Carnival arrived in Goodmayes on Thursday as pupils dressed up, decorated their bikes and adopted a new country for the afternoon.

For the past six weeks, youngsters at Goodmayes Primary School, Castleton Road, have been learning about the carnival celebrations that take place all over the world each year.

To bring the school together and share what they had learnt about carnival, pupils held a special procession where they dressed up to represent the country they had studied, including Jamaica, Brazil, Trinidad and New Orleans.

Deputy headteacher, Marianne Bruggemeyer, said: “We all had such a fun day and everyone worked so hard to create amazing costumes. So many people have asked me if we can do it again next year.

“We were unable to create a float so we asked students to bling up their bikes and lead the procession. We finished the day with a picnic for families on the playground.”

Year groups have had a chance to learn how to samba, create traditional art and carnival dolls which were displayed on the day.

Miss Bruggemeyer added: “It was nice to get the whole community together, as we are quite a large school with three-form entry, before we break up for the summer.”