SANTA CLAUS took time out of his busy diary to make an appearance at Menstrie PS shortly before the big day.

Despite it being the busiest time of the year for Santa, he managed to stop by and wish the children of Menstrie a merry Christmas.

Mandi Murray, acting headteacher, believes it was the least the kids deserved after such a tough year.

She said: "It was incredibly important for the children, just a bit of normality.

"The kids loved it; they were absolutely delighted. You could see how excited they were to see Santa.

"It showed the children that with everything they've been going through, with everything that's happened, Santa can still come and see them."

Usually this time of year is filled with school pantomimes and Christmas shows however schools are having to adapt and Mandi is extremely proud of how everyone involved with the school has acted in these trying times.

She continued: "This year we done an online pantomime, usually we'd have the pantomime company come in. Normally we'd have a Christmas show but we're doing something online for that as well.

"The big thing is trying to do the things we normally do but think creatively.

"I'm incredibly proud of the children, their families and the staff. They've adapted to the situation we're in, everybody's worked so hard and it's just been amazing.

"The parent council arranged for Santa to come so everybody's worked together to make the best of the situation."