It's Tiffin School's first ever Culture Day! A group of sixth formers have coordinated an entire week of activities and have inspired a huge number of students to get involved in one of the multitude of ways they’ve offered. I spoke to Jemima, who was on the team organising the day, about what it took to create the inaugural Culture Day. 

Jemima told me about the different teams that the sixth formers split themselves into, with some organising decorations adorning the school and information boards in corridors, and others working with the canteen food providers to serve food from different cultures into the canteen this week (options including Chinese and Mexican food). There was also a group who created a slideshow that every form in the school was shown about what the point of the day was, and how we could get involved. In this final week before Easter there have been many opportunities to get immersed in other cultures, like workshops in Chinese calligraphy, drawing mandalas and learning a Haka. 

The school itself has had a makeover for culture day, with flag bunting in corridors and boards with information about what languages students most commonly speak at home (with Hindi being the most common after English) and where the student body is from. The Culture Day leadership team also ran a competition for students to enter either a written or artistic exploration of what culture means to them, and their culture. Students who entered produced poems and essays, as well as stunning paintings reflecting their culture. 

An impressive proportion of the school engaged and dressed up. I’ve seen people in beautifully coloured traditional dress, and others in the colours of their country’s flag and sports shirts. Teachers have also dressed up, and there’s been a real sense of unity and interest in other cultures that makes me look forward to Culture Day becoming a staple in the Tiffin calendar.