Former teachers and pupils from down the years gathered at Southville Primary School for a special celebration.

The party was held to kick off a series of celebrations marking 100 years since the school started, on December 15, 1908.

Former pupils from the 1950s and 1960s mixed with the current crop of schoolchildren and swapped stories of dreaded tests and teachers over an afternoon tea party, and staff from the past compared notes with their younger counterparts on how best to deal with little tearaways.

The former staff and pupils were entertained by singing, dancing, recitals, a gymnastic display and netball matches, and were taken around classes to see how lessons had changed since the days when they were there.

There was also an exhibition on the history of the school, including old photos of the grounds and pupils and ancient textbooks.

Among those attending the event were four former head teachers.

Sandie Smith – the 11th and current head teacher – said: "It was a fantastic day, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

"We had about 200 former pupils and members of staff there, and a lot of people met friends and colleagues they hadn't seen for years.

"Some of them wanted to stay late into the evening – the only time a school child will ever ask that."

Many of the people at the reunion had come from far and wide to be there.

Mrs Smith said: "One of the old head teachers travelled from Cornwall and another cancelled a holiday to join us.

"Two people also came from France and others from Somerset and Wiltshire, all parts of Bristol and locally from Southville."

Among the guests was former pupil Constance Rowley, who is 88, while the oldest person there on the day was 91-year-old Hetty Purse.

Hetty, who still lives in Southville, attended the school from 1920-1926, when it was known as Merrywood Junior School.

It was also a chance to reminisce for Terry Gilbert, a teacher from 1952-1964, Steve Vaughn, Steve Lockett and Christine Dyer, who were all at the school in the 1950s and 1960s, and long-serving teacher Colin Boyce, who was at Southville from 1957 to 1986.

Terry Gilbert taught fourth-year junior pupils when he was there.

Now 78, he said: "The day went very well indeed. I enjoyed very much meeting up with so many of the ex-pupils that I taught in the 1950s.

"They were just 10 then, and now are all in their 60s, so I am glad that we were all wearing name tags so we could recognise each other.

"I enjoyed very much seeing the old school. I haven't been back there much, and much of it is unchanged.

"I wanted to see my old classroom, but that is now the staff room and the only thing I recognise is the wooden block floor.

"I started the school magazine back in the 1950s when the head was Miss Jewel. I remember her writing for it then, about the 50th anniversary of the school.

"It seems like yesterday that she wrote that article."

Southville primary's Grade II-listed building was designed by Henry Dare Bryan, and cost £7,205 to build.

In 2006, the hall redecorations cost £7,200, and new electric lights at the school this year cost more than £8,000. The centenary celebrations will culminate on December 15, when staff and pupils will wear Edwardian dress to mark 100 years since Southville primary first opened.