A Flintshire primary school has made good on its commitment to be an integral part of its local community.

Headteacher at Ysgol Bryn Gwalia, in Mold, Lorraine Dalton, said: "As a new headteacher, one of my main aims this year was to reach out to the community of Mold and to look at ways of developing links.

"In forging these links, some wonderful relationships have been formed and we hope they continue to thrive!"

Mrs Dalton went on to highlight just some of work and activities across the autumn term.

She said: "We teamed up with the local Tesco store and some wonderful work has been going on.

"As well as pointing us in the direction for applying for funding for our gardening club by using the in-store tokens, they have also looked at other ways to help.

"After noticing that the School Council had asked for some painting to be done, they quickly assembled a team of volunteers, who gave up their time to come and work with us in school.

"There will be other similar projects in the pipeline and we look forward to developing the links further.

"We also filed a window in Tesco with Christmas baubles. The children had great fun colouring these in and adding a bit of sparkle.

"We have also been working closely with Mold Community Hospital to spread some Christmas joy to the patients this year.

"We attended the launch of the memory tree, where our choir sang songs through the windows to the patients. It was a very emotional evening.

"We have also set up a class link and our reception and nursery class sang their hearts out over Zoom. The patients loved hearing the little ones singing carols.

"In the New Year we are hoping to work with Theatre Clwyd as well as the hospital, to spread a little more happiness."

And there was more festive fun to be had, with police attending the school after reports of debris and glitter appearing in the playground overnight!

Mrs Dalton added: "We had a Santa Dash with a difference! In school we like to incorporate 'The Mantle Experience' as much as we can into the children's learning.

"The Mantle involves creating a real-life experience to engage the children's interest in their learning.

"The children worked really hard to solve the puzzles, which were located at the 'crime scene' and around the school, in order to find Santa!

"We are pleased to inform you that they were successful in finding him and he's now back in action ready for the big day!!

"Thanks to North Wales police for helping make it such a wonderful experience! We also raised over £100 for Nightingale House Hospice."

As the school closed for Christmas Mrs Dalton also wanted to say a huge thank you to those who found the school's special Christmas trees, hidden around Mold this year and for posting their discoveries on Facebook.