A SPECIAL celebration for both young and old was held in Nythe to mark 50 years of educating the community.

Nythe Primary School celebrated the milestone birthday after opening its doors to pupils for the first time in 1965, and newly appointed head teacher Sally Clarke was determined the birthday be marked with a bang.

Enlisting the help of the Friends of Nythe School to put on the special event both staff and pupils eagerly followed her lead to see the event was a success.

She said: “I thought, what a lovely thing to celebrate together, so we had two parties – one for the children at school and another for families in the Messenger pub, which was absolutely wonderful.”

During the day both pupils and staff came to school dressed in clothes from the 1960s, with plenty of bright outfits on display, while some even went the extra mile and styled their hair into a beehive hairdos as well.

“Everyone went all out to celebrate,” said Sally. “We had a traditional party similar to what they would have had in the 1960s with a cake and squash for the pupils. We thought the pupils would be unimpressed by it, but they actually loved the old fashion, and really enjoyed the party – sat in the main hall along big long tables where they had a great big 50th birthday cake made by our school catering staff.”

The children also tried their hand at the art of hand jiving too.

The celebrations also continued after the school day had finished, when the party moved to the Messenger pub where members of the community joined school families for the celebration. They also welcomed back former members of staff who had taught at the school during their careers.

“We also had a couple of ex pupils come in as well who joined us at the party and told us a little bit about what the school was like during the 1970s, said Sally, who said it was great to see such a display of community spirit during the celebration.

Among the musical entertainment put on during the party was a rousing performance from Sally’s husband Phil and his band The Lucky Generals.

A number of fundraising events were held throughout the evening, with some star prizes up for grabs including an overnight stay at Alexandra House in Wroughton.

Overall £450 was raised, which will go towards improving the school playground.