Dartford Grammar School For Girls is a truly diverse environment with a large variety of students, all from different backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities. The week beginning 10th February 2020 entailed a variety of events to showcase the diversity in our school community; this week was CULTURE WEEK.

DGGS Culture Week 2020 was organised and led by an ambitious group of Year 10s with the additional support of senior staff at our school. It was an exciting week that celebrated the vast number of cultures in our school.  All proceeds that were accumulated during the week went to an ActionAid charity, whose aim is to help women and young children in poverty.

Throughout the week, different continental foods were served to students at DGGS. For example, on the Tuesday the continent theme was ASIA whereby “Stir Fry Vegetable Noodles and Chinese Spiced Chicken Leg” was served. Being given foods from different continents was a nice experience for everyone at DGGS as you got to consume diverse cultural foods and not just the traditional British school meals.

A brief summary of what occurred during the week:

Monday: There were no events however there was cultural food served in the canteen.

Tuesday: The continent theme was Asia and the Americas. There was a show in the main hall that showcased different acts from these two continents - Bollywood dancing and a TikTok dance mashup. As well as this, there was a flag guessing game with prizes included for answering correctly.  

Wednesday: The continent themes were Africa and Europe. There were displays that represented these two continents such as an African themed little red riding hood drama. Snacks such as crisps and sweets were sold for the show.

Thursday: A refreshments sale was held whereby a selection of snacks were being sold such as cupcakes, donuts, cakes, fizzy drinks and cookies.

Friday: A cultural fashion show was held in the school’s main hall at lunchtime. There was a stunning assortment of ethnic attire and some students, representing their ethnic background, performed an African dance.

Ultimately, at the end of the week, I asked one of the organisers of the event,Esha Gill, who is in Year 10:  “ As one of the organisers of the 2020 culture week at DGGS, what did you want to come out of this (culture) week?”                                                                                           

Her response was: “ My main goal in organising this week was to show people that our school is incredibly culturally diverse and that we need to celebrate that. I wanted people to come to this week or perform so that they could be proud of their heritage and culture. I also wanted people to be able come together and celebrate the diversity of their school and of their friends. I also wanted people to be able to show off different aspects of their culture. The response was brilliant, and I truly believe that what we organised made a big difference. I got incredibly positive feedback from our headmistress (Mrs Pritchard) and our deputy headmaster (Mr Hardwick). They both commented on how hard we had all worked to make this happen and how well it had gone. They both said that people were having a lot of fun and that we need to celebrate the diversity of our school more, which is exactly the response I was hoping for. “ -Esha Gill

As Robert Alan said ‘ Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity ‘.

EMBRACE YOUR CULTURE

By Eve Okubadejo