There can be few people better placed to talk about how a school has changed in its 70-year history than Sharon Gibbons.

Now site manager at Temple Hill Primary Academy in Dartford, she was a former pupil before getting a job there and as a parent watched her children and then her grandchildren follow in her footsteps through the school gates.

As a member of staff at the school, in St Edmunds Road, she has done almost every job, including associate teacher, cleaner, dinner lady and receptionist.

"If you cut me in half it says Temple Hill right the way through," she said.

Sharon says she has seen a lot of changes since she first started as a pupil in 1967, including the amalgamation of the juniors and infants schools, lots of adaptations to the buildings, an increase in the school roll from 500 children to 900 and an added cultural mix.

"Lots of new families have moved in over the years which have brought their cultures and added to the big community," she said. "It's become a wonderful melting pot of different cultures."

Sharon, who has two sons and two grandchildren who have attended the school, added: "There's a heartbeat here that is like no other."

And she has many fond memories of her times at the school, including devouring all her friends' gypsy tarts.

"I was the only one of my table who liked them and we weren't allowed to leave the table until we had eaten everything. So I had to eat everyone's gypsy tarts."

She says that explains why she was a "chubby child" and sparks another memory about dreaded PE lessons.

"We still have the same climbing frames attached to a wall in the halls and I still remember I was never able to climb the rope. Whenever I pass them it takes me back in time, and brings on a cold sweat."

And Sharon, who lives in Dartford, remembers the days when every pupil was given a free bottle of milk.

"It wasn't a carton like some of the children get these days, and we didn't have fridges. In the summer it was hot and in the winter it was frozen and you had to eat it like a lolly."

The school opened in 1953 and in the early days, pupils did not have to wear uniform.

That was still the case in 1967 for Sharon, who recalls the facilities were far more basic compared to today's mod-cons.

"We used to get excited when the TV set was wheeled in," she said.

She remembers lots of lessons spent on the national changeover to decimalisation and missing her thruppenny bit.

"It bought me the wonders of a jamboree bag," she said. "I used to love the little red fish that curled up in your hand."

And she recalls the days of learning before Google.

"We had to find the correct encyclopedia in the library, lug that back to class then spend ages hunting through to find the answer to one question."

She also remembers the old-fashioned games she and her friends used to play at breaktime.

"I remember taking my clackers out at playtime, then running my knuckles under the cold tap.

"We used to do French skipping, using loads of elastic bands, and another type of skipping with a pair of old tights with the leg cut off and a ball tied in the end, which you would tie round your ankle."

But while she saw a lot of changes during her time as a pupil and a parent, she says it is this generation who have lived through the biggest national events with the death of the Queen and the Covid pandemic.

Sharon, who also set up the school's library and has worked as both a parent and a staff governor, admits lockdown was the biggest thing that happened in her 60 years connected to the school.

"Obviously we were still open for the key worker children," she said. "But when they first announced the lockdown you were saying goodbye to people you weren't sure you would ever see again."

To mark the school's birthday regular lessons were paused for a day while children were taught in the manner of pupils from the various decades while dressed in that era's fashions.

National news stories over the decades were covered in class including subjects such as gay marriage, 9/11 and Royal events including the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 and the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

And the pupils were taught using dictation and worksheets rather than interactive white boards of today.

Members of staff dressed in mortar boards and capes while the children, and their parents, were encouraged to wear shellsuits, flares or a fashion item to represent a certain decade.

After their themed morning lessons the children were joined by members of the Temple Hill community on the school field to enjoy a birthday party featuring music from throughout the years the school has been open and craft activities, including designing their own school uniform.