When a sixpenny model became available, no pupil at the 711-pupil school was without the gun. One teacher said: “Even the five-year-olds in the infants’ class were bringing them in. “They seemed to be one of the first items of equipment that had to be bought before a child starts school. “The pitched battles in the playground were bad enough but when they boys started pressing each other’s pockets so that the water started dripping from their clothes, it was not funny any more. “We had to announce that water pistols were forbidden in school. “However, there are still occasional forays on the way to and from school.”