News and Events

Festive fun for all at our Christmas Shopping Evening

We were delighted to host our annual fundraising Christmas Shopping Evening on 4th December. Once again it lit up the school with festive cheer, welcoming families, past students, and members of our wonderful community. From the moment the doors opened, the atmosphere was warm and festive as visitors tucked into hot turkey sandwiches and sipped delicious mulled wine. The hall was filled with live music from the hugely talented Adam Robinson which perfectly set the festive mood. We were also thrilled to welcome the big man himself - Father Christmas - accompanied by his two wonderful elves, much to the excitement of our younger visitors.

This year also featured a fantastic enterprise challenge from students based in our Learning Support department. Tasked with designing and producing their own Christmas cards to sell at the event, two teams competed to see who could make the most profit. After a whirlwind of creativity, sales skills, and festive enthusiasm, each team headed into the “boardroom” to face “Lord Alan Sugar” (a.k.a. Mr Raynor). Both teams worked incredibly hard, but in true Apprentice style, only one team could emerge victorious — leaving the other team, sadly, to be fired! It was a brilliant experience for all involved and a wonderful showcase of teamwork, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped to make the evening such a joyful success: our brilliant stallholders, who brought a wonderful variety of gifts and treats, our generous local businesses for their kind donations, the dedicated staff who worked so hard to set up and run the event and our amazing parents whose donations kept the ever-popular chocolate tombola and bottle tombola buzzing all night long. It truly was a wonderful, festive celebration, and we are delighted to share that all proceeds will go towards providing even more enrichment opportunities and residential experiences for students based in our Learning Support department.