School report - new Head Girl snubs the waiting press

So the girls and boys went back to school this morning. First day of a new year, and they spent most of the day picking up their new exercise books, signing the register, and talking to old friends.

The new head girl, Eileen Bell, exercised her new found power by banning press photographers from the assembly hall. On the many previous historic first days of the new term, the old head boy, John Alderdice (now Lord Alderdice), allowed the press in to take a few high quality snaps. This year, the newspapers are left to grab images from the live TV coverage.

The woman and man of the moment (Eileen Bell and David Ervine, in case you're not keeping up at the back) are captured together in this Ian Knox cartoon from BBC's Hearts and Minds.

And I nearly forgot to add that the pupils bunked off school in the afternoon to go to a party – hosted a fellow called Peter Hain that they’re not all that fond of. But he had his mates Charles and Camilla over from London, so it was worth the drive up to Hillsborough in the rain.