Pupils at the Hawthorne’s Free School have been celebrating Halloween with pumpkin carving and spooky story-telling.

The year seven pupils at the Bootle school took part in a competition with prizes for the best pumpkins. They then dimmed the lights and terrified their class mates with spooky stories of ghosts and ghouls.

The event was organised by Yasmin Hagan, Lead Teacher of Science at the school, on Fernhill Road.

“We wanted the pupils to have some fun with the carving the pumpkins but we were also working on their literacy skills by encouraging them to write stories about the supernatural to share with the rest of the group,” she said.

“The story-telling also helped the youngster gain confidence in speaking to a room full of people,” added Mrs Hagan.