Christmas

With last week’s class cancelled, because of strikes, the cold, etc, this was our last session of the year, and so was inevitably devoted to Christmas.  There was an excellent turnout too, with most arriving on time.  I had hoped to make the session educational as well as entertaining, pointing out the two Christmases which run side by side, the religious and the secular, and the culture, music, etc appropriate to each.  But I hadn’t really worked out a lesson plan, and so it was all a bit random.

But it was a jolly enough occasion.  We played games – zip zap boing of course – but also pass the parcel.  (It would have been better if I had had some jolly music, but I failed miserably on that side of things.)  We had some Christmas food – I had brought in some home-made mince pies, which went down very well indeed.  We sand, and danced, the Hokey Cokey.  And of course there was a bit of Drama.  I gave a very quick and what must have been a most confusing introduction to pantomime, and then broke them into two groups, to prepare, rehearse, and perform to each other.  And hugely entertaining they were too, with Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.  I think my favourite moment was when Hamid (as Granny) opened the door to Aisha’s wolf – pure panto.

The final section was a very rough version of A Christmas Carol, in which I appropriated the tole of Scrooge, and everyone else played… well, everyone else.  Not sure that it was the most wonderful of versions of the story, but I think we got the story across.

In some ways, a slightly bittersweet end to the year.  The production is very doubtful, and I told them of my departure at the beginning of March.  But on the whole, it has been a success.  Many of them, especially the regulars, have blossomed, and we have laughed a lot… which counts for quite a lot.