School’s Out! But for some youngsters the next six weeks will race by as they head towards their very first day in the classroom.

The noise, the new friends – some likely to be at our sides a life-time, the teachers, the lessons, the uniforms: the first day of school is one of the biggest days in our lives.

Here at the Guardian, the First Day of School has always been a significant day in the calendar – one we have tried to capture for posterity.

As part of an ongoing project to digitise our photographic archive, we have begun the mammoth task of uploading pictures to the web.

So what better way to start the project and to celebrate the arrival of summer than by creating a gallery of First Day of School pictures from the past.

The scheme has begun with pictures from 2001 intake.

So have a look and see who you can spot? You might even see yourself.

Click here to visit the First Day of School 2001 gallery.