LOOK: Victory Heights Primary School’s Festival of Schools event was a Christmas cracker!

Victory Heights Primary School held the fourth and final event of the Which Media 2021 ‘Festival of Schools’ series on Saturday 27 November 2021 and, with the landing of Father Christmas to see the children and parents in the school grounds, what a cracker of an occasion it was!

More than 1,000 people signed up to attend the fabulous family fair, which adopted a jolly festive theme to round off the end of the year.

Students at Victory Heights Primary School (VHPS) gathered, alongside prospective families and members of the local community, for a good, old-fashioned family fun day.

As the fourth and final event in the inaugural Festival of Schools series – which welcomed almost 3,000 families over the course of four weekends in November –  there were also some familiar faces of children who had loved the previous events at Safa British School, GEMS FirstPoint School or Arcadia School so much that they signed up to come along to more. Several families even came to all four events!

We spotted this little girl at all four Festival of Schools events

the Festival of Schools series, we have been amazed by the individual stamp and character that each school puts on their own event.

All four schools had the same brief, but every single one interpreted it differently as they showcased the unique essence of their facilities, students and teachers – making attending a Festival of Schools event the perfect way to get a real, authentic ‘feel’ for a school, over and above its prospectus or even a review.

While facilities like Victory Heights Primary Schools’ lovely wooden playground speak for themselves in a review, visiting in the flesh at a Festival of Schools event is a great way to get a real feel for what the school community is like

For Victory Heights Primary School, the event was all about the local community and about the little ones have a merry old time.

A vibrant, festive market was a key element of the activity on 27 November, and local artisans brought their beautiful handmade, sustainable or eco-friendly products along to sell.

Vidhya from @Createvidme brought along her intricately hand-painted upcycled jars, bottles and Christmas tree baubles.

Her skill and imagination turns used items like old instant-coffee jars into works of art, perfectly combining the Festival’s Christmassy atmosphere, as well as the Festival of School’s overall theme of sustainability and ‘Our Planet, Our Future’: “Nothing goes into the trash without a thought,” says Vidhya.

She was even hosting upcycling workshops, teaching littles ones how to transform an old plastic bottle into a stunning festive ornament.

Alongside Vidhya were many local artisans selling their lovingly crafted products – we picked up some beautiful jewellery from Moodmade Accessories, which was also selling lots of novelty gift items for Christmas.

The founder, Jhonnette, told us about how she started out making fabric buttons, and gradually branched out to other accessories, and then handmade jewellery.

The Powerful Innovators – who had also been at the Arcadia event – were here again, selling beautiful handmade reclaimed wood products and talking about their ‘50 Schools in 50 Days’ campaign, wherein they are recruiting schools to sign up to their Sustainability Pledge. Every school that signs up will have its badge sewn onto a flag made from upcycled fabric – something that touches on the Purposeful Innovators’ ethos of teaching skills that give children the tools to live more sustainably – such as sewing, mending and clothes-making.

Rania Laing from the Powerful Innovators was talking to people about her collective’s sustainability initiatives

There were also many, many handmade and eco-friendly items on sale – from handmade chenille teddy bears, to sustainable soap dishes, and much more.

Another key element of the event was the performances by students and community members. There were ballet dancing and gymnastics displays, Karate showcases and a spectacular performance by the school choir, which sang some fun, festive tunes.

There were group games that made sure everybody got involved, such as a skipping rope and a tug of war.

The regular Festival of Schools Passport activities were also a major feature, each of which the children were challenged to complete in order to earn a stamp.

This time the activities were festive-themed, with tasks such as creating a tree ornament, making a Christmas card, and a ‘Feed the Snowman’ skill game on the agenda.

But the cherry on top of the cake of the whole event was of course the visit from Santa himself.

With just an exclusive one-hour window, little ones jiggled with joy and excitement to meet the big man in red, queuing to take photos and tell him their Christmas lists.

In addition, the regular fun-fair-style adventures were also on offer, with a bouncy castle, popcorn, candy floss and other treats available for little ones to savour.

Someone enjoyed his candy floss!

More than anything, this magical event was an opportunity to create both festive and community spirit after a long time without school-wide events, said Victory Heights Primary School’s principal, Sasha Crabb: ‘It’s been an opportunity to recover a sense of community again.”

See all the fun in action in our video of the event here: