A 101-year-old was serenaded by a group of schoolchildren to mark her landmark birthday.
Pupils at St Gregory Primary School in Sudbury made the outing to Mary Owens' home to celebrate the milestone.
Mary used to visit the school once a week to spend time with the youngsters as they read.
Mary, who turned 101 last week, was surprised by a large group of children on her special day, including some familiar faces from a few years ago.
She used to visit Year 2's Oak Class until the coronavirus pandemic forced a stop to her regular visits.
Donna Ford, Year 2 teacher, said: "Mary used to come into my class.
"The only reason she stopped was because of Covid, but she was desperate to come in.
"It was a surprise on the day for her. Her daughter knew about it because we needed to make sure she was there.
"We crept around to the door and the children were amazing.
"Mary called out my name when she saw us and we cuddled.
"Even at her age, she recognised a some of the children from a few years ago.
"We sang Happy Birthday, gave her three cheers and presented her with flowers and a card the pupils had signed.
"It was only half an hour out of her day but meant so much more.
"It was an amazing experience for them.”
The surprise was the idea of headteacher Daniel Woodrow.
He said: “There’s a class who Mary came in and read for for a long time, into her 90s. She would come in every week to hear readers.
"When we were told it was her 101st birthday, we thought we could hold a party for her but with all the illnesses going around we couldn't.
"She lives nearby so we thought we would take two classes, including our last Year 6 class which had the last children she came in to hear read.”
He added: “I am incredibly proud.
"Children are naturally kind and outward looking and want to help.
"I just think we are part of a wonderful community here in Sudbury. We should do it as much as we can."
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