HUNDREDS of children from a York school are spending this week carrying out random acts of kindness.

Pupils at Yearsley Grove Primary School are planning a variety of activities to spread kindness at the school and elsewhere in the city.

Year 5 youngsters will today be singing and handing out gifts outside Marks and Spencers store at Vangarde shopping park, Monks Cross.

Tomorrow, Year 6 pupils will be handing out sweets and compliments to shoppers in the city centre and Year 3 and 4 children will stage a flashmob in the playground, later in the week, singing and handing out biscuits to everyone coming to pick them up.

Head teacher Eve Morris said she had been inspired when children took part in the Archbishop of York Young Leaders Award before the summer, raising money for charity. “The children wrote songs and baked biscuits for the nurses at York hospital and then performed in the hospital atrium,” she said.

“I was so moved, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, so as a school we wanted to use the inspiration from the children to take this happiness city-wide. It’s about the children being good role models to all of society, to show that kindness is infectious.”

Kate Denney, from the Archbishop of York Youth Trust, said the pupils were an inspiration. “They have suddenly grasped the amazing impact that there can be from small acts of kindness to others,” she said.

“Sometimes we can go through life and forget how powerful it can be to say thank you or spontaneously brighten someone’s day. The children are kind, thoughtful and conscientious and what a wonderful example they are for all of us to follow.”