Burns’ Dinner & Dance Tickets Available Now

January 16 2024

Join Class 11 for a ‘formal dress’ evening of dancing, dinner and drams.

Each year Class 11 serve up haggis, neeps and tatties at a sit-down meal in the School Hall in celebration of Robbie Burns, followed by a traditional Scottish ceilidh.

This year it is being held a week after the poet’s birthday so as to allow for Class 12’s performance of the last play in the Oberufer trilogy, the Three Kings Play.

The poster has been designed by Class 11 pupil, Bella; and the evening is organised by the families of this Class, who have decided on a ‘formal dress’ theme.

This very popular social occasion on the School Calendar was a sold out event last year. Once again, tickets are limited to the capacity of the School Hall.

Everyone is welcome. Pupils in Classes 8 and below must be accompanied by an adult; and all must have a pre-booked ticket to either the dinner & dance or just the ceilidh.

Entrance to the dinner will be from 5.45pm, with food being served at 6pm. The hall will then be cleared and the ceilidh with live band will follow at 7.30pm, wrapping up at around 10pm.

The annual event is part of the pupils’ fundraising efforts for their final year trip next academic year, sourcing its haggis from Garvald Home Farm, the farm that is paired with the School for many elements of its curriculum. This pairing including several Class 3 trips as part of its Farming Main Lesson, as well as a two-week Farming Residential in Class 9, where pupils deepen their connection with where food comes from. (See Farming in the curriculum)

Garvald Home Farm is run according to biodynamic farming principles – a sustainable method of agriculture that marks its centenary this year. Biodynamic cultivation goes back to Rudolf Steiner and is the origin of today’s organic concept. It is one of the many initatives that derived from Steiner’s philosophy, Anthroposophy, where nutrition is understood as part of an overall philosophy in which body, mind and sould are brought into harmony with nature.

Whilst Anthroposophy is not taught to the pupils in school, it is out of this that Waldorf educators work. Encompassing various aspects of human life, including education, medicine (Weleda), and agriculture (officially stamped through Demeter certification), it offers a holistic approach to undertsanding the relationship between us and food, and is recognised as providing much more than just fuel for the body.

Haggis, traditionally served on Burns Night in Scotland (and across many parts of the world) to celebrate the life and works of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, is considered a symbol of Scottish culture and heritage. For the many families who have joined our School from abroad, it is a traditional Scottish dish made from sheep’s offal (heart, liver and lungs), mixed with onions, spices and oatmeal, all encased and cooked in the stomach of the animal. The event includes a toast to the haggis, as well as traditional Scottish music and – of course – recitations of Burns’ poetry.

At the same time that this event is recognised as a fundraiser, and that there are indeed suppliers producing the centrepiece of the traditional meal for much less, the School supports biodynamic farming and its ethos wherever possible, both with the lunches provided by the School and with the fundraisers, festivals and social events hosted on campus.

Tickets can be bought by following the appropriate link below:

Family: Dinner & Dance / Adult: Dinner & Dance / Child: Dinner & Dance / Ceilidh Ticket Only

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