BUDDING reporters who took over the Free Press last week with their own newspaper presented their work to parents and dignitaries.

Pupils from five Torfaen schools - including Abersychan Comprehensive, Blaenavon VC Heritage School, Cwmffrwdoer Primary School, Garnteg Primary School and Victoria Primary School - held a special assembly on Wednesday to show off their news gathering skills.

Head teacher Deb Woodward coordinated the cluster project between all schools, which is backed by the Arts Council of Wales.

She said the focus in the latest edition of The Buzz - featured in last week's Free Press - was community.

"All of us in Torfaen appreciate being part of a strong community and we wanted to thank the community for being such supportive partners, " she said.

To gather interesting stories for the publication, pupils visited a local luncheon club for pensioners and spoke to them about life when they were children. In turn, the pensioners visited schools for an IT lesson and to see how classrooms have changed.

Another group of pupils visited the Royal British Legion to talk about those lost during the Second World War.

Veterans told the pupils about life during the war and the plight of those lost in battle - 261 people were killed in Blaenavon alone.

Royal British Legion members Colin York and Charles James were in attendance at the presentation, saying the pupils were 'good fun' and 'enthusiastic'.

Lesley Morgan, a Royal British Legion volunteer, said: "The children loved stories from veterans and life during the war. They don't know about this these days and it is important people never forget."