This year Leventhorpe celebrated World Cultures Week 2024 with a week full of activities designed to bring our school community together to share and appreciate the diverse backgrounds that make us unique. 

DAY 1

The week kicked off with Mr Belt's Language Quiz  in the school hall at lunchtime.  It was a great success and students from all year groups pitched their wits and linguistics against one another to earn housepoints!
Top students were as follows: Olly Harding 12F, Nyla Smith 10L, Christina Lalas & Zoe Elias 9W, Thomas Burrough & Kacpar Sadlowski 8B, Ben Dukat 7L and the overall winner was Matei Hardware 10N with 38 points!

DAY 2

Began with an inter-form ‘Quizziz’ which saw a cheeky win by 12F who pipped 12C at the post.  Our catering team prepared a delicious themed week of cultural food including Brazilian, Indian and South African dishes to compliment the week’s activities.

During lunch, a team of Sixth Formers took on Teachers in an Eggheads-style culture and language Quiz, live on stage...and, after a close battle to the very end, they lost by just ONE point!

DAY 3

Wednesday’s theme was ‘WAR’ and at lunchtime, Hannah from Dance Days ran a Maori Haka workshop which took place in the hall,  and after a bit of a shy start, students warmed up to the idea of getting up there, giving the cultural dance a go and getting stuck right in! By the time the carnival dancing began, the hall was packed with students and staff alike, samba-ing away with their Hawaiian leis!
In form time, students learnt about Leventhorpe staff and some of their own cultural backgrounds including Irish, Taiwanese, French, Welsh and South African - some fascinating stories!

DAY 4

Thursday’s theme of the day was ‘LOVE’ and the dancing vibe continued throughout the day, beginning with Mrs Piperaki leading a flash mob dance of Zorba’s Greek traditional music and dance on the piazza at breaktime!  Opa!!!!!
With live music played by Ioannin Siriotis on his traditional bouzouki, the crowds gathered to watch the many students (and staff!) enjoying the well-known traditional Greek dance (minus the plate smashing, of course)!

At lunchtime, there was more dancing.  This time, Mrs Ortega taught students to salsa - in Spanish!  Her national traditional dance and her passion!  The dancefloor was full and there was some serious hip-wiggling going on!  Arriba!!!!

DAY 5

The week finished on a real high with students encouraged to come to school dressed in their country of heritage’s traditional costume and a whole-school cultural fair took place in the hall at lunchtime.
Live music from The Harlow Steel Band set the scene and gave the event a cool, Caribbean vibe!  Our special guest, the Mayor of Sawbridgeworth, Ruth Buckmaster came to see the students’ work and the Town Twinning Association set up a stall to promote their close connections with our town’s twins Bry-sur-Marne in France and Moosburg in Germany.  The hall was filled with displays, one from each form, who had been set the challenge of presenting a country of their choice and its cultures.  There were some amazing and creative displays with traditions, costumes, rituals and food, on show and even on offer!  Members of SLT voted on the winning form and announced the winner as 8F!
It was incredible to see so many students exploring and learning in this way and celebrating their own and others’ cultures in such a positive and creative way!