A Christmas-time Victorian extravaganza aimed at nursery children and P1-P3 pupils is proving to be the most popular schools’ event offered by education staff at Callendar House in Falkirk.

All the free workshop places for “Adventures of a Christmas Pudding” were snapped up within four days. Nikki Goldsworthy, Falkirk’s education officer for lifelong learning, says: “This is the fastest response we’ve had to a schools’ event. We could have filled the workshops ten times over.”

About 300 pupils have been discovering how the family who once lived in Callendar House would have spent Christmas in Victorian times. They were treated to a shadow puppet show, in a specially-built theatre, then put on their own show and made a Victorian toy. They tasted traditional festive food in the working kitchen.

Schools’ Calendar

The National Galleries has published a calendar featuring 12 winning entries from this year’s art competition for schools. The 2007 calendar is available from NGS shops (pound;5.50).

The competition, which attracts hundreds of entries every year, is open to all nursery, primary and special schools as well as S1 and S2s. Pupils have to look at two or three works of art displayed in the NGS Online Collections and produce pictures in response. Every school in Scotland will receive a free copy of the calendar, which includes details of the 2007 art competition with themes including “In the Woods” and “Work.”

Full competition details will appear on the NGS website from January 2007, closing date May 4.

Fifty winning entries from last year’s competition are touring the country and can be seen until January 25 at Duff House in Banff and from April 1-May 13 at Paxton House, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

* www.nationalgalleries.org

Rugby

Bell Baxter High and the High School of Dundee had the honour of playing at Murrayfield during the half-time break of Scotland’s match against the Pacific Islands last month. The schools played a demonstration Sevens match as a reward for reaching the final of the Bell Lawrie Scottish Schools’

Sevens in September.