Cultural Day at Primary School

[DancingonmyOwn88]

Looking for ideas! Not a political debate.

it’s Cultural appreciation Day next week at my son’s school, there’s quite a lot of different backgrounds that his classmates are coming from (only 15 in the class but it’s a southeast London borough) and we are actually in a bit of a minority being white British.

But they want parents to be involved which is very nice and it happens to be a day I’m not working, so they’re inviting us to come in and do a 5-10 min activity and take some traditional food from your culture to a class lunch.

As I say we are just English. Not even any Scottish or Irish or Welsh or things that are widely celebrated. I suppose it’s just making me wonder if it’s ‘ok’ to outwardly celebrate being white British without causing any offence (please no Reform-esque debates here I am trying to navigate it appropriately!

What do I do? Learn morris dancing? Dress as a Pearly Queen 😂

I thought about just reading a Paddington Bear book and making some marmalade sandwiches but is that a bit lame?

DS is only in reception by the way so they’re all very small obviously and they’re still all getting to know each other as a class.

Yes - do Norfolk!

Right so I’m thinking I’ll read that Paddington book where he goes to Buckingham palace, and give out individual little jars of marmalade like you get in hotels as then they can take them home as a little souvenir, as the food will be later on and not directly after the activity in the morning. A Paddington sticker each maybe. Then send in some sausage rolls or coronation chicken (good shout for whoever suggested that one) for their picnic.

Dress up DS in his little King’s Guard outfit? It does directly tie in with the story…don’t know if that’s overkill though!

Paddington and Winnie-the-Pooh are great for that age group. Those who aren't keen on marmalade will surely like a bit of honey.
You could do something about the sports that were invented/codified here, football, tennis, rugby etc.
An activity about powerful women through the ages, would make a change from Henry VIII to have more about Boudica, Florence Nightingale, Helen Sharman and so many others.

@saraclara exactly.
Just because a child might have a family background from (for example) France doesn't mean their "Frenchness" will be identical to another child also from France.
A family background from a rural farming community is different to a family background from Paris.
Cultural Day is a great opportunity to stop and think "what is OUR family history".

Medieval "souling" traditions, with a simple explanation re how they are one of the roots of modern international Hallowe'en, and find an authentic recipe for soul cakes? Or discuss guising,

From the OP:
DS is only in reception by the way so they’re all very small

this is a good idea - bit of physics in action and some fine motor skill practice.

you could also get a map of Britain and shade the pronunciation regions (rhymes with "gone" versus "rhymes with "cone") which might go over their heads but you get to point our Devon + Cornwall and wherever you are originally from.

I think honey sandwiches would go down better than marmalade 😆
LOVE Winnie the Pooh

How is paddington bear English? He is supposed to be from 'deepest darkest Peru?
Im not sure about marmalade either- it doesnt sound like a word of English origin and also not many oranges are being grown here!

Michael Bond was English.

Yeah but I think the point is he celebrates his ‘adopted’ culture whilst not forgetting Peru! So for a multicultural school maybe it fits well.

Might need to be a bit careful with the 'Darkest Peru' origins? I was interested that AI (sorry!) claims:

"While the term is viewed affectionately through the lens of Paddington, literary and cultural historians point out its colonial origins:

Victorian Roots: The modifier "darkest" (e.g., "Darkest Africa") was popularized by Victorian explorers like Henry Morton Stanley to connote mystery, danger, and territories uncharted by Europeans.

A Literary Pivot: Michael Bond originally intended for Paddington to come from "Darkest Africa," but his agent pointed out that there are no bears there. He changed it to Peru because it is home to the native spectacled bear"

Who knew that last bit? Me neither.

Paddington came from Peru

You might be overthinking this.

Some really great ideas here, though some a bit too much for reception. I love your Paddington idea to be honest, relatable, some will be familiar with Paddington, its a nice age appropriate story - you could tie it in with evacuation, similar story but for reception i think less is more.

As some who is mixed, half English and half something else. I gravitate a lot to my other side, but that is because England and my Englishness is implicit every day, if I grew up and lived in the other country I think I would think more about my English side and culture.

You won't offend anyone though, please don't worry about that.

winnie the pooh is a lot more English or |Alice in \wonderland.
Top hats , bowler hats, flat caps all quinitessentially English.
Foods - English cheeses such as cheddar, double gloucester, lancashire, stilton
Pork pie, sausage roll, scones, pot of tea

Yes but he adopted the mannerisms of a little English gentleman.
As for marmalade....many stately homes had an "orangery" didn't they?
Essentially a greenhouse to grow oranges (I assume)
Is that how marmalade became popular?

Pirate

Julian of Norwich, too. Although maybe tricky for reception age.

Bishy-barnabee and polywiggle should go down well. 'Hold yew hard', and 'Slow yew down' are both useful when dealing with a reception class. And I'd add 'Ar yew reet bor?' and 'Keep yew a troshin'.

Reception isn't too early to start teaching your child to be proud of their culture.

You could do something around how our culture is so ingrained around the world that people sometimes miss it.

The rule of law, democracy and parliamentary process. How we have an inbuilt sense of fair-play and always supporting the underdog.

Authors like Shakespeare, Dickens or Jane Austen. Incredible music from the Beatles, Blur, Oasis, Muse, Radiohead, Elton John and Queen.

The gift to the world of telephone, jet engine, steam engine, the world wide web, antibiotics, television, the smallpox vaccine or how we discovered the laws of motion and gravity, decoded the structure of DNA.

How we gave the world some of the greatest sports - football, rugby, cricket and tennis.

How we have the best sense of humour on the planet, how we're overly polite to strangers but have brutal banter with our closest friends. How we keep calm and carry one. Sunday roasts, fish and chips, full english breakfasts and tikka masala.

OK...maybe not reception but give it a year or two for the next cultural day.

This shouldn't be funny, but 😅😅😅.

Good post

Painting roundabouts?

Paddington sounds lovely. We are in a similar position, because we are practising Christians we made something related to our faith as that is part of our cultural expression. I just steered away from anything that screams white nationalism. So in the past we have sent something Houses of Parliament related (democracy is pretty inoffensive!) or a cream tea for food. My son also went to school in top hat and tails one year which made it fun without giving football hooligan vibes.

I like the way you’re getting into the spirit of things. My kids school do this every year and it is fantastic. We’re in Cork and the Irish mammies had Tayto sandwiches with Tanora (iykyk), it was a massive hit! Have a great day!

I like the rhyming slang idea - get them all animated and shouting the answers to the different phrases. It could even be introduced as a 'special secret language' created by people living in London like they do. It could be visual with pictures to help them remember. I think they'd find it really fun and memorable!

I genuinely love the paddington idea too, but do think the immigrant aspect is very subtle to be appreciated by such young kids. It's a fun story about a bear living with people to them