A historical discovery has been made in a Sheffield primary school when a caretaker located something at the back of a cupboard.

A diary was found at Hunter’s Bar Infant School with entries dating back to the 1920s, most of which track teacher absences and notable visitors, but many hold great historical significance.

One entry details how the school dealt with the aftermath of the Sheffield Blitz in 1940. It reads:

“During the night of Dec 12 – 13 (Thurs-Fri) Sheffield was subjected to a terrible bombardment from the air by the German foe. The teachers all reported at school both am and pm but only a handful of children attended.”

The entry explains that from the weekend following the attack, the educational staff were considered to be part of the city’s Civil Defence organisation and were tasked with caring for families who were now homeless.

Mary Brookes, 88, has lived in Sheffield her whole life and attended Hunter’s Bar from 1945 to 1950. She said: “I recognised quite a few of the names in the book. It was nostalgic to remember the people.”

Mrs Brookes spoke fondly about the school and shared funny stories of eating trifle at Christmas parties, cutting pictures of movie stars out of magazines and putting on school plays.

She said: “Miss James made everybody sing and put us in order of best to worst. I was dreading it.”

“I don’t remember who was the very worst, but I was standing next to them.”

Members of staff at Hunter’s Bar were excited to look through the book, especially those who attended the school as children. Keeley Glossop, Jill Ellis and Laura Martin, educational staff at the Infant School, chatted about their time there. Ms Martin had even found a picture of herself among the pages.

She said: “I remember the school being like it is now, a nice community, really friendly and safe.”

Ms Glossop described a May Day celebration where pupils would dance with ribbons in the playground – an annual event which is mentioned numerous times in the diary. She said: “It was really sweet, everybody wore a little red ribbon around their neck and danced around the maypole.”

The diary is being kept at the school and will be passed on to the history subject leader, who will share the book with the students to help them learn about local history.