John Willmott Culture Day – Students at John Willmott School marked the end of term by celebrating diversity with an innovative Culture Day.
The colourful Culture Day, held on the last day of term (December 16th), is the latest event in a programme designed to help students develop important life skills at the school, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.
Headteacher Nicky Gould said: “Culture Day was great fun, and a brilliant way to end the term.
“The idea was not only to have a fantastic Christmas atmosphere in the school, but also to celebrate the diverse school community we have and encourage the students to tell each other about their own cultures.
“It was all built around the eight virtues that we encourage – Self-Discipline, Integrity, Kindness, Gratitude, Courage, Respect, Commitment and Service – along with a big serving of Christmas spirit, with carol singing and music.”
During form time, students learned about each other’s cultures. Some recorded videos about their own heritage, while others came to school wearing traditional dress – even teachers got in on the act, wearing clothes from their own culture.
In the canteen, pupils could sample different foods, while at lunchtime there were dance and music displays.
Culture Day drew on fables from around the world
In lessons, the students learned about fables from around the globe, and how they reflect shared virtues like Courage, Kindness and Respect.
Stories included ‘The Boastful Turtle’, from the Philippines, The Chinese fable ‘The Island of the Sun’ and the story of the ‘Four Foxes’, from Pakistan – as well as modern Christmas favourite Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Mrs Gould explained: “We wanted to use fables to illustrate how different cultures share the same values – which are often the virtues we are encouraging our students to adopt.
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a great example. The moral of the story is that we should all demonstrate Kindness and Respect to others, despite our differences.
“It also teaches us to have Gratitude for the things that make us unique and to be Committed to using them in Service to others. Finally, it suggests we should have the Courage and Integrity to be ourselves whatever other people say.
“Like so many of these fables, it’s so much more than just a kids’ story!”
In art, students learnt about the Chinese New Year and the annual Lantern Festival, making paper lanterns which were then hung to decorate the school hall, creating a New Year inspired Art Installation.
Elsewhere on the day there were celebration assemblies to acknowledge progress in subjects and reward effort based on the eight character virtues, along with Christmas Carols and festive music from the school’s impressive band.
To keep track of all the fun on offer, students were given a Culture Day Diary to fill in as they experienced each activity.
There were Christmas Quizzes and students who had the best Culture Day Diary were presented with a Culture Ambassador Badge.
Mrs Gould added: “Culture Day celebrated the very best of John Willmott, and I want to thank every student and staff member who helped make it such a success.
“It was a great way to finish off 2022!”