A FAMOUS face dropped into Meadowpark School this week to delight the children with his story-telling skills.

Comedian and actor Julian Clary surprised the youngsters when he arrived unannounced for the school’s reading week and performed several stories.

While at the school, Julian, who is also an author, read Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell, using his acting skills to help bring the characters to life.

After reading the stories, he held a question and answer session with the children and while they may not have known much of his early work, many recognised his voice from the Little Princess.

“Room on the Broom is one of my favourite stories,” said Mairen Taylor, aged six. “I liked hearing Mr Clary read it in his special voice.”

All of the children were captivated by the stories and were hanging off every word Julian said. While the younger children enjoyed the voices, the older ones were intently listening to the stories.

Afterwards he said he enjoyed his experience and was pleased to be able to help encourage the children to take up reading.

“It’s great to see how much the children enjoy learning,” said Julian. “It’s interesting to see the difference between the younger children and the older age groups.”

Julian Clary has a long-standing link with the school, being the special guest of honour when the school opened four years ago.

The school’s headteacher said book week is an important part of the year and having a well-known face come in has helped to inspire the children.

Ravjinder Kular said: “Reading is an important part of every child’s education, as it enables them learn independently.

“The pupils were very lucky that Julian found time in his busy schedule to drop in and they loved hearing him read.

“All of them were listening intently and all of them recognised his voice and some remembered from when he came in 2010 to open the school.

“I think it will help the children to become more creative and inspire them when they do writing.

“He also congratulated us on our recent excellent Ofsted inspection. We are very grateful for Julian in coming down and he is more than welcome at any time to read again.”