The Impartial Reporter took a visit to Aghadrumsee Primary School where the pupils were getting very excited for Christmas.

Taking shelter from the cold weather in the school’s polytunnel, pupils from the P1, P2 and P3 classes told this newspaper all about what their cheeky ‘Elf on a Shelf’ has been up to, what presents they hope Santa Claus will bring, and if they think they are on his Naughty or Nice List.

Five-year-old Harvey Nelson’s house has become very busy after three cheeky elves moved in at the start of December.

“There’s a little one, a middle one and a big one – Po, Elfie and Buddy,” he said.

When asked what the elves have been up to, Harvey exclaimed: “They put toilet paper all over our Christmas tree!”

He added: “They even gave us calendars and we have to eat 12 chocolates.”

Freddie Morrow (6), also currently has elves living at his house. He revealed: “We have two – Harvey and Rupert.

“They put a banana peel on the floor,” said Freddie, whose elves also wrapped his Christmas tree in toilet roll, like Harvey’s.

With something of a common theme from elves’ behaviour, seven-year-old Alice Annon’s elf has been playing about with toilet roll too.

Kissing

“He took the toilet roll out. And he was kissing some of my sister Holly’s dolls,” said Alice, her eyes wide with shock as she remembered.

“She [Holly] wanted them back, so we had to get them back!”

However, the elf living at five-year-old Erin Johnson’s house sounds like she’s the cheekiest of all the elves.

“She’s called Snowflake,” said Erin, going on to explain what her elf has been up to. “She was hiding in my stocking and Santa was going to put candy in there.”

She continued: “She hides in a cup, and she messed about and she really wasted our tea bags.”

Adam McVitty (6) also has an Elf on a Shelf, but he has forgotten its name – however, he hasn’t forgotten the naughty tricks it has played.

“It pulled sweets out of our cupboards,” he said.

The weather has got a lot colder recently, but will we have a white Christmas? This newspaper asked the primary school pupils what they think.

When asked if she think it will snow this year, Ivy Hall (4) said: “Not until Christmas.” When it snows, Ivy said she will build a snowman but it’ll be “really small”.

Freddie and Adam also think it will snow this Christmas, and they hope to build “really big” snowmen.

Moving on to Christmas dinner, will the children of Aghadrumsee PS be eating Brussels sprouts with their turkey and ham on Christmas Day?

As a big fan of Brussels sprouts, Harvey plans to eat 10 on Christmas Day, whereas Freddie also likes Brussels sprouts, but he plans to only eat one on Christmas Day.

Ethan McVitty doesn’t like Brussels sprouts – pulling a face even thinking about eating one.

When asked if she likes Brussels sprouts, Alice stuck out her tongue in disgust as she exclaimed: “No!”

Excited

With only a couple of weeks until Santa Claus travels to Aghadrumsee, the pupils are getting very excited for the visit from the busy man himself. But do they think they are on his Naughty or Nice List?

“Santa said I’m on the Nice List, I’m on the top,” said Erin confidently, adding: “I have a brother, but he’s second off the line, but he’s just a little one.”

Harvey says that he is on the Nice List because he helps his brothers when they fall, explaining he helps “my little brother and my big brother, when they fall”.

At first, Ethan said he was on the Naughty List, but when asked what he did that was naughty, he answered: “Nothing,” prompting after a moment: “I want to be on the Nice List.”

He went on to say that his parents are on the Nice List, “but sometimes they are naughty,” he added.

This Christmas Eve, Ivy is hoping that Santa will bring her a toy campervan. “For my dolls,” she said, while Freddie hopes to get a Nintendo Switch from Santa.

Erin is really looking forward to one present in particular: “A Barbie dream house!” When asked how big the Barbie dream house will be, she stretched her arms out wide.

“It’s a thousand big,” she said with a giggle, adding that she has a lot of Barbies who will live in the dream house.

With naughty elves playing tricks at home, and the potential of a white Christmas, the children of Aghadrumsee PS are sure to be kept busy this festive season.