Yesterday, saw Malet Lambert School’s first Festival of Nations event, celebrating and emphasising British values, and awareness of the different cultures living in our local area.
The event ran with the help of Humberside Police’s Community Cohesion team who were very impressed that Malet committed to holding an event like this in school.
During the day, all students visited an interactive fair in the Main Hall where countries from across the world were represented at a stall, and students asked questions and learned things about each nation.
Year 10 pupil Claire, 15, who previously lived in Bulgaria, was representing on her nation’s stall.
She said, “I’ve been showing my country to different people and, using a map, been showing them how close we are to the UK.
“The thing they have found most interesting is trying food from Bulgaria. I brought in a few dishes for them to try because it’s good for them to get a taste of my home country.
“It’s so important for people to experience and understand different cultures because although we have different backgrounds, in the end we are all human beings.
“I think this event will help to break down barriers between cultures and communities.”
Alongside this, groups of students from Year 7 – 10 took part in an educational session with Humberside Police, where they were able to talk to representatives from different cultural groups who live in our city.
There were guests from the Eastern European Migrant Worker Community; the Imam from Pearson Park Mosque, the President of Hull’s Jewish Society and volunteers from Hull’s Refugee Council who sent in guests who are asylum seekers/refugees.
The aim of this was to allow our students to speak to and spend time with members of different cultural groups and find out what it’s really like to live and work somewhere when you’re not a native to that country.
They asked questions about the types of food people eat, their experiences of Britain and about their day-to-day lives in their culture.
Meir Zobin, president of the Hull University Jewish Society, was highly complimentary of our event.
“What the school has done today is brilliant. I would like to see this happening in every school as a yearly event.
"It can be very hard to change the minds of older people but if we educate our younger generations about different cultures and religions, we are heading towards a better Britain.”
Learning Support and Engagement Manager, Julie Lynch, feels this event went further than the usual kind of ‘International Day’ held by schools.
She said, “The rationale behind the event is to allow students to explore other faiths, cultures and nationalities in a safe and familiar environment”.
“Other schools hold International Days, but this event goes beyond that. We are providing students with the opportunity to speak to people from different social groups - people who they may have preconceived ideas about because of the ‘labels’ society attaches to them”.
“The aim of the day was to challenge prejudices and stereotypes, but also allow students to have fun and not have to worry about offending anyone whilst they learn - I think we achieved this!
“We want students to learn that we can live together in a cohesive community. This ties in with the educating students about British Values of tolerance, equality and respect.”