A BUSY calendar of festive events at Rye St Anthony school will come to an end with a Christmas bazaar and tangerine party.

The school's Michaelmas term concludes on Friday with the two events, following on from a number of other activities in the past few weeks.

The tangerine party is a unique tradition at the school that is believed to have started when fruit was donated to pupils as gifts during the Second World War.

Staff, pupils and parents congregate in the Rendall Hall to sing Christmas hymns, share Christmas cake and are each given a tangerine.

This year's festive activities started on Thursday, December 1, with the prep school advent service.

Tomorrow the school's service of nine lessons and carols will be held in the church of St Anthony of Padua in Headley Way.

The school's lay chaplain Dr Sean Willis said: "Baffled parents must wonder why they are invited to a tangerine party before collecting their children at the end of the Michaelmas term.

"The tangerine party has grown over the years, but the idea of a carol sing-song has remained the same.

"Tangerines have been supplemented by an enormous Christmas cake which the head teacher cuts along with the youngest child in the school.

"The traditions we have at Rye St Antony are a joy to uphold and it is fantastic to be able to carry them forwards through the 21st century."