Knockevin Special School pupils kick off festive season with style

Knockevin Special School pupils kick off festive season with style

20 December 2023

PUPILS at Knockevin Special School have celebrated a range of Christmas festivities in style.

December kicked off with the Daily Mile Santa Run in which over 300 schools in Northern Ireland took part. It was a social event where all classes came together and Christmas music filled the air.

At the Knockevin campus in Castlewellan, there was lots of fun and laughters and activity stations to encourage all types of movement to keep everyone warm on a brisk December morning.

At the Dundrum campus, the weather was quite frightful and the Early Years Centre opted to keep warm as they completed their 15 minutes of activity around the building, while in Downpatrick, the bike track was buzzing and everyone came together to complete their Santa Run. 

As ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ rang out, the man in red stopped by to get his steps in alongside the pupils.

As an officially recognised daily mile setting, Knockevin Special School continues to promote the benefits of this initiative every day which has a huge impact on health and wellbeing for the pupils and staff.

Throughout the week, all three Knockevin sites were visited by Santa, who came armed with plenty of selection boxes which accompanied him into his Grotto to hand out to all the special visitors.

Each pupil had an opportunity to meet Santa and share their Christmas lists within a familiar space.

On Thursday evening, the Downpatrick site transformed into a Winter Wonderland to welcome all the pupils and their families to the school.

This spectacular event offered more than just the opportunity to visit Santa in his Grotto.

With a specially designed festive map to follow, visitors enjoyed some arts and craft activities, biscuit decorating, face painting and a wonderful multi-sensory experience in the hall.

With visits from Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Elf on the Shelf, a whole army of Elves and even The Grinch, there was something for everyone which created a magical Christmas experience with lots of fun and smiles from all who attended.

“The staff have been amazing,” principal Sara Liddell said.

“They have put so much effort into decorating the schools, organising activities and going above and beyond to make this run up to Christmas an incredible and unforgettable experience for everyone.”