‘Special Diets catered for!’ could be inserted into Little Dragons Charter! Out of our 25 regular attendees we entertain egg intolerance, dairy intolerance and those of other faiths not allowed to consume pork products. This is easily managed in normal sessions as we simply serve fresh fruit and juice/water. However, when deciding our ‘mini feast’ party menu, fun and games ensued. One Senior Dragon (SD) has had several practices at making our Christmas Party cake – using an eggless recipe and soya products – all Little Dragons & Senior Dragons enjoyed sampling the prototype, displaying eager anticipation for the real thing.

In a former life as an almost fulltime teaching Head of a primary school, the art of delegation was an important factor in survival – hence delegation to those who are ‘just-three’ to round up children, Carers and SDs for Circle Time proves to be a useful tool. If anyone asks why this is a good idea – it’s all to do (to use a little educational jargon) with enabling development and taking ownership. (Make sense of that if you will!). Further supporting this is the way that 2 of our just-three LDs are becoming expert at clearing and stowing equipment at the end of the session – no small feat given the engineering and technological skills required to store an enormous amount of toys, tables, chairs (not forgetting Bob the Builder’s residence) into extremely limited space.

It is heart-warming to note that several of our young members came along to the Christmas Tree Festival, being suitably impressed by the magical beauty all around although, naturally, being of the opinion that their tree with its laboriously-made Father Christmases was very special indeed. Several Little Dragons took part in the Christingle Service, proudly displaying their Christingles which gradually became denuded of fruit and sweets as the service continued.

Today we celebrated our first term with a most enjoyable Christmas party. Our ‘minifeast’ was greatly enjoyed, only surpassed by the arrival of a surprise visitor dressed in a red suit and sporting a huge white beard.

This visitor was indeed a surprise as our first contender had a hospital appointment and our second contender offered to accompany him (A message there we think!). Our third coerced contender managed NOT to find any excuses and arrived in fine style complete with jingle bells. He appreciated quickly that some of our members are very young and that perhaps they could be frightened by a very tall man dressed in, to say the least, slightly unusual garb. Surprisingly enough most LDs went up to receive their gifts with confidence and big smiles. After a couple of choruses of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and a rousing chorus of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, Father Christmas continued his journey – I think he said that he was going to feed his reindeer.

Many thanks to all who have supported our venture during the past months. As Leaders, we Senior Dragons enjoy every minute and like to think that our Little Dragons and their Carers achieve a similar buzz. We look forward to our new term on Tuesday, 9 th January 2007.

Every good wish for the New Year ahead from SDs to all our supporters.

Val Butterworth