PUPILS at a primary school have been cheering up their community with positive message signs that have been placed around the village.

Children from Turton and Edgworth Primary school created around 60 signs, which were put up around the nearby Wayoh Reservoir.

Many of the colourful signs provided encouragement and positivity for passersby, including ‘always look on the bright side of life’, ‘reach for the stars’ and ‘big journeys start with small steps’.

The idea was the brainchild of Year Two teacher Claire Waddington, who felt that it was important to spread positivity in the community.

She said: “Obviously times are as they are and there is a lot of doom and gloom around and as a school we have tried to keep spirits up among the pupils.

“We were chatting about it and talking about what things we could do. Then that evening, I saw a post on Instagram from Feel Good Club and they have positive messages on billboards across Manchester.

“We were racking our brains and we thought there’s no better place to do it than just across the way near the reservoir.”

After gaining approval from the necessary authorities, Claire and reception teacher Charlotte Partington attached posters to posts and fences around the area.

And the messages have already been a hit with locals.

Claire added: “We put them up in the snow and wind on Monday. We have had lots of lovely comments from people in the village. People who have kids at the school, people who used to have kids there, people from the village - lots of nice things have been said.”

School business manager, Sarah Jackson, said: “This is definitely something we do a lot of - we have a strong focus on ‘kindness matters’ and that sort of thing. We have had a lot of locals emailing us to say they have seen them on their daily walk and cheered them up.

“I think everyone is a bit down at the minute, including people at the school, and it is a bit of a lift for everyone who sees them.”