We had a fantastic time on Monday evening at the South Normanton Community Lantern Parade and Concert. It had warmed up a little bit since last week but we still had to wrap up very warm for our walk through the village.

We left St Michael's Church at 6.00pm to walk through the back streets to the Postmill Centre, supported by the local community police force and volunteers including Barry Thacker who is our Chair of Governors at nursery. We were really pleased to see so many of our nursery children. They came with their families and carried the beautiful lanterns that we had been working hard to make in nursery last week. As we carried the lanterns carefully through the village, we lit up the streets and as we walked we were watched by lots of members of the local community who really enjoyed the wonderful spectacle. As always, it was really lovely to see lots of older familiar faces too...many of the children and their families that we knew from nursery in previous years. The lanterns all looked absolutely fantastic lighting up in the dark night.

The Postmill Centre was very busy as we settled in our place and looked at all the lanterns. Then we began our very special concert. The nursery children were asked to sing first, so we safely got onto the stage supported by the staff from the nursery. We were so proud of our children who sang brilliantly up on the stage, in front of all the other children and their families. We sang and signed 3 songs, When the Robots Came to Dinner, Little Robin Redbreast and Jingle Bells,  Our children were followed by Christmas singing from The Brigg, The Green and The Glebe Schools. Very well done to all who took part.

For our children this event is a wonderful opportunity to perform, which not only builds their confidence but also gives them a real sense of pride at such a fantastic achievement. It also creates great learning links for our British Values curriculum enabling the children to develop a sense of community, belonging and how and why we celebrate.

The parade and concert also reminded us all of how lucky we are to be able to celebrate with others from South Normanton and a great community spirit was felt throughout the event.

Many thanks to all our children and their parents/ carers who supported with this lovely community event...it really was a fitting start to the Christmas season.

Thanks also to The Gala Crew, the local police and to Barry and the volunteers who made this event run so smoothly.

To re-live our children's fantastic performances, please enjoy the videos and photos below and

many thanks to the Ramsay family for sharing their fantastic videos with us.