Christmas Actually

Richard Curtis has perfected the romcom, scripting Love Actually, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Yesterday and more. His latest film is an animation about Christmas in a small English town, combining three of his own children's books. That Christmas has Santa, traditions, humour, a variety of families, a pinch of romance and a LOT of snow.

As the song says, we all dream of a white Christmas, but Wellington-on-Sea gets much more than it bargained for when a blizzard cuts the town off on Christmas Eve.

These short clips from the film can get your classroom into the festive spirit!

Practise Christmas vocabulary with this clip of Santa attempting to deliver presents down a chimney. Santa (voiced by Brian Cox) and Dasher (Guz Khan), the only reindeer who hasn't come down with flu, have landed the sleigh on the roof of a barn where five children are staying. They're home alone because their parents have gone to a wedding and been blocked by the blizzard. Santa bites off more than he can chew when he tries to get all the sacks of presents down the chimney in one go. Curtis also scripted Mr Bean, and that flair for physical comedy is on show here.

Of course, there has to be a bit of romance, even if it's between kids. Danny (Jack Wisniewski) is new to the town, having moved there with his mum after his parents divorced. He admires Sam (Zazie Hayhurst) from afar. She is quiet and risk-averse while her twin sister Charlie is boisterous and a risk-taker. Danny in this scene is the typical Curtis unconfident candidate for romance like Hugh Grant in a number of films, or Bridget Jones. You can squeeze in some more Xmas vocabulary like Merry Christmas, Christmas tree, fairy lights and decorations. Or winter clothes like anorak, mittens and Wellington boots.

Like any good romcom, That Christmas has its share of unusual pairings, in friendship as well as romance. Here Danny heads home for Christmas alone and observes his head teacher, Ms Trapper (Fiona Shaw). As the film goes on, she will turn out to be a helpful ally, despite her forbidding manner.

That Christmas: available on Netflix