Snapshot of Our Primary Christmas Performances

What an exciting time it was this Christmas to be once again performing and celebrating with and for our families and friends.
Every single student in the Primary school was involved and the moments shared were varied, positive and enjoyable.

Each experience was carefully considered for its impact on and links to the student’s learning, confidence, and abilities, showing a clear progression in artistic achievements across the ages. With music, singing and storytelling at the heart of each Christmas celebration, audiences were in for a very special treat this year.

Year 1 gathered around the story mat, and so did their parents. With their class teacher telling the story, the students brought moments of ‘A Winter Wish’ to life, almost like a giant pop-up book. Year 2 shared the telling of ‘The Night Before Christmas’ and enjoyed getting the audience involved in learning reindeer names, laughing like Santa and rocking around the Christmas tree.

Students and parents loved the intimacy of these stories in the Primary Hall and the ability to see and hear everything easily. The children were involved in reciting part of the story, acting some of it out and adding songs and actions as well. 
1º Ano also shared songs and presented thoughts about what is most important at Christmas time.

The children were delighted to have their families so close and be able to involve them in the story and enjoy time altogether at the end celebrating. This was a new way of introducing students to performance, and a big thank you goes out to all the teachers and teaching assistants for being so open-minded and rising to the challenge. Parents also embraced the ‘no phone’ policy and got an insight into possible ways of exploring stories at home with their children and being truly present in the moment.

Celebrating internationalism is important at St Julian's, and our Year 3 & Y 4, 2º and 3º ano performance was all about doing just that. Students learnt songs in different languages, rewrote the 12 days of Christmas with a St Julian’s twist and began to think about how people, who celebrate Christmas, might do so in different ways in different places. Led by Mr Santa Clara and Mrs Weiner, the children performed with amazing focus and confidence in front of a large audience in the auditorium on the Carcavelos campus of Nova SBE.

Many of the Christmas traditions we enjoy today began during the Victorian era, and the main themes of a Victorian Christmas are timeless, therefore our Years 5 and 6 and 4º ano were able to wrap the audience up in a celebration of Family, Charity, Goodwill, Peace and Happiness. Once again, in the stunning auditorium at Nova and led by Mrs Forbes and Mrs Weiner, students gave a top-quality performance, proving that 2 years of not singing during the pandemic was not going to hold them back. The performance was entertaining and moving in equal measure and a beautiful way to close the Primary School Christmas celebrations.

Photos and videos available to view on the parent portal

Zoe Weiner
Head of Creative Arts