Christmas show takes centre stage at Co Tyrone primary school

I arrived at Denamona Primary School first thing on Monday morning, only to be told by a woman, who I took to be a staff member, that there were no children inside.

“They’re all down in the church hall,” she shouted, pressing the lower half of her face through the acute opening of an ajar window.

I briefly considered whether spending a morning standing outside an empty school could furnish me with the material required to produce an engaging lighthearted community feature…

Then, after a sharp, and rather uncouth, word with myself, I elected to make my way to the nearest church hall, as per the bellow from the window.

Pulling up outside Fintona Presbyterian Church Hall, my ears received incontrovertible evidence that I was in the right place.

An unmistakable cacophony of mirth and festive freedom spilled out from the building, as a 90-strong cast of seasonally-supercharged children prepared for a final dress rehearsal before the premiere of their Christmas play, ‘No One Wraps Like An Elf’.

Allowing the vortex of high-pitched voices to suck me through the door and into the eye of the storm, I sifted through the sonic flotsam and jetsam and got speaking with past pupil and school principal, Janet Burke.

“This is the last big rehearsal before the real thing on Wednesday afternoon,” Janet began, calmly ushering me away from the menagerie of costumed kids gathered by the stage.

“This year we are doing a musical called ‘No One Wraps Like An Elf’. The title is kind of self-explanatory, and, yes, there is a bit of rapping in it,” said Janet, whilst wagging her hands in that loose-wristed, rappery way.

(For those interested, here is a synopsis of the play: Far away in the frozen North Pole, Santa’s elves are working long and hard to find the perfect wrapping for each child’s hand-picked gift, while closer to home in the town of Wimpole, a wicked plan is underway to replace the beautiful gifts with tacky toys from Plasticopia, and so to destroy the magic of Christmas! Could this be the end for the elves? Can the greedy Smash and Grab twins (Rethe and Rogan) really succeed in tearing out the heart of Christmas and replacing it with a £ sign? Will their Ninja Knights on oily bikes replace Santa’s reindeer? Or can brave Little Elf (Luke) undo the evil doings and finally save the day?)

“The Christmas play is our biggest event of the year. Every pupil takes part in the one production, which doesn’t happen in bigger schools. It’s not only parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters that come along; some past pupils show up too, as do parents and grandparents who no longer have anybody at the school. It’s part of the festive fabric of Fintona now.

“After the transfer exam finishes, it’s all about getting ready for the play. This year’s is looking great, and most of that is down to the musical and dramatic direction of Mrs Spence,” acknowledged Janet.

As we sat chatting, Janet, who has been principal for eight years, told me that she used to go to Denamona herself.

“If you’re interested, I’ll tell you a weird Fintona fact,” offered Janet.

I encouraged.

“Well, Rosaleen Donnelly, Principal of St Lawrence’s Primary School, Fintona, is actually a past pupil over there, too. In fact, she and I were the same year at school and used to sit beside each other on the bus into Omagh. She went to the Loreto Convent and I went to Omagh Academy. It’s funny how things have come full circle,” said Janet.

I suggested that it was actually rather sad that life had turned these two childhood friends into such, presumably, bitter rivals.

“Not at all,” laughed Janet. “We get on great. We actually have a shared education programme to promote collaboration with both St Lawrence’s and Sacred Heart Primary School, Tattyreagh. The focus this year is mental maths and problem solving. It’s going really well!”

Denamona recently renewed its school ethos and laid out three fresh core ethics.

“Respect, honesty and resilience,” said Janet.

“Respect for yourself, others, the environment and community. Honesty, especially in the context of living up to your own morals. And resilience – perhaps the foremost quality that enables you to navigate life, whatever it throws at you.

“We see our job as caring, nurturing and educating our pupils. It’s not just about producing academically capable children. It’s about helping them grow into people who can handle the obstacles, challenges and friction of life.”

Before finishing I asked Janet to sum up the part Denamona plays in the wider Fintona community.

“Inside the school, we are like a family. We are close, we all know each other well, and we all understand that we have a responsibility to one another, both teachers and staff. And that same ethos and feeling of duty towards each other extends out into the community too, and it’s reciprocated,” explained Janet.

“Earlier this year, one of our staff members, Tracy McKenna, was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. It was a shock to the school and wider community, so we decided we would do something to try help.”

Janet, fellow staff, parents and pupils rallied the wider community to take part in a stem cell drive, which was held at the school during a weekend in March.

Almost 2,000 showed up and three matches were found, which meant local three people learned that they were eligible donors who could potentially save another person’s life by taking part in a transplant.

The school continues to work with blood cancer charity, DKMS.

“We were all extremely proud that we had done something for our colleague and friend. I suppose what we did that weekend best captures what Denamona is really made of. Phrases like community spirit and togetherness get tossed around all the time, but sometimes they make themselves manifest – that weekend in March was one of those times. To me, that will always stand out as a moment when the bonds that hold our school together revealed their true strength. There was an opportunity to do something for one of our own and we did it,” said Janet.

Then, in what seemed like a Christmas miracle, a staff member, with only a few calm words, hushed 90 excited children, and the rehearsal began.

As the players assumed positions and the drama began to unfold, a classroom assistant quietly approached and tapped me on the shoulder.

“It’s great, isn’t it? The children. I’ve fell on a few tough times over the years, but I’ll spare you the boring details. But, seriously, the fulfillment I get out of working with these ones has helped me so much. It’s incredible,” she said simply.

Then, as if to neutralise this gush of sentimentality, the same woman threatened that she would ‘assassinate’ me if I printed her name.