We were delighted that students from Westminster Academy were able to join us this year for our Festive Window Competition. Tutored by Ann O'Brien, they produced a fantastic collection of water colour paintings to depict each of the gifts of the twelve days. Their inventive idea was to include all the gifts in the finale of the movie, each revealing itself in turn from behind the tree. The judges loved the detail and flair of the paintings as well as the imaginative solution to the twelfth gift. We are very grateful to Ann O'Brien for her help with the project, and to the students for their fantastic work.

The Twelve Days Festive Window was the next iteration of the project beginning with the Parametric Christmas Tree. It too aimed at spreading good cheer for the festive season, while experimenting with a new technology, and engaging with our local communities. The project on this occasion was based in the Lab itself, in our Robotic Theatre, strategically located at the front of the Lab and visible from Marylebone Road. We invited our students, University staff, the general public, and two local schools to participate in a design and making competition, with the brief of drawing ideas base on one of the gifts from the Twelve Days of Christmas. The industrial robot arm was then used as a continuation of our research into the use of robotic cinematography to investigate scale models, and published the 12 resulting films online, ready for Christmas.