Amateur colour film of activities at St Cuthbert's Church of England School in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Features a variety of childrens' games, exercise and dance in the school yard. The film opens with shots of animals in a zoo. The camera pans along a large group of school children, some jostling to get in shot. Children are walking through a park. A small group of young women, one dressed in a wide skirted 1950s summer dress, smile at camera. The group of adults and...

Amateur colour film of activities at St Cuthbert's Church of England School in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Features a variety of childrens' games, exercise and dance in the school yard. The film opens with shots of animals in a zoo. The camera pans along a large group of school children, some jostling to get in shot. Children are walking through a park. A small group of young women, one dressed in a wide skirted 1950s summer dress, smile at camera. The group of adults and children walk away from camera. General view of town with cathedral in background. (Edinburgh? Durham?) A large group of school children run towards camera in the school yard. The children, some boys bare-chested, stand in a group waiting for instructions. The next edited sequences capture primary school girls and boys at play in the school yard in a range of games. School girls and boys take part in a group game. Then the boys play cricket. Girls play a skipping game. Close-up shot of girl's feet during skipping. Girls play ball in the school yard. Portrait shot of one of the girls. Individual girls are filmed skipping. Some of the girls play catch with a ball against a wall. There are general views of school boys playing cricket, with school building in background. Two girls hold hands and swing round and round quickly. Close-up of a boy bowling a cricket ball. All the school children pose for a group portrait. A small group portrait of girls follows. Close-ups of hand crafted puppets manipulated for the camera. Three boys are playing some kind of a dice game, crouched on the floor of the school yard. Two boys wrestle in the yard. Close-up portrait of a boy shielding his eyes against the glare from the sun, his hand covered with dirt. Close-up shot of a doll in a basket held by one of the children. In the next sequence, the school children are at Queensferry, Scotland, beside the Forth Road Bridge. General view of railway bridge across the Firth. Ferry heads towards Queensferry next to the Forth Bridge. The children board a bus. Various shots of a zoo visit and outside Edinburgh castle follow. The film returns to childrens' games in the school yard. The children run out from school into the playground. The boys play football. Girls play a skipping game. There are various shots of girls practising their hula-hoop technique. Further shots of the girls' skipping follow. A high jump rope is set up in the school yard. Girls practise their high jump. The boys are playing cricket. Various shots depict the girls as they perform folk dance (square dance) routines in the playground. Boys are playing a game where they hold hands in a ring around a chalk drawn circle, and attempt to pull each other into the circle. The scene cuts to the school kids in a classroom. They are playing with a table top model of a town with miniature model figures. There is a shot of a Punch and Judy booth in the classroom. Shots of the show with puppets performing, possibly handled by children rather than adult puppeteer. Shot of a boy holding a handmade model crane and showing the lifting mechanism in action. A model road bridge is maneuvered into place. Girls practice sewing in class. The scene returns to the children at a visit to a zoo. Many shots of animals. The children pose for a group portrait. Children play games in the school yard. Boys and girls take part in a speed walking race. Girls perform a folk dance together. School boys have a go at the "twist." Girls and boys are dancing, in a jive or rock and roll style. The children perform "touching toes" exercise in a long row, and in an uncoordinated fashion. Girls in twos march towards camera. The boys do the same. Shot of the children as they head back into school. Close-up of the kids looking at a river and town model. The film concludes with a shot of the boys and girls back in the classroom and studying their books.