CHILDREN have been taken on a magical Christmas journey by a specialist teaching centre in Birmingham.

Pupils at The National Institute of Conductive Education in Russell Road, Moseley, have been putting the finishing touches to rehearsals for their latest pantomime production.

All 20 children at the centre, who have a range of movement disabilities such as cerebral palsy, are taking part in Jack and the Beanstalk.

The youngsters, who are aged between three and 11, were set to take part in a performance today starting at 11am.

They will be performing in front of parents as well as invited guests, which include trustees and sponsors of the Foundation for Conductive Education, which runs the institute inside Cannon Hill Park.

Wendy Baker, Director of Children’s Services at the Foundation, said: “We have been working with both the nursery age and primary age children so that they all get to play a part.

“We have plenty of rehearsals but all the children thoroughly enjoy it.”

The institute was originally established just over 20 years ago, when it was based on the same site as Victoria special school in Bell Hill, Northfield.

It moved to its present location in Moseley in 1995.

Wendy added: “Birmingham City Council gave us the option of moving here, but now we own the freehold.

“Our aim is to educate the children to become independent through activity. All the children have some movement co-ordination difficulty, but we also work on their social and self-care skills and communication.

“It is about the all-round development of the child.”

The conductive education institute has been staging pantomimes every year since it opened, and has no plans to do away with the annual Christmas favourite.

“The parents can always be relied upon to make the costumes for us, and they certainly take great pride in that,” the director added.

“None of the staff have parts in the panto because it is all about the children. We all wear black and work backstage so it’s only the children who are seen.

“We want to ensure it is just the children who take centre stage and who take the credit for their performance,” Wendy said.