Hackney primary school has FOUR sets of twins in nursery class of 12

A single set of twins in the classroom is already rare enough – but one Hackney nursery school has four pairs among a group of just 12 children.

Teacher Sommer Amari has been seeing double since the eight youngsters started nursery at London Fields Primary School in Westgate Street this term.

She said from her own experience it was unusual to teach twins – so having four sets turn up was quite a surprise.

“I’ve never had twins in my class before at all, and suddenly they all start at once,” she said.

It is certainly a first for London Fields Primary School – where the eight siblings are among 25 nursery pupils and just 12 children who attend full time.

Luckily for teachers only one pair – Dylan and Alfie Watson – are actually identical.

Brothers and sisters Diraj and Maliha Ahmed and Sezai and Sila Yildirim and sisters Wanjiru and Wambui Kuguru are more easily distinguished.

All eight are four years old.

Miss Amari described the some of the delights and challenges of teaching the twins.

“It can be very hard in some situations. For example, when I choose the star of the week, one twin may get it but the other gets upset because they want one – so they need lots of praise and encouragement.

“You also see such caring moments. When we line up to go for dinner you can see the twins looking out for their sibling or helping each other put their coats on.”

Around 12,000 sets of twins are born in the UK every year, according to NHS figures.

Although unusual, the twins at London Fields have not quite broken the Guinness World Record. At one school in Illinois, USA, a year-group boasts 14 sets of twins and three sets of triplets.