- by Leighton Conridge 12M

Recently, Leventhorpe hosted its second World Cultures and Languages Week. This yearly event was run by the MFL department and aimed to celebrate the diverse cultures and traditions that our students are a part of. 

Monday:

The week kicked off with a presentation in forms from Mr McGee about cultural week and the plans for the next few days.
At lunchtime a Eurovision Quiz was held between students and staff with Mrs Fernandez as host and Ms Eleftheriou as assistant. The students beat the staff in both competitions!

Tuesday:

To start off Tuesday, forms across the school watched ‘The Masked Linguist’, a game where you had to guess what language each mystery participant was speaking.  Then, at lunchtime a salsa dance workshop was held in the main hall of the school.

Wednesday:

Forms played a ‘Guess the Flag’ multiple-choice quiz and then at lunchtime another dance workshop was held in the main hall, this time for carnival and bollywood dancing!  
Throughout the week our terrific catering team had been serving up unique cultural dishes at lunchtime, all of which were excellent – with Wednesday being a particular standout - celebrating the Lunar New Year with a Chinese buffet!. A variety of foods were on offer such as Sweet and Sour Chicken and different varieties of Bao Buns. Delish!

Thursday:

On Thursday morning, our Sixth Form Inclusivity Team gave a presentation on 'Student Experience' at Leventhorpe and then at lunchtime all forms presented their different boards, chock-full of information on their chosen countries, were paraded on the main stage in the hall.

Friday:

Students were invited to come into school wearing their cultural dress and took part in a Diversity and Celebration Quiz in morning form time.
As the grand finale for the week’s events, the school hall was turned into a Cultural Fair with form boards on display around the hall. Students presented these boards, which each celebrated a different country and many brought in dishes from that country, one such dish being mulva pudding from South Africa.
Up on the stage, a student band played popular songs such as ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk on a variety of different drums and other instruments. 
Members of the local town twinning organisation with Bry-sur-Marne in France and Moosburg in Germany were also present as well as local council representatives.
Throughout the event, members of the Senior Leadership Team and MFL Department had been judging the form boards that were on display.  At the end of the event, Mr McGee announced the winners:

KS3 – 7L (Holland)
KS4/5 – 13W (South Africa)
 

All in all, the week was fantastic and I personally am looking forward to next year’s festivities!