Weeks of planning by the sixth form charity team and tutor groups finally came to fruition this week when, once again, the sixth form students pulled out all the stops to host a Christmas market and welcome a bit of festive cheer into the school day. Year 12 students had spent Monday and Tuesday evening preparing the stock so that students from years 7, 8 and 9 could be treated to cookie dough and decorating gingerbread men. There were carnival games and photos with Santa, sometimes accompanied by a festive Berkeley.

There were lots of delicious sweet treats available, from hot chocolate and spiced apple juice to mince pies and sweets. The tombola was as popular as ever, with some great prizes – games, selection boxes, stationery and mystery bags.

Our musicians, including the fabulous jazz band, treated us to some Christmas tunes and the very popular Karaoke booth saw a whole chorus of year 8 students belting out Sweet Caroline at break time. There were prizes up for grabs on the quiz stall from our reigning tutor quiz champions, 13AHR, with a teddy’s name, the weight of the cake and the number of sweets in a jar all to be guessed. As with last year, the site team had gone to great lengths to get Santa to visit in his sleigh and offer rides around the site – to the delight of adults and children alike. Some staff even braved the stocks to be sponged in spite of the sub-zero temperatures that meant while the water was warm when it left the bucket, it froze the minute it hit the floor.

Not only has it been tremendous fun, but we have raised £1,100 for charity. Half the proceeds will be donated to Crisis at Christmas. We are also delighted to be able to donate the other half to the Valindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff who have provided all of Mrs Gallivan’s care and treatment for breast cancer.