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Experience Family Fun at Brighton Festival this May Brighton Festival offers children the opportunity to experience fun, educational and spectacular arts events across Brighton and beyond throughout the month of May. The children’s parade officially marks the start of the Festival on Saturday 2 May and will see more than 5000 participants from local schools follow a route through the city centre in showstopping costumes. This year’s theme, Nature’s Marvels, celebrates the natural world while highlighting the important issue of climate change. Around 10,000 people go along each year to see the parade and be part of a vibrant procession of dance and music. Indoor activities include The Herd’s theatre show SLIME for ages 2 to 5. Squish and squelch your way through a surreal tale of a friendship between a slug and a caterpillar. Groove into the Woods fuses storytelling with music-making that will have grown ups dancing along with little ones as they follow a group of kooky characters on a magical adventure, set to a live soundtrack of funk and jazz music. The Festival’s Young Readers programme features over 15 events that will appeal to all age groups who love stories and books. Appearances by popular authors and illustrators include Jacqueline Wilson, children’s laureate Cressida Cowell and fantasy novelist Vashti Hardy. The Festival aims to encourage children of all ages to discover, create and participate in the arts. Many events are free or priced at £10 and under. For more information, visit www.brightonfestival. org. Photo credit: Jerome Whittingham

Fishy Tales and Silver Scales A new store, specialising in tropical freshwater and tempered non heated aquarium fish, is opening in Brighton Marina as the largest aquatic store group in the UK, Maidenhead Aquatics, arrives there. Maidenhead Aquatics, as well as selling aquarium fish to the general public, operates the Fish Keeper Fry Programme. This is an innovative and interactive educational programme for primary school children, designed to develop the next generation of responsible fish keepers, www.fishkeeper.co.uk/fishkeeperfry. All of the schools who participate are supplied with a free aquarium, livestock and equipment, alongside curriculum-based videos designed to teach and encourage primary school children to learn about the biology behind the aquatic ecosystem.

Claremont Prep School Opens Eco Store When it comes to saving the planet, Claremont is definitely open for business. Building on the brilliant year round work of the School’s Eco Warriors as they pursue Green Flag Status, pupils from Year 7 and 8 decided to launch The Claremont Eco Store to sell environmentally friendly products directly to parents and friends. Believed to be one of the first of its kind in a school (if not THE first), the Eco Store has gone from strength to strength since it opened its doors for the first time last November. The Eco Store started from humble beginnings with a modest stock list chosen and marketed by the children themselves. Stock included eco-friendly shampoo, body wash and refillable bottles. However, the Eco Warriors have been able to reinvest in their business and expand their product range. The new line includes soap bars, washing up liquid, reusable straws and face pads, ‘truthbrushes’, bamboo cotton buds, dental floss and top selling toilet paper - ‘Bumboo’. With the help of the charity ‘One Tree Planted,’ the children decided that for every £10 in takings they would plant a tree. Ten trees were planted in Kenya on the Eco Store’s opening day and 17 the following week. This year the children have decided that further donations will now go towards tree planting initiatives in Australia to help repair the landscape and habitats destroyed by bushfires. Claremont headteacher, Mr Bunker, told Primary Times, “It is a worrying time for our environment and the children are well informed of the challenges that we face. This project has been more than a learning experience, it has empowered the children to take positive action - something they are extremely proud of.” For more information about Claremont Prep School, visit www. claremontschool.co.uk, and for more information about One Tree Planted, visit www.onetreeplanted.org.

Errol’s Garden at Hastings White Rock Errol’s Garden, at the Hastings White Rock Theatre on Saturday 23 May, is an interactive new musical for kids, full of lively music, colourful characters and a passion for plants. Errol loves his tiny flat in the city, but he dreams of having a garden of his own. His father tells him that he needs to find a new place for his plants as they are taking over the flat. Errol and his sister, Tia, explore the block of flats in search of a suitable space and discover that it has a rooftop. They must bring their neighbours together to help turn the neglected rooftop space into a community garden, all the while dealing with a mysterious neighbour and some destructive snails. This sensational children’s theatrical experience makes its 2020 debut in Hastings before it transfers to London. To find out more and book tickets, visit www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 01424 462 288.

Urban Dance and Bboy Championships at Brighton Marina To celebrate the inclusion of Breakin’ (Breakdance) in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Brighton Marina, in collaboration with Streetfunk, is organising a free Urban Dance/ Bboy Event at the Marina Square.

The event will be hosted by local dance legend JP Omari with special guest judges Kid Karam, Bboy Spin and Bboy Sasha. Watch out for exclusive performances from World Champion Koreon Bboy crew, Jinjo Crew, and streetdance crews from the multi award-winning local Streetdance school Streetfunk. The event will also include free breakin’ dance workshops led by the judges. The competition segment will include ‘Solo Under 16’ and ‘2 on 2 battles’ with cash prizes for the winners of the competitions. This totally free event is one not to miss. Go along to Brighton Marina Square between 10am and 6pm on Tuesday 26 May. For more information about this and other events at Brighton Marina, visit www. brightonmarina.co.uk.

Become a Host Family with EF The EF Host Family Hastings programme has operated in the area for nearly 50 years. Summer after summer, students aged 14-18 choose to go to the region to experience British culture, develop their English language skills and have fun with their new friends on the beautiful beaches. Being an EF host family on the South Coast is a fantastic and fun cultural experience and host families return to host international students again, year after year. As an EF host family, you play an important role in the students’ experiences. You invite them into your local culture as well as sharing the local insights of all the area has to offer. Become a host family today and feel the excitement of cultural exchange as well as making a positive difference to the language students. EF offer host families a permanent office and year-round local staff organising the programme and during the hosting period there is a 24/7 contact number, staffed by the local team. You can host up to 3 students in a room and 4 within a home with prompt weekly payments. You can also rest assured as a full activity/academic schedule for students supervised by EF staff is provided and students travel independently on foot, by bus or train. For more information, be sure to visit www.ef.co.uk/host-family.

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