Circus lion eats Fred!

Our adventure to Poringland Primary school was just amazing... After battling through the traffic on the M25 we arrived and were greeted by a whole team of helpers and big smiles. The tent was put up in no time at all and we were soon settling down to putting up scenery, setting up camp and rehearsals.

Fred disrupting Chichi's rehearsals!

The next days school assembly was held in the tent as all the children were introduced to Fred, Chichi and the amazing little big top in their school playing field. The day continued with a timetable of circus workshops so all the children in the school could experience a taste of being a circus star. 

Friday was spent teaching a group of 23 children circus routines that they would then perform that evening in front of a live audience. Fred and Chichi commented that these were amazing children - they all listened and put their all into their learning experience. During the class the children are asked if they have anything special they'd like to perform..."A double back flip and a somersault will do nicely" is Fred's usual request... only this time he was greeted by "yes okay"... we just so happened to have a champion gymnast in our midst... in fact 2!! The show that evening was spectacular!

Grrrrrrrrrr!

Saturday was the school fete and a fabulous painting of a lion and it's tamer was installed by the circus entrance. We were now ready for the three shows of the day and I set about making copious amounts of popcorn!

Some of the children who had performed the previous evening turned up in their bright costumes and red noses to perform again... they'd really got the bug! During the second show they even improvised and made up a new routine all by themselves - a sign of being true professionals!

It was sad when the last show was over but it was great to see so many people stay to help us strike the tent. We set out to beat our record of 30 minutes to take down but we were severly hampered by the kids coming round with trays of FREE CAKE... yum!

After being waved off by everyone we were on our way back home... oh WHAT a lovely time we had in Poringland Primary! Thanks to Richard Burbage and all his staff and PTA who made it such a lovely experience for us all.

Next stop... Dorset. We hit the road again on Wednesday so do give us a toot if you see us on the way!