Saturday 7th December 2019

The PTA organised one of their biggest events of the year; an amazing Christmas Carnival, the only event which is open to the public, hoping to sell 3000 tickets.  They actually came very close to this with a very professionally delivered event underwritten by major sponsors like Kiss FM, Hi! Magazine, HSBC and the Jeep importer, Dimo.

A sign of the times was the need for airport style security via a controlled single entry point but it didn’t spoil the sense of occasion. 

In the school entrance a food court had appeared with all sort of food stalls (pizza, Sri Lankan curry, Chinese food, fish and chips, waffles, a juice bar, ice cream and more) and in the playground was a fairground (train, bouncy castle, rodeo, ferris wheel, bungee catapult, bungee run, hoverboard) and if you bought a pass for your child, they had unlimited rides from 14.00-20.00 when the Carnival was on. Around the ground were at least 50 stalls with different goods to sell and promote. In the courtyard a professional stage and sound system was erected where school children performed singing, dancing, a fashion show and a live school band.

Emilka danced one dance before handing over for the dance squad to continue, ever so excited and wanting to do it again – as well as have joined the squad by next year.   

The dance photos above are stills taken from a video that Steve shot, the video itself being available here, along with the fashion show here.  All the performers on the stage and catwalk are children of the school.

Shyer Míša was happy to go with friends and find places to eat.  Steve enjoyed the occasion, including as mentioned, shooting video for a change instead of photographs.   I helped selling the tickets on the door, but as they had nearly all the school staff involved, they needed very little parental help.

We all enjoyed the event.  It did get us into the spirit but as we were running in sweat in airless heat and high humidity, it was very hard to feel Christmassy!

Rennie