Excited students welcomed guests for a Christmas tea party at The Swanage School in Dorset, reviving a tradition that had been abruptly halted by the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Older members of the local community were not only treated to party food cooked by the students but also to Year 7’s pantomime performance and a rousing chorus of Christmas carols led by the school’s director of performing arts Harry Peake.
A panto performance of Cinderella by Year 7s entertained the guests
Gift of biscuits and a pen pal letter
The festive event on Thursday 11th December 2025 included guests from the Swanage Disabled Club, Gainsborough Care home, Clifftop Care home, Jurassic Care, and the Swanage Walking for Health group.
Everyone who attended was waited on by Year 9 students serving coffee and tea, and given a gift of biscuits and a pen pal letter, all personally created by students in Year 7, 8 and 9.
Party food produced by students
The letters written by the students were well received by the guests
“It’s quite emotional”
Headteacher of The Swanage School Jenny Maraspin said:
“We used to host a Christmas tea party every year until it got scuppered by Covid, so it’s quite emotional to be able to welcome older members of the community back.
“As a school, we have a massive ambition to be at the heart of our community, so it’s lovely to have the atrium full with those from our local community. Covid really stripped schools of who they were, so it’s nice to be able to restore some of the traditions that we lost.
“It’s also good to be bridging the generation gap with the older members of the community getting to meet our youngsters.
“Some of our students have written letters for each of our guests as a nice personal touch – they were genuinely excited to do this and it’s a great experience for our students to take time to think about what the older generation would be interested in hearing about.”
Headteacher Jenny Maraspin (centre) chats to the guests
An enjoyable afternoon of refreshments and entertainment
Festive food bank donations
As well as hosting the Christmas tea party, the school has been collecting food for the Swanage food bank in the run up to the festive season.
Pupils and their parents have been generously donating non perishable goods like tinned food, boxes of cereals, and pasta.
Head of Year 9 Mike Kirkham has been coordinating the collection. He said:
“We’ve had a great response, with each year group getting quite competitive, each wanting to bring in more than the other.
“It’s nice to see so many boxes filled up with goodies, which will be heading to the food bank in time for Christmas.”
Head of Year 9 Mike Kirkham coordinated the collection of goodies for the Swanage food bank
The plentiful donations by pupils and parents will be sent off to the food bank before Christmas
“Values firmly focussed on what is best for our students”
The Swanage School was founded in September 2013 and marked a return of secondary school provision in the town. It was created on human scale principles combining local learning with a global outlook.
The school with its modern facilities puts great importance on strong and genuine relationships – within the school, with the local community and with the wider world.
Jenny Maraspin said:
“The tea party epitomises what we try to achieve as a school, with our values firmly focussed on what is best for our students.
“We have a very child centred approach and that guides our decision making process at the school.
“We’re often told by sixth form providers that the children who move to them from The Swanage School have a really impressive amount of confidence and good communicating skills. That doesn’t happen by chance, but by giving students experiences like hosting this tea party.
“Everyone involved will remember this event and while it will hopefully bring some festive cheer to our older community members, it will also help boost our students’ personal growth.”
The school is hoping to make this a biennial event with a community summer tea party planned for 2026.
Student captains Rory (left) and Iris (right) help out at the tea party
Pupils from various year groups were able to contribute to the success of the event, whether they were part of the waiting staff or on stage providing the entertainment
Further information
- More about The Swanage School
