On June 8th, the children, staff and parents of Queen of Angels celebrated Intercultural Day. It was a truly magical day which celebrated the cultures and traditions of 49 nationalities.
In Queen of Angels we take great pride in our multicultural school and we have achieved this by having an open-door policy whereby every child is welcomed regardless of faith or background. We aim to promote inclusion and celebrate diversity.
Intercultural Day afforded us the opportunity to explore in greater detail the geography of the countries represented in our school. For the past 5 weeks all the classes had been preparing projects on some of these exotic lands: Ukraine, Mongolia, USA, Brazil, South Africa, Romania, France, Spain, Japan, Egypt, Mauritius, Italy, India and Canada to name but a few! We now have a greater knowledge on the currencies, capitals, famous landmarks, traditions, dress, cuisine and cultures of these wonderful places. The children took great pride in showcasing their chosen country to their class and school by displaying them in the hall. Some parents got involved in the project work too which was much appreciated. It was also a chance for us to showcase our beautiful country of Ireland too with great pride and enthusiasm.
On the morning of Intercultural Day the entire school community gathered in the junior yard for our parade. Children and parents came dressed in all the colours of the rainbow- some in their traditional costumes, some in their country’s sports jerseys, while others came dressed in the colours of their country’s flag. Our pupils from Ukraine and Afghanistan were our grand marshals who led the parade. Parents and children followed behind their country banner as we did a lap around the school following our Active School Walkway.
Cllr, Lettie McCarthy addressed the crowds, telling us how happy she was to be in Queen of Angels celebrating such a wonderful occasion.
Parents and guardians were invited into the hall afterwards for a delicious coffee morning organised by Ms Hannigan, Áine, Laura and Susan. The children came with “passports” to be stamped as they visited each project. They also followed our new Active School walkway to stamp the countries represented on each marker.
A junior and senior concert with an international flavour was held in the hall in the afternoon.
A very special thanks to our wonderful Ms Hannigan who organised this magical event. A day like this unites everyone. A day to remember for a long time in Queen of Angels!
J McTeague