Primary school pupils in Kingsbury put their creativity to the test by creating TV adverts for a children’s charity.

The year five children at Fryent Primary School, in Church Lane, raised £415 for Barnados, which supports vulnerable children, young people and families.

The pupils were inspired to get behind the camera after reading the novel Street Child by Berlie Doherty.

The book is a fictionalised account of the life of Jim Jarvis, who was one of the first children encountered by Thomas Barnardo when he began working in east London 150 years ago.

The children worked together to create leaflets about the challenges facing disadvantaged young people today, teamed up with local secondary school students to film and edit their own TV adverts, staged fundraising activities at the school and collected bags of donations for Barnardo’s.

Chavelle Howe-Lewis, drama and music coordinator at the school, said: “After discovering how hard life could be for the poorest children in Victorian London, our year five pupils were really inspired to help those who need support now. They were also struck by the Barnardo’s Believe in Me TV campaign and wanted to create adverts of their own, and came up with some really creative work which showed they really understand why the charity is still needed today.”

Lynn Gradwell, director of Barnardo’s in London, said: “All the Fryent Primary pupils put so much work into this project and I’d like to thank them and everyone at the school for choosing to support Barnardo’s. Projects like this really help to raise awareness of the work we do with vulnerable children, young people and families, and the money that has been raised is vital in enabling that work to continue.”