A MONMOUTHSHIRE primary was visited by a former Welsh rugby international as the school announced the winners of its short story competition.

In a special assembly at Goytre Fawr Primary School in Penperlleni, Gerald Davies, who is a grandparent of a Goytre Fawr pupil, and local author Tim Lebbon read out the winning entries which were no more than 500 words.

The competition ran alongside a BBC Radio 2 competition and all 171 pupils were encouraged to enter both.

The judging panel consisted of head teacher Nicola Sutherland, chairwoman of governors Kathryn Edwards, former pupil Erin Zammitt, parent and library volunteer Jane Parker and Mr Lebbon.

Rhydian Matthews’ story "The Dinosaur’s Adventure" was the winning entry from the foundation phase and impressed the judges with its exciting plot and well-developed characters.

Esther Toleman’s story ‘Over the Mountain’ was chosen as the winner from years three to six and was praised for its very detailed descriptions and a gripping plot.

The runners up were Jessica Pendry and Ella Jones. Winning pupils were given book tokens as prizes and every entrant received some chocolate courtesy of the Friends and Relations of Goytre School.

Chair of governors Kathryn Edwards said: "It was a joy reading stories of such high quality, we were inspired by the children's creativity."

This was the first time the school ran the story-writing competition but it will now become an annual event, explained acting deputy head teacher Lisa Wilkinson.