Teachers and pupils at schools got into the festive spirit with a string of Christmas challenges.

Children and members of staff at primary schools in Lowestoft and Beccles donned Santa hats and outfits as part of a national event.

With Santa Dashes taking place across the country, primary schools at Bramfield, Brampton, The Limes Academy, Woods Loke and Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy also joined in the fun.

Jeffrey Hoey, partnership development manager at the North Suffolk Sport and Health Partnership, said: "It was set up as a way to celebrate the Christmas period and promote physical activity in schools.

"Schools from across the country were invited to take part and some of our schools took their dashes inside due to bad weather.

"It's just about being active and, above all, having fun."

Pupils from the nursery section through to the Year two classes at The Limes Primary Academy in Lowestoft all took part in the Santa Dash.

Children at Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy in Lowestoft combined their Santa Dash with a whole school PE enrichment day, while Woods Loke Primary pupils played Dash dodgeball and other fun games.

At Brampton Church of England Primary School, pupils in Year's one to six all took part.

A school spokesman said: "Year 1 and 2 started with a warm up, playing Santa says - rather than Simon says - before they got creative in groups by making obstacle courses out of different PE equipment with a Christmas theme and shared their courses with everyone else.

"They finished their PE lesson outside with a Santa run on the school playground."

The school said that Year 3 and 4 pupils embarked on a Santa dash on the field before completing some pyramid running, which included 30-second, one minute and 1min 30sec runs.

In Year's 5 and 6, class teacher Mr Jeal wore a Santa suit and joined in as they completed several laps of the muddy field, before embarking on some fun races.

Santa Says, Christmas-themed obstacle courses and runs around the playground also kept children at Bramfield Church of England Primary School active and entertained.