School can be great fun when traditional lessons take a back seat and pupils are encouraged to be creative.

We see above a happy handful of the 150 pupils at Sandhills Primary School at Headington, Oxford, who brought fiction to life.

Teachers encouraged them to dress as their favourite story-book characters in 1987 and as you can see, they responded enthusiastically.

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Deputy head Margaret Armitage said pupils had been looking at the process of producing books, from writing their own stories to printing, illustrating and book binding.

She added: “We thought this would be a fun way for them to learn.”

This wasn’t the only occasion pupils took a break from traditional lessons.

The Oxford Mail recorded how they celebrated the school’s 50th anniversary looking forward 50 years and turning the clock back 50 years.

They dressed in 1940s’ school uniforms and toasted the event by drinking milk in bottles.

To mark the anniversary for future generations, they buried time capsules to be dug up in 50 years’ time.

The capsules contained 30 letters written by present pupils to pupils of the future.

To add to the wartime atmosphere, school cooks served 1940s’ style food in the canteen and many pupils pretended to be wartime evacuees for the day.

Kerry Minion is the current headteacher.

She says on the school website: “At Sandhills, we aim to create a happy and caring place to learn where kindness and respect are at the heart of the life of the school.

The welfare of the children and their progress are of the utmost importance to us.”