Growing up in Sunderland: Memories of retro school days in Sunderland as children prepare for new term in September

As children across Sunderland and beyond prepare for their first-ever days at school in September, we asked members of our Wearside Echoes Facebook group to lift the lid on their own memories. What’s the first thing you remember about heading off to infant school?

From letting go of mam’s hand for the first time, to loving the picture on your coat peg and learning to write your name – the early years of school were a real adventure!

And who can forget having to pick your PE shoes from the communal box, or waiting (impatiently) for your turn to play in the sand tray. And how about milk in a glass bottle?

Here are some of the stand-out moments from your past. Share your own with us here.

Susan Cummings: “Being the only kid who didn't cry when my mam left.”

Judith Porter: “My first day, playing with toys and plasticine, at Diamond Hall school, that was 72 years ago, seems like yesterday.”

Sue Abraham: “Pics on your peg!”

Kathleen Mckay: “Seeing the metal container with all the black sand shoes in.”

Janusz Lewandowski: “Letting go [of] me mam’s hand and running in … there was all this stuff!”

Mandy Kirby: “My first day, my dad took me in his car and I snagged my lovely new white socks on the seat runner as I got out of the car.”

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Rosemarie Barratt Simpson: “Playing plasticine with little rolling pins and boards. All I made was cherry pies.”

Beatrice Hind: “Wearing my name pinned to my cardigan and learning to write using a sand tray. This was in 1945 and the beginning of my love of learning.”

David Wingate: “Disgusting warm milk!”

Carole Allcroft: “Realising my mam was sneaking out of the classroom and my teacher Miss Tindale holding my hand.”

Lorna Webster: “Running back home on the first day before I got inside the school.”

Elsie Drillingcourt: “I went to Simpson St and when the teacher said you can go out to play now, I thought it was time to go home and that’s what I did.”