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Unlikely friendships are being formed between young children and their older neighbours for the benefit of all.

Pupils at Magna Carta Primary Academ are spending time at Mountfitchet House care home to build relationships with residents.

Once a week, five pupils spend time at the home, reading, chatting and playing with their new friends.

Headteacher Marios Solomonides said: “By the end of the year, every child in Reception will have had the opportunity to spend time at the care home and to build relationships with the residents.

“The benefits are there for both residents and children. Each will get something out of it we can’t even put into words. I think something magical happens when you put young and older people together. They understand each other in a way those of us in between those ages just do not understand.

“This provides a different social interaction for our children in a new context. It will teach them patience and will make them curious and want to find out about the people they meet. It will give them another opportunity to communicate. There are always children who find it difficult to talk to other people; this might be the thing that brings them out of themselves.

“It is about empathy and realising there are people in the world who are different to them, but that everyone has a life and we want our children to be interested in others.”

The school recently took part in the Petal Wave Art Trail, in partnership with Volunteer Uttlesford, to show the community they understand and support those living with dementia.

Pupils decorated petals of the Forget-me-Not flower – the symbol of dementia – to hang on their school fence as part of the project.