There was plenty to interest the children – and at least one adult couldn’t resist the temptation to join in.

Former Lord Mayor of Oxford Gordon Woodward had been invited to open a toy library at New Hinksey First School and lost no time reliving his own childhood.

He and the youngsters settled down to amuse themselves with an Aladdin’s cave of toys.

The Oxford Mail reported in 1984: “Kiddy snaps, stickle bricks, cotton reels, colourful xylophones, trains, airports and all sorts of toys have filled a room at the school.

“Now the toys form part of a toy library which has just been started by a group of local mums, and are very popular with the under-fives.”

The group had received a grant of £500 from Oxfordshire County Council to set up the library.

The toys could be borrowed by any child under the age of five who lived in South Oxford, not just the children at the school.

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Headmaster David Slater, who had invited the mums to the opening, said: “There is a drastic need for this sort of thing as well as playgroup and nursery provision in this area.

“We like to think of ourselves as a community school so this is exactly the sort of venture we support.”

New Hinksey Primary School in Vicarage Road, off Abingdon Road, has about 160 pupils in school, from Foundation Stage (3 – 5 years), through Key Stage 1 (up to 7 years) and Key Stage 2 (up to 11 years).

It’s a voluntary controlled - local authority maintained - Church of England primary school.

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As pupils are close to the city centre there are plenty of opportunities to visit the museums, galleries, workshops and parks that Oxford has to offer.

The school motto is: ‘Each one of us is special. We can all succeed.’