Santa Dash n Rave

Three young men who met at Seaham High School joined forces to organise some festive fun for the entire school.

Kyle, Ewan and George, aged 15-16, decided they wanted every pupil in the school to feel part of a big community and so set about to run their very own Santa Dash n Rave.

Providing they got the go ahead from panel and their headteacher, their ambitious idea would bring all pupils together, get them dressed up as Santa and do a mad dash around the school before finishing with a just dance Christmas rave.

To pull it off the group had some work to do first. They searched for information and sought advice from teachers about the routes pupils could do for the Santa Dash and what health and safety they’d need to consider. They negotiated with the headteacher on which dates they could run it and how they could get all pupils involved. Most importantly, the group had to learn how to cope with stress and tension as they took on the ambitious task of planning their school wide Santa Dash n Rave during an extremely busy exam period.

With all the information and planning in hand however the group headed to panel where they were faced with pitching their idea to a teacher, the deputy head teacher and a member of The Key team. The group presented their idea, skills development and planning brilliantly and took on question after question confidently. The group were thrilled to get their much deserved YES at panel!

Turning their project into reality, the group got to work. They adapted all routes to make sure they were accessible to all students – for those in a wheelchair and those who weren’t. They purchased their Santa outfits and started promoting their event to pupils through the school.

The Santa Dash n Rave went off without a hitch. The young men built so many skills for the future and felt that they had the skills and confidence they’d need to get a job and succeed in the future.

Not only did the event get everyone in the festive mood, but it also helped to bring everyone together to have fun, build spirits and realise that being part of their school can feel like being part of a wider family.

Kyle, 15, said: “Our project is about reminding everyone that being at this school is like being part of a family. We want everyone to experience that and feel it before we break up for Christmas and so thought this was a good way of making it happen.”

Ewan, 15, said: “Not only did we want everyone to feel connected but we also wanted to do something that could help everyone exercise and get people moving. We’ve made sure the route is accessible to every pupil so that nobody is left out.”