THESE are the staff and some of the pupils who attended South Oxford Secondary School.

It is part of one of those panoramic photographs which were popular at schools for many years.

Teachers and pupils would gather in a semi-circle, some sitting, some standing and others at the back on benches, and the camera would whirr round from one side to the other capturing everyone in one elongated shot.

The photograph would then be rolled up, put in a drawer and forgotten, or put in a frame and proudly displayed on a wall at home.

Thankfully, this copy has been carefully preserved by the family of former pupil, footballer, car worker and publican Ted Jacobs, who was 15 when this picture was taken in 1950.

The school, in Thames Street in the city centre, served the community for 73 years, opening in 1908 and closing after a long battle to save it in 1981.

School activities featured many times in the Oxford Mail, from stage plays and foreign trips to sporting success and charity fundraising.

On a topical note, Mail reporter Anne Bavin visited the school in 1961 to question girls about their plans for Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day.

She wrote: “They believe the most important thing is not the actual present but the warmth of feeling behind it.

“Spring flowers, either bought or gathered early on the morning of Mother’s Day, were at the top of most lists. Violets were the favourites, with daffodils close behind.

“Fifteen-year-old Sandra Smith explained that she and her brother co-operated – she bought the flowers for their mother, while he bought chocolates.

“Some of the girls, in favour of presents that would last longer than flowers or sweets, settled for nylons and jewellery.

“They were also prepared to offer presents in kind, by helping around the house on Mother’s Day.”

Suggestions included doing housework, tackling the washing, cooking the Sunday dinner while mother rested in bed, and washing up afterwards.

Miss Bavin’s verdict was that “a great many Oxford homes are going to be bright with laughter and affection and gay with spring flowers on a very special day of the year”.

The school suffered in later years from neglect, caused mainly by the lengthy delay in deciding how the city centre should be redeveloped.

In 1973, parents handed a petition to Oxford MP Monty Woodhouse describing the school as “out of date, depressing and dangerously sited”.

Staff and pupils carried on as best they could, but in 1977, the school was recommended for closure by Oxfordshire County Council.

Campaigners fought to save it, but the end came in July 1981 when teachers and pupils marked the last day by dressing in Edwardian costumes.

The building was used as a community centre and night shelter before being sold and turned into flats.

• Look out for the second and third sections of the panoramic photograph in Memory Lane soon

Picture captions

Pupils and staff at South Oxford School in 1950

Michael Sheridan, 10, shows teachers Jill Offord and Graham Bell how children played in 1910 – the picture was taken in 1981 when the school closed with an Edwardian day