Children celebrate diversity at Newcastle school

Pupils and staff alike at St Catherine’s Catholic Primary spent the day either wearing the national dress of different countries or sporting the colours of various national flags – including Headteacher Lisa Hoey, who was representing her native country of Ireland.

“All children from Nursery to Year 6 were embracing all the different cultures we have in our school,” explained Fiona Craggs, Nursery Teacher and Early Years Lead at the school, which is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.

“We have children in our school from Nigeria, Poland, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, Ghana, Lebanon, China, Turkey, Romania, East Turkestan, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Peru, Cuba, Portugal, and Greece,” she continued.

“Languages spoken are Arabic, Portuguese, French, Bengali, Urdu, Romanian, Hindi, Igbo, Yoruba, Ugandan, Amharic, Mandinka, Gaelic, Sindhi, Cantonese, and Mandarin.”

The exploration of different cultures extended to language, traditions, and even cuisine, with culinary offerings including spring rolls, pakoras, samosas, plantain, Nigerian yellow rice, egg-fried rice, fried coconut, scones, sausage rolls, and Irish soda bread.

“We were supported very much by our parents who provided lots of wonderful food for us to try from all over the world,” added Mrs Craggs.

“We learned words from different languages, how and what children celebrate at home, talked about different traditions, and wrote about what makes us different – but also what makes us one, special, St Catherine’s family.”