For countless children growing up after the conflict, beginning their educational journey marked a significant adjustment.

With fathers occupied in employment, young ones typically remained at home with their mothers throughout their earliest years.

During that period, mothers functioned as skilled all-rounders, managing the household and taking charge of domestic duties, errands, meal preparation, laundering, pressing garments and, most importantly, nurturing the children.

The astonishment must have been considerable when, at five years old, young people experienced a major transformation in their daily routines as they started attending school.

All at once, they found themselves at a table, with an instructor before them and classmates surrounding them, many of whom were complete strangers.

As time progressed, nursery facilities were established, enabling children to become acquainted with environments beyond the family home at younger ages and easing the transition to formal lessons.

These early years centres offered a variety of pursuits and Oxford Mail photographers were frequent visitors, documenting what the children got up to as displayed on this spread.

The first image was captured at the Summertown facility in northern Oxford during 1995 when the Playbus came to town. The grin on four-year-old Emma Davison indicates the youngster thoroughly savoured the occasion.

A comparable expression came from Lauren Anstice, also four, wearing a railway cap in the second image. She appears at the childcare area at Oxford station in 1992 alongside two-year-old Jonathan Derrick and Network South-East chairman Bob Reid.

The young ones were clearly delighted during the 50th birthday festivities at the Bartlemas establishment in east Oxford, while the fourth image displays children wholeheartedly engaged in pursuits at the Blacknall Road centre in Abingdon in 1980.

The fifth image depicts three-year-old Damon Young and four-year-old Chelsea Smith participating in a cycling challenge at the Field House Montessori centre in Oxford in 2000, raising funds for a children’s charitable cause.

Youngsters at the Cherry Tree pre-school in Headington in 2000 enjoyed a memorable experience getting acquainted with animals. Kieran Field and supervisor Jane Fletcher appear bonding with a lamb in the sixth image.

The images were captured by Oxford Mail photographers George Reszeter, David Fleming, Peter Farr, Jon Lewis and Antony Moore.