Circus event at Gunthorpe primary school. EMN-210630-161959009Circus event at Gunthorpe primary school. EMN-210630-161959009
Circus event at Gunthorpe primary school. EMN-210630-161959009

The day a circus came to a Peterborough school

Pupils clowning around at a Peterborough primary school didn’t find themselves in trouble yesterday - it was all part of the learning process.

Just for the day, youngsters at Gunthorpe Primary swapped the classroom for the Big Top as four performers from Circus Sensible paid them a special visit.

And as well as taking a seat in the stalls in their class bubbles to watch performances from the professionals, more than 400 pupils got to take part in workshops too, learning how to juggle and spin plates.

And the whole thing was designed to get their creative juices flowing while having fun at the same time.

Headteacher Fran Rhodes said: “We like to do things where the children can get involved hands-on, and having a big top here on the school field and these real circus performers made it even more special.

“The children were very excitable and the show was great - lots of circus tricks and an element of comedy. Everyone just loved it and it reached out to them all, it was very engaging.

“We wanted the children to enjoy themselves and have fun, of course, because of the pandemic they haven’t been able to get out much in the last year.

“But we have topics working around this and hopefully seeing the performances in the ring and taking part in workshops will get them energised and excited. We hope to get their imaginations flowing to help improve their writing skills and other subjects too.”

As well as trying their hands at some circus skills there was even a circus-themed lunch with hotdogs and doughnuts as part of the whole experience.

Sadly, because of covid restrictions the visit by Circus Sensible had to be restricted to pupils. Fran added: “We really wanted it to be a community event, we would have loved to have invited all the parents in to say thank you for their support through the pandemic.”

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