Hunt for time capsule as primary pupils in Bletchley mark 50th anniversary

Abbeys Primary School in Bletchley first opened on February 21, 1968 and had 28 infants and 34 juniors. The building was not finished then and the first full academic year started in September.

It has been celebrating its 50th birthday in style with a week of 1968 style activities.

The pupils have been learning about the changes in Milton Keynes and Bletchley over the past 50 years, looking at land use and comparing images from then and now.

A school spokeswoman said: “We were lucky enough to have drone enthusiast Adam Rice come and take photos of the school using his drone and the pupils enjoyed creating a figure of 50 on the field for him to capture.

“Other activities have included having a 1968 school dinner, designing invitations and birthday cards and creating a time capsule.

“The pupils are intrigued to locate the whereabouts of the original time capsule buried in 1968 but have so far been unsuccessful, and ask if you went to Abbeys and can recollect where the time capsule was buried to get in touch.”

As part of the research into the history, staff and pupils have been in contact with previous headteachers and learnt about the school bus named Abigail. A nostalgic display has been created in the school library for families to enjoy, many of whom have attended the over the 50 years.