IT seems to be a family affair at Gulworthy Primary School as five generations of one local family have all got to grips with the ?three Rs? within its walls.

Georgina Eastman, 8, and Chloe Eastman, 4, are currently at the school, which opened in 1855, while their brother Ross left in September to go to Devonport High School.

Their mother Adele went to the school between 1969 and 1976, following in the footsteps of her mother Avril Hunter, grandfather Eric Pethick and great-grandfather George Pethick.

Mrs Eastman said: ?There were only 37 pupils and two classrooms back then and when I left nine of those pupils were in my year.

?There was talk of the school closing shortly after but it stayed open.?

The family moved away from the area for a while but a key reason why Mrs Eastman says she chose Gulworthy School for her children on their return was that one of her former teachers was still there, current head Peter Moher.

?The school is quite small but has a fantastic outlook. As it?s so small they all look after each other. Going there felt a bit like coming home,? she added.

Avril Hunter started at the school in 1944 and recalls more changes to the school?s premises and grounds, including the graveyard in Gulworthy, formerly the parish sports field.

?Where they now have a lawn used to be a garden with an apple tree right in the middle and we used to learn gardening out there.

?My first teacher was Miss West, then Miss Petherick became the headmistress. She lived in the house with her sister and that?s part of the school buildings now.

?My two brothers, Derek and Mervyn, went there, as did Mervyn?s five sons. There were a lot of Pethicks!?

Mrs Hunter?s father Eric, who died in 1996, attended the school during world war one before going into the forestry industry, aged 14. His father, George Pethick, was the first member of the family at Gulworthy in the 1880s.