To signify the youngsters soaring off towards the next milestone in their life, the Jack n Jill Pre-School Centre released six brightly coloured doves.

The birds – coated with a harmless vegetable dye – are the eye catching feathered friends of pre-school assistant Susan Gillespie and her husband, Ronnie.

He said: "I just put a small spot of the dye on the front of their chest and its spreads through their feathers as they preen themselves. It takes a couple of weeks to spread.

"We originally started doing it to stop sparrow hawks hunting and killing them, but unfortunately that only worked a wee while before they got wise to it.

A technicolour graduation ceremony for the Jack n Jill Pre-School Centre, where coloured doves were released to mark the children soaring off to the next stage in their life. Eric Cormack (NS)

"They are quite a talking point. We are always getting people coming to the door and asking us if we know that we have parrots sitting on the roof."

As well as the doves, staff released a helium-filled balloon for each child – all decked out in gowns and mortar boards – graduating to primary school after the summer break.

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