A huge well done must go out  to all of the Year 4 pupils who took part in an annual Dance festival at Saffron Walden County High School, on Wednesday this week, after school. The children from Firefly class performed an impressive routine to the music of the famous disco classic Carwash to a packed auditorium which included parents, carers, pupils and staff members from a large number of local primary schools—which included schools from Saffron Walden, as well as some of the surrounding villages.

I am incredibly proud that all 32 members of the Firefly class attended, as I know that this would be have incredibly daunting for children of such a young age—especially as none of the schools present had been able to practise on such a large stage beforehand! I know that the children got lots out of this event and that they very much enjoyed being cheered on by lots of their parents, carers and other relatives! Riley said: ‘I enjoyed watching the other children dance—they were superb! I think the festival was phenomenal and I hope that other children in the school can experience the wonderful dancing like me and my classmates!’  Emma stated: ‘I had lots of feelings jumbled up! It felt spectacular once we were on stage. Learning the dance was really fun and I feel like we want to do it again. All the dances were good—I can’t decide which was my favourite one! Theo reported: ‘getting ready for the dance show (with Mrs Colman and our teachers) was really fun and amazing! The moves were hard… but it was definitely worth it!’

I am also delighted to report that the children’s behaviour was exemplary and they also supported all of the other performances by clapping, cheering and getting fully behind their peers. These children showed all of the resilience, effort and respect that we love to see from our St Mary’s pupils. Mrs McInnes, our Sports Leader, quite rightly praised these pupils in assembly yesterday for representing the school so impressively.

A big thank you must go out to Mr Brown and Mrs Trust, Miss Driscoll, as well as Jackie Colman and Carron Shaw for all of their hard work in getting the children up to ‘performance level!’