Norwich High celebrated Language and Culture Week between 20-24th February, with a busy schedule of events for everyone to be involved in, bringing together students, staff and alumnae.

Tuesday 21st February was International Mother Language Day and, to celebrate, on Monday some of our multilingual students offered language taster sessions, teaching a few simple words and phrases from their mother tongue to students and staff. There was a fantastic spread of languages on offer, including Persian, Polish, Russian and Arabic.

Language and Culture Week culminated in Culture Day on Friday 24th February. Culture Day was suggested by Norwich High’s Antiracism and Inclusion Group and was a brilliant way for students to take the lead in activities and workshops to raise awareness of different cultures. It is part of the school’s Undivided initiative, where we are dedicated to promoting inclusion, diversity and real change. It was a non-uniform day, with students encouraged to wear something that allows them to express themselves. Any money raised from the non-uniform day went towards the Syria/Turkey earthquake disaster.

Throughout the day, there were a huge range of activities to take part in. At break and lunchtime there were food stalls, henna, Rangoli art and a dance workshop. Students also had the opportunity to see their names written in calligraphy in a different language.

Mr Matthew Bull, Diversity and Inclusion lead, commented: “It was wonderful to see all of our students embrace each other’s cultures. I also loved seeing the pride in which our students celebrated their own cultures – lovingly preparing and selling food in our market, wearing cultural attire and listening to world music, amongst other things. We aim for all students to feel safe, represented and appreciated and I think the whole week successfully expressed this. I can’t wait for Culture Day 2024!”