We celebrated Christmas early at Dudley Zoo, and we all had lunch, met the animals, watched a show, got a gift from Father Christmas and took a presentation photo home to remember the day.

Mad Hatter's spread Christmas cheer to over 300 children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities when Santa dropped in to Dudley Zoo and the children, together with their teachers and carers, went to see Father Christmas. They all received a gift from Santa, had lunch and visited a magic show.

The day was an amazing success, as you can see from the photographs below.

We've also had some fantastic feedback from the pupils at Elmwood School. Here's a selection of some of the comments:

"Mr Hatter I'm writing to you to thank you for our food, drinks and for letting us go to see Santa Clause for free. I really enjoyed the tortoise because there my favourite animal. Although it was a long walk I loved the castle and the reptiles."

"All of the animals were cute also one looked like Harambe the gorilla and the Meer cats looked like they were babies... I remember the lion roared very loud and scared almost all of us."

"I liked visiting Santa in his grotto, me Santa and my classmates talked about maths and he asked what our favourite subject is, and at the end he gave us a present."

"Also I liked the funny man dressed up as clown he told some awesome funny jokes."

"Some of the animals were cute and looked fluffy and some scary like the baboon that looked like Mr. Wood."

"I gained lots of knowledge from this trip I'm glad I had the privilege to come as many other schools don't have this opportunity I'm very lucky. The castle was gigantic and centuries old."

"I am writing with kind regards and thankfulness for inviting me and my year group to your special event. What a day it was we loved it."

"Although I liked the characters, I wish there was a Jedi from Star Wars or Wreck-it Ralph from Wreck-it Ralph. I loved the clown's bird that balances on your nose or finger and I won't forget about the trumpet it was spectacular!"

"All together it was great, me and my friends truly appreciate the invite."