I wonder if school stockrooms nowadays offer all those grades of pencil? When we put in our order, we could choose from HB, 2B, 2H, 3B, 3H and so on. I suppose it was because our pupils did a lot of drawing, and the grades of softness/hardness added to the effect.

I also remember the joys of 'sticky coloured paper'. A pack contained about eight colours, which after cutting out could be licked and stuck onto a collage. The teacher would always collect up the off-cuts and bits, which were carefully saved to make grass or flower petals etc. Nothing was wasted.