A Christmas classroom treat!

The Highland Council and Eden Court’s Engagement Team have worked together to stream a live performance of Festive Letter, a brand-new show for primary schools, to over 500 classrooms across Highland.

Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: “I am delighted that we have funded and supported this fantastic opportunity to provide a very special festive treat to our children and young people in over 500 classrooms across Highland. This has been a challenging year for our schools but this delightful performance will hopefully bring some safe, fun and festive cheer to around 8000 children in Highland. I would like to thank our Partners at Eden Court for working with us to deliver this treat across our large school estate, including reaching out to our settings in rural locations.”

Festive Letter makes excellent use of the digital capabilities in schools as the show is performed live at Eden Court and streamed via Google Meet directly into classrooms. The performance also includes an interactive element so pupils can get involved in the fun through laptops, cameras and screens.

Lucy McGlennon, Head of Engagement, Eden Court said: “We absolutely believe that experiencing live performance in real life is best, but as that wasn’t possible for our schools this year, we hope Festive Letter has brought a little Christmas cheer to young people across the region. And in the Highlands, the reality is that many of our schools can’t make the annual trip to Eden Court, so making a digital offer like Festive Letter is all the more accessible to our most remote and rural, and often smallest, schools.”

The festive show is free to access for primary schools throughout this week. Funding for the tickets were provided by the Council’s Education and Learning Directorate.