Luton Carnival

It was a lucky day for the children at Warden Hill Junior School, when Miss Johnson, a Teaching Assistant at the school, popped her head around the door of Head Teacher Mr Welch to ask if the school could take part in this year's Luton Carnival.

Away from school, Marsha Johnson is also an active member of Rampage Carnival Club and needs no encouragement whatsoever to get involved in all things Carnival!

Letters were swiftly sent home to parents and the first thirty children to respond were signed up for the weekly after school Carnival Club.  The theme for the parade was decided - The Enchanted Forest - with the children dressed as Fairies, Flower Girls and Water Nymphs!

With only three weeks until Carnival, I went along to see how the preparations were coming along...

Week One

There was certainly more than just a buzz of excitement in the classroom, as the children listened intently to Miss Johnson's instructions for making the three different head-dresses they would each be wearing in the parade.

The Flower Girls were dispatched to their table and given the intricate task of cutting out the pink foam for their petals; the Water Nymphs had the tricky job of cutting through the blue sequined material for their headbands and the Fairies set about making the coloured ribbon fringes for all the groups.

"This is brilliant!" said Zoe, aged 11, "I've watched the Carnival procession before, but never ever thought I'd be in it one day!"

With great care and much concentration, the children got to work and it wasn't long before Miss Johnson was bombarded with shouts of "Miss! I've finished! What shall I do next?" and soon after by the timely arrival of parents at the classroom door ready to take their excited charges home. 

The time had gone so quickly!  With cries of "See you next week Miss" the children left for home with excited tales of how great Carnival was going to be this year!

Week Two

With the sounds of carnival music being played in the background the children hurried into Carnival Club eager to carry on with their preparations for the big day! 

With the register taken, the children were quickly assigned their tasks.  Brightly coloured tabards were cut to size and fitted in one corner of the room, while the children added the finishing touches to their intricate head-dresses in another.

To add to the excitement - Miss Johnson had yet another surprise up her sleeve!  She had invited Wesley from Rampage Carnival Club along to show the children some of his 'carnival moves' and given them some dancing tips for the parade.

"Miss Johnson is great!" said 11 year old Hannah "She's put a lot of work into helping us get ready for Carnival and the costumes are just brilliant!"

And what are they children looking forward to the most on Bank Holiday Monday? Nine year old Sophie pretty much summed it up for everyone...  "Wearing the costumes and waving to everyone watching us in the parade of course!"

Week Three

Head-dresses all sorted? - Yes!!  Tabards made and silver braiding added? - Almost!!  Ribbons cut and curled? -  We can do that Miss Johnson!  

In an adjoining room, the final touches were being added to the huge school banner which would be carried along the procession route, with glitter paint and silk flowers highlighting the 'Enchanted Forest' theme.

With now only days to go until the Carnival Parade, there was a real sense of excitement amongst the children and nervousness from the staff!  Costumes were checked and checked again, instructions for the day itself (including advice on going to the loo at home first!) were given to parents and fingers were being crossed that the sun would shine on carnival this year!

In Pictures

Take a look at our Photo Gallery as the children prepare for carnival!