BEAUCHAMPS High School has given numerous south Essex children the platform needed to excel over the decades.

Since opening on Beauchamps Drive, Wickford, in 1959, thousands of youngsters have passed through the school’s doors and learnt valuable lessons along the way.

We have trawled through the Echo archives to take a trip back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, where pupils got stuck into a range of activities and events.

School productions also allowed the youngsters to get creative, while career days and fun runs kept them on their toes.

Echo:

Showtime - Beauchamps youngsters taking part in the school’s production of Grease in October 1988

Tony Way, who starred as Dontos Hollard in the hit show Game of Thrones, is among those to have been educated at Beauchamps High School.

These photos show what school life was like before social distancing was a thing.

Echo:

Armed forces - Mike Langdrige, from the Southend Army Careers office, pays a visit to the Wickford school and poses for a photograph in October 1989

Scroll down to see more snaps from the 1980s and 1990s.

Echo:

Impressive structure - Beauchamps High School pupils get to work on building a paper bridge in July 1989

Echo:

Biology - Rhys Thomas, 14, and Adam Hilton, 13, examine an intensively ill baby during a science class

Echo:

Business - CRS Dairies headed to Beauchamps and spoke to youngsters as part of the World of Business Day Convention in December 1988

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Echo:

Not looking to get on their feet - Beauchamps High School pupils do not appear to be enjoying a charity concert in July 1989

Echo:

Bonjour - students get to grips with French tapes as they attempt to improve their chances of becoming bilingual during a lesson in October 1991

Echo:

Art - Ted Hopkins, from the South Essex College of Art and Technology, demonstrating a model of a quality control unit in February 1993

Echo:

Hula Hula - 11-year-old pupils Frances Down, Helen Clements and Rebecca Baker preparing for a fun run in September 1989