SOME came running, some came standing confidently. Others had their, hands in the firm grip of parents.
For the children of Dunblane Primary School, this was their first day back since the massacre nine days ago in which 16 of their friends and one of their teachers, died.
But for the headmaster, Mr Ron Taylor, yesterday marked the end of one chapter and the start, of another.
"As you can imagine, this has been a long dark week full of tears," he said. "Dunblane is still" in mourning. However, the evil that came last week has gone. "This is a very important day for us, because it marks the beginning of our recovery.
For the 700 children of the primary school, it was a gentle reintroduction to school life. They were only there for half a day and there was no assembly and no playtime break.
When their short day ended, officials at the Central Regional Council education authority voiced relief.
Thirty support workers were on hand if children or parents needed them, and coffee was provided in the school library for parents who wanted to stay on after delivering their children.
The 200 yard carpet of flowers that had lined the pavements outside was removed late on Thursday and the flowers taken to Dunblane cemetery where many of the victims are now buried.
The gym where the massacre happened was sealed and its windows covered with brown painted boards.
I was walking around the school and I came across a group of children laughing and joking together," Mr Taylor said. "I went round another corner and found a couple of kids arguing. Normality is returning."
Another victim of the tragedy was released from hospital yesterday. Matthew Birnie went home after spending nine days in Stirling Royal Infirmary. The five year old had been shot in the chest and shoulder during Thomas Hamilton's rampage in the gym of Dunblane Primary School.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, yesterday warned that there were limits to forgiveness as he accused Hamilton of committing a "heinous" crime. Dr Carey spoke of the "severe judgment" in the Bible for child killers.
Speaking at St Paul's Cathedral, he said. "It is not for you and me to dispense forgiveness on God's behalf or on behalf of Hamilton's innocent victims. What we can recognise is the heinousness of his crime and the seriousness with which God treats it."
He warned that after Dunblane, there was a risk that the word "forgiveness" tripped too lightly from people's lips.