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Curwen Primary School

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International Week 2019

"As always the carnival was amazing, the highlight of our school year! Good dancing, costumes and music. Well done to everyone involved. Combining 2 countries per year was a very good idea. Double the fun and celebration. Only negative is painful hands from all the clapping!"- Just one of many amazing parent feedbacks this year

Curwen Primary School celebrated their cultural diversity through International Week with a kaleidoscopic array of events that exemplifies what Curwen is all about.

Paul Harris, the Executive Head Teacher for Curwen Primary School and CEO for The Tapscott Learning Trust said, “This is one of our best moments in the school calendar. This is what makes Curwen so special!”

Citizenship Assembly:

International Week kicked off with a whole school assembly led by our School Councillors. This year the foci were the importance of celebrating diversity, exploring other cultures and showing compassion. Each year group nominated a Compassion Champion who received a badge in recognition for showing compassion in everything that they do.

Cooking Competition:

The Curwen Cooking Competition followed last year’s new format with two categories: savoury and sweet. A panel of judges searching for new culinary talents helped to turn up the heat for our international food competition. Adults worked hard to show off their cookery skills during the afternoon, tasting dishes from all around the world – Romania, Bangladesh, Eritrea, India, Somalia, Algeria, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Ghana, Portugal and of course the UK. Participants adapted their traditional dishes by adding a twist of flavours and presentation from a different culture such as the Bangladeshi lasagne or the Somalian tiramisu.

One of Curwen’s Cooking competition runner ups and her family. Maryam cooked a Somali tiramisu

 Our EAL pupils presented their culture projects to their classes. They shared their culture, heritage and traditions.

Mini-World:

Mini-world was a whole day of exploration and celebration. In the run up to mini world, each class chose a country to study. The children from that class learned languages, mapping skills, historical facts as well as much, much more to teach the other children in the school all they knew. In the afternoon, all children were given the opportunity to visit the other classes and learn about other countries. It was a fantastic day which all of the children and teachers thoroughly enjoyed.

Children dressed up in their traditional clothing and share what country they’ve been learning about in their classes. 

 

KS1 invited the parents in to share their traditions. Our parents were amazing sharing their child’s favourite traditional tales.

Fashion Show:

The fashion show was a sight to behold. We had hundreds of children walking the cat walk showcasing their country’s traditional outfits. We even had some parents coming along to strut in their traditional clothing. It was a fantastic event which everyone really got involved in.

Carnival:

Carnival was a spectacular celebration involving costume, dance and music, all of which was co-ordinated by our very talented P.E team. The school was buzzing with energy and parents and judges were invited in to watch. All year groups performed their fantastic dances twice to showcase their amazing talents. Friends of Curwen came for across the country to celebrate their cultural diversity as well.

The fashion show and carnival is one of the most anticipated events of the week! Full of colour, life and enjoyment.

Thank you to all the parents/ carers and volunteers for taking the time out to support their children and participating during the week. 

Here are some of the feedback that was received: 

"It was amazing. Good to see many countries being represented. Well done to all staff and students"

"My fourth time attending the carnival- and every year it gets better. Amazing all the hard work and effort that goes into it. Thank you for allowing children to experience and learn about the different countries"

"It was fantastic. The music, dressing, get up, teachers and children all are amazing. Lovely performance and really loved it. Enjoyed it a lot. Thanks everyone who was behind it. A big thanks to the school management. The concept of fashion shows was really nice as you engaged the parents too"

"It was definitely fantastic! Each year gets better and better. Not sure what more can be done so a huge well done and thank you for the amazing show!"

"Was fantastic every year I enjoy it. Thanks for all the memories, I think the children will remember it for the rest of their lives"

"Fantastic variety of cultures celebrated. Great music choice and costumes"

For those who are yet to discover just what this week is, please read this lovely poem written by Ms C Bryan Year 4 class Teacher (4B)

International week at Curwen

A fusion of cultures all come out to play

culminating on carnival day

children and parents

from countries far and wide

sharing their stories, their food and their lives.

International week at Curwen

celebrates our diversity

while binding us together in a wider community

building our resilience, our compassion and our pride

showing that we are the soul of this school

in more ways than what is only implied.

If you were there and saw it

I am sure you can attest

that everyone played their part

and all the children did their very best

and if you missed it I'm really sorry,

but there's always next year to come and see

How international week at Curwen is

a Celebration of you and me!

 

For more photos please visit the gallery