CHILDREN at Unsworth Primary School turned back the clock to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary this month.

Reception pupils spent time acting as they would have when the school first opened in 1964, using only chalk and chalkboards to write with.

Teachers removed iPads from lessons and whiteboards and toys were covered as children expressed their thoughts and opinions about the idea of being at school 50 years ago.

Pupils enjoyed a steam train trip to Ramsbottom to round off the celebrations.

Reception class teacher Martine Ashton said: “A few children thought it would be boring and some were horrified that there were no iPads but on the whole the children were eager to play games like skittles, hopscotch and ring games.

“They have enjoyed writing with chalk and looking at photographs of children in reception from the past.

“I have been overwhelmed by the children’s questioning skills, their thirst of wanting to find out about the school’s history and the detailed thoughts and opinions that the children have offered.”

Headteacher Mrs Christine Reynolds said: “Someone once said that ‘history never looks like history when you are living through it’.

“It is a sobering thought to realise that I have been a part of Unsworth Primary School for 25 of its 50 years.

“It has brought back a lot of memories and reminders about the many people I have known, children and adults, across that period.

“Our learning has illustrated the fact that while the tools we use are very, very different from the past, the one constant in life is that it is people that matter, it is people who make history.”

The school in Blackley Close originally opened in 1964 as Parr Lane County Primary School with 135 pupils, one headteacher, three teachers and a caretaker.