What Happens When Every Child Takes Part?

By the time the first children stepped forward to present, they were carrying almost ten weeks of practice with them. There had been songs to remember, football skills to work on, dances to rehearse, stories to act out and plenty of moments when something needed to be tried again. What families eventually saw during our Club Presentations was one afternoon, but behind it were weeks of learning, practising and figuring things out together.

Over the past two and a half months at Kissyfur International School, the children have taken part in music, dance and drama, art and craft, cookery and football. Every child participated across the different activities, giving them opportunities to practise familiar skills, try something new and experience different ways of learning and expressing themselves.

One of the most memorable moments came through a skit exploring how technology has changed everyday family life. The children acted out familiar scenes of people becoming absorbed in devices and spending less time talking, telling stories or simply enjoying one another’s company. The story then moved towards a more balanced relationship with technology, where there was still room for conversations, shared moments and children playing together.
For young children, bringing a story like this to an audience involves much more than remembering what comes next. They have to listen for cues, follow the story, respond to one another and understand the part they play within the group. Drama gave them a way to explore something they see around them and communicate it in a form that other people could recognise and enjoy.

Music and dance brought a different energy to the presentations. The children performed Aloha Aloha, Come and Dance with Me, danced to AI Works With Me and shared an Amaggunju performance. As they followed rhythms, remembered movements and stayed connected with the group, we could see how much learning can sit inside an activity children simply experience as enjoyable.

The same can be said for the other clubs they had been taking part in throughout the weeks. Football encouraged children to move together, pay attention to others and work towards a shared goal. Art and craft gave them time to explore materials and turn an idea into something they could see and hold, while cookery involved following a process, handling ingredients and experiencing how individual steps come together.

These experiences matter in early years learning because children do not all find confidence in the same place. One child may become completely absorbed while creating something with their hands, while another comes alive through movement, music, storytelling or being part of a team. Giving children access to different activities creates more opportunities for them to discover what interests them and what they are capable of doing.

There is also something particularly meaningful about preparing for a group presentation. A child begins to understand that their part matters, while also learning to watch, listen and make room for everyone else. Some children are naturally comfortable performing in front of an audience, while others need encouragement and repeated opportunities before that confidence begins to show. When every child is included, participation itself becomes part of the learning.
That is one of the reasons co-curricular activities remain an important part of early years learning at Kissyfur International School. They give children space to move, create, communicate, imagine and cooperate while building on what they experience within the classroom.

For us, the Club Presentations were a chance to see what can grow when children are given time to practise, participate and learn alongside one another. What parents watched on the day was the visible part of a much longer experience filled with guidance, laughter, effort, teamwork and discovery.

Perhaps that was the part worth noticing most: every child had a place in the experience and, when their moment came, each had something of their own to share