CHILDREN at a Penrith school looked back to the 1950s with past pupils from that era at a special celebration in school.
Emma Pomfret, headteacher at Orton CofE School, explained: “Last Autumn, we discovered an archive recording of Orton School from 1953 when the BBC visited the school for Children’s Hour.
“We guessed that some of the children featured on the records were still residents but now in their 70s and 80s. Helped by Orton resident, Marian Robinson and looking through the old registers, we did a bit of detective work.
"Then we approached as many people who we thought attended Orton School of that generation as we could and invited them to put us in touch with other past pupils.”
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With over 30 people identified both locally and much further afield, Orton School invited them to a special morning with tours guided by Class 4 pupils, an exhibition of past photographs, registers, documents and other memorabilia, with a buffet lunch supplied by Westmorland Family at Tebay.
Class 4 teacher Hannah Lamb continued: “We very much wanted to bring these two generations together to share their experiences of school to coincide with HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, our history learning this term has been all about the 1950s.
“We’d been talking about some of the things the children wanted to know about being at school when The Queen came to the throne and, in preparation for our visitors, we learned a bit about how to interview people and explore their history.
"Once the visitors and the children got to know each other, there was no stopping some of them with lots of conversation and plenty of laughter too.”
“It was incredible to see all the guests and hear them share their fondest memories from their time at Orton school in the 1950s,” recounted Lilly-Grace.
“I loved meeting older versions of us. I especially loved hearing Kitty’s troublesome tales. I think she was quite mischievous!” laughed Ella.
Orton School are participating in the Jubilant 50s Scarecrow Exhibition around Orton until Sunday, June 5 and there will also be an exhibition and a Scarecrow Street Party in the town’s All Saints Church.
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