1.School Milk: In 1971, the government controversially scrapped free daily milk for most schoolchildren. Which politician earned the infamous nickname “Milk Snatcher” for this decision?
2.Before using pens, what specific type of writing implement did primary school children use in their early years to practice handwriting on slates?
3.Tuck Shop: Which beloved flat, circular lolly with a distinctive fruit flavour and a cartoon paper wrapper was a staple 1970s tuck shop purchase?
4.Playground Fads: What was the name of the bent, flexible piece of plastic you whirled around your waist on the playground?
5.Maths: Before the introduction of the National Curriculum, times tables were memorised constantly. What was the name of the popular timed arithmetic tests where teachers would call out questions and pupils had to write down the answers in rapid succession?
Can you get 5 out of 5 . Good luck. Answers on a postcard. Keep it open till noon on the 31/5/26
Reply privately if you don’t want others to see the answers you give
The lolly has me stumped, I’m pretty sure it’s not Chupa Chups as they arrived in the UK in the 80s.
An aside: my local Chinese restaurant always has a bowl of Chupa Chups on the counter, and I always take one for my daughter when I collect a takeaway. I’ve always told her that it’s a traditional Chinese delicacy, like a fortune cookie. She believed me when she was six, not sure still does but she humours me anyway and pretends to.
Though I didn’t get 5/5 I think my postcard is on its way to you and should reach you by the closing date of 31/5/26
For the record, I submit
Margaret Hilda Baker serving as Education Secretary under Ted Heath’s government and who then ousted Ted Heath as leader of the Tory party and the rest as we all know is HerStory …
Chalk to write on slates. And of course teachers wrote on blackboards before they (blackboards) were replaced by Whiteboards and now iPads?
I don’t remember these, but went for lollipop.
Bent, flexible piece of plastic - this had me scratching my head a little. But in the end based on the bit about whirling it around your waist, I apted for Hula Hoop
I never got to do this and so don’t have a name, though I do remember we used to get house points on Fridays for reciting the times tables. The points reflected the table you recited and so you got 6 points for the 6 x table, 10 points for the 10 x table etc. As I recall, the tables only went up to 12 (at least in my class), but here’s the thing … At home, Dad used to do extra tables for homework and I remember on one occasion at school, on the Friday, I ratted of 1 x 20 is 20, 2 x 20 is 40 all the way to 12 x 20 is 240. I remember the look on the teachers face when I did this and I was well pleased with my 20 house points As an aside on this, we used to get house points for having a clean pair of shoes and you can guess what eused to happen on that front!
Keep it open till noon on the 31/5/26
