PUPILS at Clifton-upon-Teme Primary School exchanged uniforms for costumes ranging from Victorian dress to 70s flares as they celebrated the school's 160th anniversary.

Throughout Friday, youngsters also tried their hand at playing musical instruments from the banjo to the bagpipes with entertainer Wynndebagge, who was on hand to help them celebrate with tunes, songs and dances from around the world.

The day finished with the children, staff, parents and friends of the school gathering to watch Tom Richards, one of the oldest past pupils, cutting the birthday cake.

It was all a far cry from what the school was like when it first opened its doors in 1844.

Old logbook entries reveal the school's curriculum and buildings would have been unrecognisable to today's pupils.

Where they now walk through gardens into a welcoming reception area with a library before making their way to one of four centrally-heated classrooms, students back in the 1800s had to make do with one large room with a cloakroom adjoining, heated with an open fire.

An extra room was built in 1865 for the infants, but it was not until 1965 that a new extension was added creating toilets, cloakroom, serving kitchen and office space, and another nine years before a further building was completed, providing a large hall, freezer kitchen and library.

Today's children enjoy a rounded education with the aid of computers and the internet, as well as the opportunity to do extra-curricular activities ranging from chess to pottery.

But back in 1863 the logbook stated that: "Reading does not seem to be well taught... children wrote much better on their slates."

It was in 1871 that four hours of "secular education" were incorporated into the five-hour day, but it was still another 44 years before spelling, oral arithmetic, PE, composition, sewing and drawing were introduced.

During the early years the pupils' attendance record was somewhat sporadic.

"Several children absent keeping birds off the berries and haymaking," reads an 1863 logbook entry.

"School reopened in September with 46 children present out of a possible 71 - hop-picking not finished. Bark peeling and potato planting account for 14 absences."

The visit of a circus to Worcester in 1915 resulted in the school being almost empty!

Tom Richards, who was a pupil from 1936 until 1945, said his main memory is of the headmaster at the time - George Carter.

"He served in the First World War and I reckon he was a sergeant major as you'd only got to bat your eyelids and you got a caning," the 76-year-old told the Evening News.

"It was the war years when I was there and we all had to make sure we took our gas masks to school with us or we'd get sent home.

"It was also very cramped as we had to share our classes with evacuees."

Mr Richards, whose grandchildren Lucy and James now attend the school, said he believed children receive a better education nowadays, especially with the aid of computers.

"I remember when we got a wireless at school for the first time, and that was a novelty," he added.

"We'd have to take down on paper what we heard but the reception was awful - I remember the teacher standing behind it with his arm in the air to try and get a better signal!"