Two festive penguins wearing Santa hats won first prize in a Christmas card competition organised by New Directions recruitment agency.

The South Wales-based firm, which has an education division, wanted a card to send out to all local schools, so it asked the schoolchildren of the region to come up with a design.

The competition invited participating schools to submit two entries, one for ages 5-7 and the other for ages 7-11. Each school had one month to submit their efforts.

The winning card was designed by 10-year-old Carrie Ann John of Cefn Cribwr Primary, Bridgend.

Her design was sent to more than 1,000 schools across South Wales. She was presented with a framed A3 version of her design and art materials.

Gary Williams, director at New Directions Education, says: “Having spent many years sending standard cards to clients we felt it was time to make a change and stand out from the crowd. The best Christmas cards I have are always from my children so when the idea of the competition was suggested I was immediately behind it.”