A Wokingham primary school held a grand celebration of cultures recently..
Around 1.000 pupils and their families came to enjoy the sights, sounds, and flavours of multi-cultural heritage at a joyful parade and festival at Hawkedon primary school.
It is the largest primary school in Wokingham, serving 600 pupils, who come from 23 different ethnicities and speak 39 distinct native languages between them.
Executive headteacher Elaine Hughes said: “To see staff, children and parents taking pride in their individual heritage yet understanding how it comes together into one, big, united school family is very special and to hear how important this is across all ages of our community was a privilege.
“There is a real sense of belonging at Hawkedon”.
On the celebration day, the children were invited to dress in traditional or typical clothing, or the colours of the country they represented.
In the morning, Sana Mahmood invited the children from Earleybird pre-school to join the reception classes to have their own little parade, waving flags that they’d made during the week.
Donna Sarney said events like these & the partnership between Hawkedon and the Pre-School, celebrate the value of belonging.
The rest of the school paraded together as part of a colourful promenade around the school in recognition of all the represented communities and cultures.
Afterwards years 2 and 3 performed Indian drumming, and years 4 and 5 demonstrated a Chinese dragon dance.
Head of school, Laura Barnes, said: “The celebration was so successful because of the school community engagement and how they have joined together to showcase their culture.”
The day was led by Emily McBirnie and her team, to celebrate the Value of Belonging and celebrate the wonderfully diverse school community.
“A day like this can not happen without the whole school community coming together. It has been a wonderful week of everyone learning and sharing about where they come from.”
Staff and parents set up stalls to represent the different countries, displaying traditional clothes, flags, musical instruments, objects of interest, photographs and artwork.
Festival goers were also able to sample cultural delicacies from around the world, including pavlova made by the head of school, on her stall representing New Zealand.
Families were full of praise for the event.
Parent governor, Sarah Harvey said “It’s been a fantastic day to see all the different cultures that Hawkedon has, celebrated together by all the children & staff.
The atmosphere has been electric and children have been fully involved in cheering each other on. It is great to see the value of belonging celebrated so well at Hawkedon.”
Another parent, Olga Muller said: “The event is very nice. It is good to have the opportunity to try different cuisines from all the countries and helps you feel a bit closer to different cultures from across the world”.
For more information or to enquire about Open Day visits, see www.hawkedon.wokingham.sch.uk
