CHILDREN from a Torfaen nursery school said a fond farewell to pre-school in front of their parents and relatives at a graduation ceremony yesterday.

Every year, as its pupils prepare for the next step of their educational adventure, Henllys Village Nursery honours them by holding a university-style celebration.

The youngsters sang songs in English, Welsh, and French, before they received their certificates from the mayor of Torfaen, councillor Veronica Crick.

“The children have worked so hard and we like the parents to be involved in everything they do,” said nursery manageress Emma Hardwick.

“It is a great time for everyone to come along and look at what has been achieved in the past year, while it is also the time to say goodbye.

“They are all going off to big school now and it is quite an emotional time. We’ve worked very closely with the children and the parents.”

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True to tradition, the children threw their mortarboards into the air to bring the ceremony to a close, but not before they sang a goodbye song penned by a member of the centre staff.

“The staff are so dedicated to what they do with the children and they have progressed and come along in leaps and bounds while they’ve been here,” added Ms Hardwick.

“The children love it as well. We do it for all our pre-schoolers who are leaving so we have a session for the morning children and another for the afternoon.”

“Before we know it, we’ll be doing it again for our next set of leavers,” added the manageress.

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Cllr Crick praised the work of the nursery staff, in helping to create a great atmosphere for the children to start their education in.

“You should be very pleased with what you’ve achieved as a team in nurturing and developing these youngsters," she said.