A few old school ties

School photographs are often of two generic types.  One is the individual head-and-shoulders 'mug' shots, usually via a photographic company who gives you a sample and offers a pack of larger prints to your parents at a price.  The school usually retains a contact print to attach to a school record card.  At least that is the way it used to be, but records are often digital today.

The second is the class photo, or even, if Head Teachers are brave enough to organise it, a whole-school picture which usually has to be stored in a roll because it is too difficult to display without the living room wall giving an impression, by the time we are in our final year, of a panelled common room wall at a historic school premises.

Fortunately, there are opportunists who occasionally have a camera handy and are able to snap a few less formal shots: sports activities, special projects, performances and concerts, and school visits.

The photos which appear with this article were all taken when Marshalswick Boys' School (now named Sandringham School) was in its infancy – the early 1960s.  There are several in the collection.  On another occasion I will post a few of the teacher pics.  Meanwhile, here are classroom views and the occasional rehearsal.

You may recognise your younger self and your younger friends.  Today you may still live in St Albans, perhaps even in Marshalswick itself.  But you may have migrated as far as Hatfield, or one of our northern powerhouse cities, even abroad.

It would be great to hear from former pupils of these studious classrooms.