A TEAM of opticians spent an afternoon at Carleton Primary School speaking to pupils about the importance of caring for their eyes.

Gillian Emmison and Tom Lodge from Skipton Specsavers provided pupils with high-visibility vests as part of the company's national road safety initiative.

And they also took along some of the official Red Nose Day glasses.

Justine Sturtivant, Skipton store director, said: ‘We were really keen to help the area by bringing our expertise into schools to educate not only children, but teachers and parents alike.

‘It’s vital that children understand the basics of how the eye works and how to look after their eyes. Similarly it is important to provide parents with essential advice on the importance of regular eye examinations. It was a really successful afternoon and we hope that we can extend our expertise to other schools within the community over the coming months.’

Science teacher Rachel Sigsworth added: “The children loved learning about the size of animals' pupils changing depending on how light it is outside and were very fascinated that the average lifespan of an eyelash is five months.

"They absolutely loved the puzzles and optical illusions in the pack they were given and were so proud of their new high-vis jackets and Red Nose Day glasses that they wore them in to our good work assembly at the end of the day to show to the other classes and parents.”

Also promoting children's eye health are staff at Airedale Opticians, which has a branch in Main Street, Cross Hills.

And as part of its campaign, it is giving away an Easter egg to every child who attends for an eye test this month.

Mohammed Hafejee said: "We believe it's important to encourage parents to have their child's vision checked regularly from a young age.

"There are almost 25,000 blind or partially sighted children in the UK and untreated vision problems have a serious effect on learning, development, behaviour, athletic performance and overall health.

"Many parents assume their child will have their vision checked at school, but vision screening provision is patchy and many areas do not offer it.

"And even where screening is provided in school, there are many conditions which will not be picked up."

Eye examinations for under 16s are free on the NHS.