This week saw the final performance to parents of the play that Y5 have been working hard on over the past six weeks. It is an adaptation of the book 'There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom' by American author, Louis Sachar. We read this short novel as our 'book study' in the summer term: the whole class read the book together, a few chapters at a time, and we did various pieces of writing and drama in response to what we had read. If you ask us, probably everyone in Y5 (even the teachers) would recommend that you read this book. It is the story of a boy, named Bradley, who has no friends and struggles to behave at school. With the help of his school counsellor, Carla, he learns to find the good inside him, which eventually leads to friendship and happiness. This book shocked us, warmed our hearts, made us laugh out loud and cry. 

To share how much we love it, we told the story as a play in four acts. Each class in Y5 was responsible for one act. This meant that the main characters were each played by four different children. It also meant that all 120 children in Y5 appeared on stage. We had people playing the part of Carla, Bradley, his family, his friends, his teachers, parents, party-goers and an intriguing selection of animals. To liven things up, we added four songs and quite a bit of dancing. It took long hours of rehearsals in the hot school hall and the teachers spent much of their time telling us to be quicker at this, louder at that, slower here or quieter there. It was worth it though because the final performance was a great success. Highlights included: two black eyes, some aggressive arguing, a marriage proposal, games of basketball, gymnastics, several heartfelt speeches (that made the parents cry!) and a lot of people going into the wrong bathrooms!

If you haven't already read the book, you should! Young or old, it is perfect holiday reading and will put a smile on your face.

Here are a few photos of the performance: