BUDDING reporters from Torfaen delivered exciting news from their schools at a special presentation this week.

A cluster of five schools in the county are involved in a creative project to produce their own newspaper, called The Buzz, which featured in the Pontypool Free Press this week.

On Wednesday, the year 6 and year 7 pupils presented their news reports to VIP guests at Blaenavon VC Heritage School, including the mayor of Torfaen Veronica Crick, mayor of Blaenavon Alan Jones, school governors, parents and staff.

Some of the exciting topics covered included Alfie the chicken laying an egg, a teacher who slipped on a chip and the problem of dog mess near schools.

Deb Wood, head teacher at Blaenavon VC Heritage School and lead coordinator of the creative schools project, said pupils had done a "cracking job."

Cllr Veronica Crick, mayor of Torfaen, said: "It is so interesting to see the work they've come up with. They are having fun with words which is so important. The more they they enjoy it the better they will learn."

A cluster of five schools in Torfaen were involved in the creative schools project. They include Blaenavon VC Heritage School, Garnteg Primary School, Victoria Primary School, Cwmffrwdoer Primary School and Abersychan Comprehensive. An award of £50,000 in funding from the Arts Council of Wales supported the project to improve literacy in an interesting and engaging way.

All the primary school age children are in year 6 (age 10) and the comprehensive school children are in year 7 (age 11).

Over a two year period, three creative practitioners have worked with the cluster schools to teach children creative writing skills, graphic design and making news stories for film.

Creative agent Rhian Hutchins worked with children on their stories, from the initial idea to the finished product in The Buzz. The project is also a platform to prepare year 6 pupils for comprehensive school. Pupils from each of the feeder schools for the comprehensive meet on a regular basis and form friendship groups.

Each of the schools are also paying a visit to the Free Press newsroom to see how their publication is put together. The visits have featured on the Free Press website and social media platforms including Twitter.