FIRST Minister Carwyn Jones visited a Newport primary school yesterday to watch the pupils’ nativity play and meet performers afterwards.

Children from reception, year one and year two performed in the Malpas Court Primary School’s production, Prickly Hay, a modern twist on the Christmas story.

As part of the play, some children used signalong, a system based on British Sign Language, where signs are used to depict key words and phrases.

After the play Mr Jones met children from the school’s Specific Language Impairment Base (SLIB) to find out how pupils are helped with speech and language difficulties there.

Debra Guy, the school’s headteacher, said : “We’re really proud that children from the SLIB played a big part in the production. Signing was an integral part of the performance for every child who took part.”