THE last group of children to attend Gaer Infants School in Newport are appealing to members of the Gaer community, young and old, to come forward with their memories of the school.

Staff are in the process making a timeline of photographs and artefacts from across the decades, showing the school "then" and "now".

The school, built in the 1940s, is set to merge with Gaer Junior School and open as a unified school in the autumn, while the infants site is set to become a specialist autism unit.

The research project was originally planned for this term as staff expected to merge before the summer, but the merger was put back to September.

Kirstie Witcombe, who teaches Year 1 at the school, said the children have been studying and researching the pre-war years and are moving on to the 1940s and 1950s until Easter.

"We have a photograph from the 1930s before the school was there," said Miss Witcombe. "So far we've reached out to people through the school but possibly people will come forward who used to work here."

All pupils from nursery up to Year 2 have been involved with the project so far, she said.

"We worked on the Gaer Story last year during the 'save our school' campaign but we would still like to uncover new information and go over it again with the children," said Miss Witcombe.

Last year the children helped to plant flowers in the shape of the school logo.

Anyone who would like to contribute towards the project or go in to speak to staff and pupils about their memories of the school can call 01633 265620 or email gaer.infants@gmail.com.

There is also a link on the school's website where people can post their memories. Visit www.gaerinfants.co.uk and click on the 'Pupil Voice' button.