Diversity

 Diversity

We are fortunate to have children and staff from a wide range of ethnicities, cultures and religions.

This gives us the opportunity to learn about our similarities and differences.

In the Autumn term 2021, we sent out a parent questionnaire to ask your thoughts on how we explore diversity and religions, and how we can improve. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and appreciation of what we are currently doing. We have read your suggestions for improvements and aim to implement those that will help the children to learn about our diverse community. 

Wow days

This year we have changed some of our focus countries for our Wow days. Classes will spend one day to learn about the traditions, history, food and special festivals of each country. We may organise school visits or for visitors to come in to run workshops, which will add to the children's learning experience. 

The countries selected reflect the ethnicities of some of the children who attend our school. Each year we aim to have Black History Month in October, whilst some other countries will change. This is so we can cover as many of the ethnicities of the children in the school.

Each class will choose a day to have their Wow day within a set week, which will fit into their week's timetable. 

Have a look below at photos of our wow days.

If you would like to be involved with these days, then please have a chat with your child's teacher.

You could share traditional stories, objects of interest, traditions or music. 

Mrs Mander

Reception Teacher & Diversity Lead

Wow days for 2022-2023

Diversity Art Gallery

At the end of July 2023, we held a whole school art gallery to celebrate all the diverse nationalities and cultures we have in our school community. Each year group chose to focus on one country and look at artwork from that country. Children worked on individually and collaboratively to create their pieces. They learnt about the countries and the history to the artwork they imitated. Parents were then invited to see the amazing work the children produced. 

China

During January we looked at China. Classes across the school looked at Chinese art work, learnt about the Great wall of China and practiced calligraphy when writing Chinese symbols. Children had the opportunity to taste some traditional food in Reception class. The children enjoyed using resources of lanterns and animal stickers, donated by a Reception parent, to adorn their Chinese restaurant themed home corner.

Year 1 learnt about the Great Race and the animals for each year. Year 2 worked together to create a dragon parade, and Year 3 made a large dancing dragon using mini paper fans the children folded.

The children in Year 6 explored making pictures and patterns with tangram shapes.

Poland

In November 2022 our focus was to learn about Poland. 

In Year 6, children looked at the geography of Poland, such as cities, rivers and landscape features. They also learnt about famous people and traditional food they eat. Each child made a factsheet to document what they had researched.

Year 4 learnt about the Polish and French scientist, Marie Curie, who was an influential chemist and physicist. They made a fact file on her life and achievements. A child from Year 4 shared with Reception how to count and say hello in Polish. Year 2 also learnt some Polish words from a member of their class.

Reception looked at the art of Polish paper cutting, called Wycinanki. The children had a go at making their own collage designs. They located Poland and the United Kingdom on the map, and discussed how they would travel to Poland. They tried some Polish dumplings called Pergoli. These dumplings are filled with either cheese or meat. Some children liked them so much, they had extra!

Reception class parents sent in pictures of their home in Poland, and the traditional dress worn for festivals and special occasions. 

Black History Month 2022

During October we looked at events that black people have been part of in British and world history. 

Reception children learnt about John Blanke, who was a black trumpeter for King Henry VIII, and was rewarded for his musical skills when he received gifts from the king on his wedding day. Some children made their own Tudor style trumpets.

They looked at the Benin Kingdom, and learnt about the masks and statues that were stolen from the kingdom and placed in British museums. The children copied the Benin people's style and made their own masks.

They also learnt about Mary Seacole using her nursing skills to help British soldiers during the Crimea war. Reception had a go at making herbal medicine, like Mary Seacole did, during their independent learning. They enjoyed learning about Anancy the Spiderman and his stories from West African and the Caribbean.

The children had a go at imitating adinkra cloth prints, often found on traditional Ghanaian cloth. 

The Nursery looked at the American artist, Alma Woodsey Thomas, who did abstract paintings. The children had a go at creating their own colourful abstract art.

Children in Nursery, Reception, Year 3 and 4, had some fun with Kwame, from African Activities. He taught them how to play various rhythms on the djembe drum, using stories and call and response. The children were interested to listen to his stories about life in Ghana.

In Year 1, the children looked at Rosa Parks and what makes us special. Other classes spent time learning about different aspects of Black history.

   Pakistan  

In May 2022 we looked at Pakistan for our wow day. Reception children learnt about the colourful and intricate designs painted on many of the trucks and mini buses driving around Pakistan. They had a go at creating their own designs and patterns on truck templates. Some tried on traditional clothing, saris and shalwar kameez (worn by both men and women). Miss Imtiaz, our Year 3 teacher, wore her handmade shalwar kameez outfit, which was made specially for a wedding celebration.

We learnt about the K2 mountain, the second tallest in the world, and tried to make our own mountain using paper mache. Reception children tasted naan bread and vegetable samosas, and Year 1 looked at how Muslims celebrate Eid. They had a go at creating mehndi patterns on their hands, by first designing the pattern on paper then using henna on their hands.

As a school, all classes learnt about Ramadan and Eid. 

West Africa

For our Wow day in March 2022 we looked at countries in West Africa.  We listened to the traditional music played on djembe drums for special occasions, and looked at the intricate patterns printed on adinkra cloth and woven in Kente cloth. We spent some time trying to replicate these to create our own art work.

The school had an assembly on West African art, culture and the folk stories of Anancy, the spider man. These stories were often orally handed down to generations through Griots. They were storytellers, who also kept important information in the villages. 

       Here are some of the stories we looked at.

China

At the end of January 2022, our Wow day focus was on China. Classes learnt about the Great Wall of China, Chinese artwork, the Lunar New Year and tried some traditional Chinese food. Reception parents created a PowerPoint to share with the class and provided items of clothing for the children to look at.

Children in Reception, Year 1, 4 and 5 enjoyed spending time with two Lion dancers, who led workshops on how to work together to create a lion dance. They learnt the difference between dragon and lion dances, and how the lion dance was created to scare away monsters so people could safely celebrate the New Year.

India

In November 2021, we had a week to learn about India. We looked at the types of food traditionally eaten, Bollywood music and dancing and the Diwali festival. Some of the older year groups spent time with the younger classes, explaining what they had learnt.

Black History Month

October is Black History Month. It started in London, in 1987, and as since become a regular time of the year to focus on the achievements and history of black people around the world. Black history is part of our British history, and is explored through geography, music, science and other areas of the curriculum.

In October 2021 we had African drumming workshops for Reception, Year 3 and Year 4. Kwame used his djembe drums to share stories and drumming skills from Ghana. Reception also learnt about the Jamaican/Scottish nurse, Mary Seacole and Nelson Mandela. Other year groups looked at the lives of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. They also tried eating some traditional Caribbean food.

At the end of the month we had, 'Show Racism the Red card' day, where we wore red and looked at the negative impact racism has on people in our school and those around the world. We discussed ways to help stop racist incidents.