Many people would agree that more cultures need to be included and celebrated within schools, well on the 11th of January BOA Stage and Screen did just that with its very first Culture Day!
The idea originally came from the college's student ambassadors. BOA Stage and Screen have an equality and diversity team, and the group approached the principal in light of Black History Month, claiming that they felt that the school could be better at representing other ethnic groups.
This request then launched a student ambassador team, who began with a brainstorming activity, and who eventually produced the idea of a culture day. A questionnaire was sent out to all students on the types of things that they felt represent culture, and the responses were used to devise workshops that would be beneficial for the students to take part in.
Each student took part in four workshops. Some sessions were directed by specialists who were hired by the college and others were facilitated by the teachers. The workshops included: African drumming, Caribbean dance, the art of henna, patchwork of unity, poetry and folklore, pysanky, South Asian makeup traditions, and wall art design.
As well as attending these workshops, students were encouraged to dress in their own traditional clothes and bring in foods that they felt represented their culture.
The assistant principal of the college, Mrs Sorenson, said, “I think it’s really important that students are able to embrace their own culture, but also to raise an awareness of other people's cultures, because ignorance is about lack of knowledge, so if we educate students on the different cultures then we can be more inclusive as an academy.”
The day was a remarkable success, and many of the students enjoyed the day, whilst also learning more about other cultures.
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