Balancing on this beam wasn’t the only skill parents were expecting their children to learn at this summer play scheme.

It was likely the youngsters would come home speaking words from different languages.

Helping to look after them at Blackbird Leys, Oxford, were students from Egypt, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Turkey.

Nearly 1,000 children took advantage of activities in the grounds of Blackbird Leys and Overmede primary schools on the estate in 1969.

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Even rain didn’t halt the busy programme – in bad weather, everyone moved inside to the community centre.

The 18 students running the play scheme arrived brimming with enthusiasm. Community association warden Neil Smith said: “Within a day, one of the Hungarian students suggested we should have a national day for each nationality. He said they could sing national songs, talk about the different countries and answer questions from the children and the other students.”

This was the first time Blackbird Leys had had a holiday play scheme.

Up to 500 children, mostly between five and 13, could be accommodated on each of the two school fields.

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In addition to the students, more than 25 mothers had also volunteered. Daily activities included football, cricket – everything down to, according to Mr Smith, ‘doing things with pastry, quite a soothing occupation’.

The organisers – Blackbird Leys Community Association and the city council’s parks department – were expecting numbers to grow during the four weeks.

“But we’re staggered by the numbers that have come already,” one helper said on the opening day.