The Kindy children had been preparing for their Festival for a while; they had made their lanterns, their parents had come to school and made theirs. They had enjoyed finding logs and sawing them for the fire and were always on the lookout for any kindling to add to the growing pile. They had been busy on the day making star biscuits to share with everyone and some wonderful parents had made delicious pumpkin soup. 

And so the school day ended and the children were excited to find that they weren't going home, but staying on to have supper at school. The fire was lit and the Festival began. Sitting around the fire at dusk we enjoyed the soup, cheesy scones and mandarins. Then it was off into the growing darkness to watch a surprise puppet play that the teachers had prepared. And then began the lantern walk underneath a beautiful starry sky, with a nearly full moon shining down on the children and teachers, as we wove our way carrying our lanterns so carefully and singing our winter songs. We sang our way back to the fire and found all the parents waiting for us. And as we all sang together and enjoyed the warmth of the fire, the songs and the star biscuits (and a visit from a curious possum), we celebrated the longest night with our Winter Festival.  (Sarah David, Kindergarten Teacher)