AS the bells began to jingle and the chestnuts started roasting, schools across Dumbarton were getting ready for the festive period.

Christmas grew ever nearer and the pupils at Aitkenbar and St Peter's Primary School were readying their lists for Santa Claus.

With nativity plays and Christmas jumper days, there's no shortage of Christmas spirit at these schools, and it shines through with their Primary 3 and 4 pupils who were nice enough to volunteer their time to tell us their favourite Christmas stories.

Taking to the schools on a chilly Tuesday morning, we asked some of the children what their favourite things about Christmas were and, of course, what they were hoping to get from the man in the red suit.

Hoping they were on the nice list, the children were after a lot of different goodies this year, from Pokemon games to gadgets, and a good helping of sweets. Everyone agreed in the end though that the best part about Christmas is spending time with their family.

We hope Santa was good to them all and they have a happy New Year!