Kids these days don’t know how good they’ve got it with their iPads, smart phones and quick access to a calculator! In my day, we truly believed our maths teachers when they told us that we’d never have a calculator with us at all times… sigh.

Growing up in the 90s was particularly unique in a number of ways… no less the oddities and amazing things you experienced at school. Let’s scratch that nostalgic itch…

The TV on Wheels

The undisputed champion of the 90s school: the TV on wheels was a marvel to behold and caused an immediate ripple of excitement when the student at the front of the line caught its flickering gaze. You didn’t care what you were watching, just the fact that you got to watch something was amazing. Chances are, it was a Robert Winston documentary, anything from BBC Schools or… inexplicably, an episode of The Simpsons.

90s School Shoes

Long before students were screaming ‘What are thooooose?‘ we were considering exactly that when we spent more than a moment thinking about the fashion sins we wore in the name of uniform in 90s. Seriously… what are these?

90s School Dinners

Most likely lacking essential vitamins but rich in every shade of beige… the 90s school dinner is an absolute classic. Mains consist of something covered in fried breadcrumbs, most likely curly in shape and coupled with processed potato. Dessert is a choice between a dense cake-like approximation covered in sprinkles or a sticky composite of corn flakes – custard optional with both.

Yep. The less legible the better.

You did say it had to be two sides of A4, Sir. You didn’t specify just how big the lettering had to be. What? You want me to go away and start again? Yes, Sir…

The Overhead Projector

Turn off the lights and flick the switch: another classroom classic coming up! Probably relegated to the science and geography classroom by the 90s, but many a graph, table and diagram found themselves diligently labelled upon this bit of tech. Shame that it made everything incredibly hard to read and if the table so much as wobbled, the entire thing lost focus.

Gymnastic Mats

Designed to cushion a fall by someone who has clearly never fallen over before. These things did absolutely nothing, aside from potentially ensuring that you weren’t immediately covered in dust and scratches from the rough gym hall floor.

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