BACK to school - three words heralding the end of the long summer holiday that just a few weeks ago seemed as if it would go on forever.

When you’re a child the six-week break seems like an eternity, until suddenly there’s an early autumn chill in the air and you’re being fitted for a new school uniform.

It has been this way for generations of schoolchildren; schools and lessons may have changed over the years but the end of the summer holiday will forever signal the start of a new academic year, and a new chapter in pupils’ lives.

Delving into the Telegraph & Argus archives, we discovered these charming images of school life in Bradford, offering a snapshot of the past in classrooms and playgrounds that will be familiar with many readers.

One photograph is captioned ‘Heaton Boys Open Air School’, yet the children are clearly in a classroom. Maybe the windows on one side gave the appearance of it being ‘open air’. Note the boys’ haircuts, which wouldn’t look out of place today, even though this photo was taken in 1952. And although it’s said to be a boys’ school, the ribbon in the hair of the child at the far end suggests that this is a girl.

Youngsters at Back Lane School in Guiseley, in 1971, are busy with what looks like a reading game - the wooden structure has words such as ‘dog’ and ‘ball’ written on blocks - while pupils at St Patrick’s Junior School on Rebecca Street, Bradford, in 1969 are seated at wooden desks, a common feature of classrooms. More modern desks appear in the photo of RC Junior School, Heckmondwike.

Another common sight was the mobile classroom, or ‘Terrapins’ as they were often known. There is no date on this photograph of children queuing outside a mobile classroom, but we think it may have been the 1970s. The crate at the side of the steps will be familiar to those of us who remember school milk - this was be stacked outside mobile classrooms in all weathers, so in summer the milk turned yellow and in winter the bottles would be covered in a layer of ice.

Who could forget school dinners - spam fritters, cheese pie, a scoop of watery mashed potato, and for pudding, semolina or sponge with pink custard? These youngsters, pictured in 1977, are tucking into school dinners, washed down with jugs of water. It’s a far cry from burgers, pizza and pop which many of today’s schoolchildren have for lunch.

The joys of playtime are captured in our charming photograph of the playground at St Barnabas School in Heaton in 1966.

Finally, it’s hometime at Whetley Lane School in Manningham, where children are pictured racing through the old archway.