hats, gloves, lunch and drink, PE uniform, art kit, backpack, and a box of tissues there when they were younger.
In later grades they kept all that plus books they didn't need for morning/ afternoon session, books not needed for homework were left overnight (and occasionally so were books needed for homework), tampons, pads, umbrellas, spare filler paper, and miscellaneous other stuff in them - sunglasses, lip gloss, hairbrush, hairclips, stick of deodorant. Older DCs also kept phones in their lockers.
Not sure what difficulty a child of 4-5-6-7 would have with a locker?
The elementary school lockers didn't have locks but the HS ones did. They also had PE lockers in HS.
In PK4 and KDG the DCs had cubbies which were for coat, boots, and bag. Other children I know in different schools had l ockers in either corridors or in their classrooms.
A folder went home with oldest or only DC in each family on Thursdays, containing school news roundup and upcoming events notices, and any forms parents needed to sign. Paperwork was always due back on Fridays, also in the folder.
If a teacher needed to contact a parent urgently before Thursday then they phoned, and parents phoned teachers too. In HS teachers contacted parents by phone or email (parents were asked to indicate preference at registration).