What do you recall from your first day at school?

I remember Peter C pulling the brass door handle off the huge door in his attempt to get out.
I can’t remember anything else from that day, but I loved school.

We lived in a small agricultural village and, of course, everyone knew everyone else.

I started on my 5th birthday, after the Christmas holidays. I, too, could read, write and tell the time so I was often given 'errands' and I loved my time there.

However, I changed school at 7 and knew noone. I felt an outsider and didn't thrive at all.

Absolute terror! An only child I had lived an isolated country life until I was 5 when my Dad secured work and housing in an urban area allowing me easy access to a school. I’d never really mixed with other children, saw cousins a couple of times a year, otherwise my life was with my parents and occasional time with farm workers who all seemed to be childless.

In a strange environment, no settling in visits back then, surrounded by other children, noise and a teacher who shouted I was immediately silenced, too afraid to speak.

Things settled eventually, I could read, write and count before I arrived in school and did well academically. However the anxiety in large, noisy groups has been life long. Although I’ve learned to cope and hide my anxiety group situations have never been comfortable. I learned to act confidently, as I suspect many people do. Professionally I’ve facilitated groups, run workshops and forced myself to speak out while never being comfortable with more than a few people. I still hold back in larger groups.

My first day was a nursery school (council run) as my mother had been very ill and couldnt cope with me - she cast me as the 'naughty one' quite early on. I would have been about 3/4. I met a very strict, tall lady who took me straight off my mother and showed me my coat peg which had a skipping rope on it. I remeber some kind of activity but the name memory is being put t be in the afternoons and the tall ladfy walked up and down rubbing hand cream in. I was fascinated I had never seen my mother use handcream so I assumed this was a very posh lady. It seemed to have been quite a strict regime but I could fully read and write before I went to school at 5. This made me even more of a clever clogs than I was to turn out to be and very annoying to everyone with my continual questioning and a my mother said 'always answering back'. I haven't stopped this. I wonder if would be lableed no with ADHD or similar?

Not the first day - but I asked to get my hanky and was given permission to go,
Like BL I went home for it, crossing the A1 - which before the A1M was the main road between England and Scotland.
It’s a mystery how I survived!

Absolute misery puts it perfectly. I’d assumed I’d be staying with my older sister - terror when I found I wouldn’t.
I think this thread will keep me in floods of tears.

I can’t remember my first day at all, though I can remember lots about my nursery school days. I was only three when I started.

I'm the opposite. I loved school from the first day until the last.
It was WW2 when I started primary school, and I remember the corridor being lined with sandbags. We were all given a gas mask which we carried around in a sort of shoulder bag/box.
I remember that we all had to lie down in the afternoon on little rush mats, but I couldn't go to sleep at all.
Mum took me to school on that first day, but I'm pretty sure that an older girl. a neighbour, used to take me to and from school after that.

I can’t actually recall the first day but the infants were all in one class as it was a small village school. My older sister had already taught me what she knew so I was straightaway moved up a group.
We moved house a few months later. Again I was moved out of Reception. I was so disappointed as I missed out on playing in the Wendy house.

I was 5 1/2, and dying to go to school. There was no nursery or even playgroup beforehand, just home with DM and two younger siblings. I wasn’t in the least nervous. Almost before I was inside I met the girl who was destined to be my best friend for at least a couple of years.*

We were shown very soon where the loos were, and told that if we needed to go, we didn’t have to ask, we could just go. (In some respects it was a very forward-thinking school for the mid 50s.) Which is why, I remember wondering why on earth one girl wet herself and started crying - why didn’t she just go, for heaven’s sake?

During that first year, it was mornings only, and in the 2nd year, we all had to lie down for naps after lunch - had to provide a blanket and little pillow for the purpose. I don’t think any of us actually slept, though.

There was a daily assembly with hymn-singing, so it was a really Big Thing when you were considered able to read well enough to be given a hymn book. I still remember being so chuffed when I got mine. Until then, we were told to ‘sing it to la’.

*that is, until I was very ill, off school for 3 weeks - and when I came back, she told me she was friends with someone else now.
😰

Me too Grannybags. First day aged 5, I was so terrified I wet my pants. The teacher stood me on a chair and said to the class 'Look what this dirty little girl has done.'

Absolute misery!

I hated every minute of school and was so relieved when I could leave at 15