During the harsh winter of 1962-3, or the big freeze of 1963 as it became known, it was a common sight to see the small crates of milk outside the school gates with the shiny bottle tops standing proud above the bottles on a column of frozen milk. In 1971 school milk for the over-sevens was withdrawn by Margaret Thatcher, then Secretary of State for Education – for this she was dubbed ‘Thatcher, Thatcher, Milk Snatcher’ in the press. In Post War Britain school milk, a third of a pint per child, was introduced in schools to supplement the child’s diet. School milk was part of this routine, uniformly detested by all children. Having got over the first pangs of separation, school life soon fell into a predictable routine. Consequently the first day of school was a very tearful event for both child and parent! Most mothers did not work outside the home, so for many children this was also the first time they had been apart from their mothers. In the 1960s there were no state pre-schools or nurseries, so for most children just turning 5 years old, their first day at school was the first time they had been on their own, away from home. We all have strong memories of our first few days at primary school, although nowadays most children tend to go to pre-school, so it is not such a shock to the system for them as it was for the children of the 1960s!
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