A PRIMARY School in Berkeley has taken part in a scheme to exchange handmade Christmas decorations with other schools across Europe.

Pupils at Stone with Woodford Church of England School have been busy making their own decorations before they switch them over with a European counterpart.

The object of the project is for children to share Christmas customs, songs, and recipes from their own country with children across the continent.

Hundreds of schools from 16 different countries across Europe are involved in the Christmas Tree Decoration Exchange, and are also expected to send information on how they celebrate the festive period, with details of traditions in their country.

The school’s secretary Sabine Martin said this year they were focusing on the paper weaving craft to create Christmas hearts.

“The children are very excited about receiving the information and decorations from abroad,” she said.

“Our lovely Christmas tree was kindly donated to us by Eastwood Garden Plant Centre at Falfield.”

The Christmas Tree Decoration Exchange is an annual event organised by the Europe Direct Information Centre group and now includes countries such as Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Gozo, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Spain and the UK.

For more information about the scheme, Vanessa Baldry at europedirect@ectarc.com