On the 4th July, OSH held its first ever Culture Day where the whole community celebrated everyone’s cultures and hobbies in a variety of ways.
This event was composed by School Council representatives who started planning many weeks in advance, collecting ideas from the entire school. With the help of Mr. Sidaway, they managed to place their ideas into reality to make this day such an incredible success.
Students entered the premises dressed in vibrant clothes to applaud diversity and rejoice our heritage and belonging as the programme of events got under way. Lessons had a cultural feel to them, with many classes studying different lifestyles and countries or learning new sports in PE and games lessons.
One of the prominent features of the day was the “OSH NEWS”; an assembly which took place throughout periods 1 and 2 with year groups 7-9. The Foleyan Centre was overflowing with bright, colourful energy and music as the students were met with a quiz around the many cultures of this world, including but not limited to questions like “What country celebrates Bastille Day?” and “What language is spoken in Brazil?”. As the quiz ended, the news reporters made a start on the assembly and welcomed everyone to “todays big scoop” about Culture Day.
Theo Oluyide gave a speech about why culture is so special to us and why we are unique, followed by Fazeel Hussain introducing us to the many varieties of cultures we get in this international school and how we represent that. Then, all members of the Council voiced the significance around what they were wearing, some were in detail around meanings of Neapolitan words while others showed their support for their favourite football teams.
It was then time to hear about some of the worlds most unusual cultures. I introduced the audience to the Sami people with their sacredness to reindeer and colourful garments alongside the myths of the white reindeer. Theo Mandengu giving us an insight to the famous Indian tradition of baby tossing where babies are dropped from around 15 meters high and caught by a large piece of cloth, believing it ensures good health and prosperity. Then we heard about the Kazakhs from Ted Lowe. The Kazakhs are a Turkish ethnic group that revere eagles and use them to hunt prey in the mountainous and bare landscape.
As the morning bulletin drew to a close we got a reflection on OSH culture and the start of our school fashion show! A spectrum of colours and flags filled the room as the models started striding in, applause filling the room with music playing in the background. The Council and the fashion show models took a deep bow, and that concluded the morning assembly.
At break time, the Interact food sale was tremendously popular with snacks and treats from an assortment of countries including India, France, China and many more. Including donations at morning registration, a grand total of £1,177.88 was raised for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Overall, the atmosphere was amazing and the day was exceptional with almost all students taking part, bringing everyone together by celebrating our differences.
Written by Samuel Lees-Smith
Year 8 student and School Council Member