Pupils were celebrating at Holy Family RC School in Barrow in July 1993.

Under the headline ‘Holy Family Pupils prove they’re the safest ‘crucial crew’ in town’, The Mail reported that pupils had been presented with the Joyce Fleet Citizens Award Trophy.

The school had come first in a competition between 19 junior schools in the Furness are, called Junior Citizens ‘Crucial Crew’.

The competition, which was organised by Pc Jane Burrow and Healthy Barrow Campaign co-ordinator Linda Hadwen, was aimed at making youngsters aware of personal safety in the home, at school and on the road.

An individual team from the school, comprising Anna Holmes, Sarah Wilson and Charlotte Walmsley, had come third overall in the contest.

A secretary who had been at the same school since it opened in the 1970s retired in 1994.

Under the headline ‘She’s bidding farewell after a double decade’, The Mail reported that Elaine Wright, 56, had worked at the Holy Family RC School, in Ostley Bank, Barrow, ever since lessons first began in 1974.

“I’m going to be sad to leave this place. I’ve got a lot of happy memories here,” she said.

“Now we’re getting the children of the children who were among the first pupils here. It seems quite strange to say the least.”

Some of her happiest memories involved funny conversations with pupils.

She said one pupil's mother had just given birth prematurely and the baby was being kept in an incubator.

"They said their mummy was back at home but the baby wasn't fully cooked!"

More recently she had been busy counting pennies collected by pupils for the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development.

A total of £165 had been raised for the charity through their efforts.

In 1996 pupils from Holy Family RC School were able to undertake a number of chemistry experiments when they visited Barrow Sixth Form College. The youngsters were being given an introduction to science.