CHILDREN at one Chester school have certainly been getting into the festive spirit.Š

Christmas arrived with a rush at St Thomas of Canterbury Bluecoat Church of England Junior School on Friday with the annual Christmas fair, organised by members of the PTA.

A team of parents and teachers spent the afternoon transforming classrooms and the school hall into stalls, tombolas, raffles, refreshment areas and games.

Each child had brought in a jam jar filled with sweets and small toys, plus a mass of toys, books and items to pack into hampers, which were auctioned off to parents.

One group of Year 6 girls made cuddly ‘sock Ness monsters’ out of colourful socks, which were eagerly snapped up as soon as the fair opened.

A non-uniform day added to the fun, with the children donating bottles to the bottle tombola as ‘payment’ for wearing casual clothes.

The busy event, described by one pupil as ‘fantastic’, raised about £900 for school funds.

While the fair was being set up, the children were spirited away to enjoy a DVD of Scrooge – a musical version of which the Year 3 and 4 children have been staging as their school play.

A group of cast members attended St Thomas’ church on Sunday morning to entertain the congregation with a condensed version of the production, with packed performances for parents and fellow pupils during the week. The title role was taken by Year 4 pupil Frank Riding, ably supported by Edward Pollard as Jacob Marley and Bella Donovan as Bob Cratchit, plus a large cast of supporting actors, narrators and singers.

The children are now looking forward to letting others take to the stage when a theatre group brings a panto to the school, followed by a Christmas lunch and an end-of-term party.