Celebration of Cultures

As part of Year 3’s learning inquiry into how ‘people use special events & festivals to celebrate their beliefs’ the boys enjoyed a Cultural Celebration today, to which their parents were invited.

There was much excitement early in the morning as the boys arrived at school dressed to represent their chosen country. There was all manner of dress from countries afar, as well as those from closer to home, with Kiwis and Australians represented. Much to the boys’ delight, the teachers also dressed for the occasion.

Excitement, nerves and anticipation grew as the boys paraded into JC Chalmers Hall. Peers, parents and special guests were invited to watch the boys step up in pairs to showcase their chosen country.  During their learning, they not only discussed the differences but also the similarities between cultures. They concluded that one of the tangible things that has been common to all races through time is fire. Fire to take warmth from, fire to cook with, fire to tell stories around. With this in mind, the morning took inspiration from ‘tales around the campfire’ as the boys came forward with their folk tales and music from around the world.

New Zealand has people representing many different cultures and at Saint Kentigern, our schools celebrate a diversity of cultural backgrounds.  This inquiry gave our boys great insight into the day to day lives and special celebrations of the many different families that make up our schools. It was an important learning opportunity for the boys to share information about their own background as well as to learn about others, while celebrating the diversity of our country.