When I was a Sprog in Birmingham ,the Pinch and a punch was not common at my school , but the April Fool thing was and continues !
Most Newspapers in UK have at least one 'April Fool' story , and BBC TV did a long piece in a (I Think) Panorama programme on Pasta Orchards a few years ago .
My favourite was The Observer , the year of Thae Roayl Wedding doing a whole series of Spoof articles all stemming from a short item on 'The Control Of The Weather'