THE magical world of ‘Wind in the Willows’ was the theme of the annual SHINE performing arts day for primary schools, held by The Royal School in Haslemere.

Year four pupils from Hale School, Hollycombe Primary School, Waverley Abbey Junior, Binsted Church of England Primary and the host school took part in a series of dance, drama, art and music workshops, designed to inspire creative expression.

During their action-packed day, pupils performed a musical fight from the song ‘The Re-capture of Toad Hall’, by John Rutter, studied physical theatre interpretations to explore the different locations and atmospheres in the story, created multi-coloured masks of the creatures that inhabit the Wild Wood, and devised a dance routine based on the opening scene from the book, in which Mole is busy spring cleaning. The Royal School’s head of drama and events Ed Taylor-Gooby, who organised the day, said: “I was so pleased to see how engaged and buzzing the children were at SHINE.

“They really immersed themselves in every activity and I think everyone wished that the school day was longer.”