18 February 2022
Multicultural Festival – report by Ms. M. Jordan
Plans are well under way for our fun-filled Multicultural Festival which will take place from the 7th to the 11th of March. We are delighted to be able to celebrate in-person this year after a successful but quieter virtual event last year.
This is the fourth time we will celebrate the wonderful diversity of our school community in a designated week. While the Inclusion Committee works throughout the school year to highlight prominent inclusion issues, we look forward to this week every year as a chance to share all that is wonderful about the many diverse cultures in our school.
Our plans so far are as follows:
- Display of flags and photos in GP Area all week
- Songs from different cultures selected by our volunteers are to be played at the start and end of each day over the intercom
- Viewing of films to promote inclusion and diversity by first years and TYs. All first year Gaeilge students will watch the short film ‘An Rinceoir’- At a competition, a young Polish dancer waits nervously in the wings. Once on stage, however, she shines, demonstrating her great passion for Irish dancing. On Tuesday, all TY students will watch ‘Hidden Figures’ to mark International Womens Day and celebrate the achievements of this minority group.
- Cricket Leinster will visit the school on Thursday morning and work with first years and fifth years in PE class
- Classrooms to be decorated with colours and information about each culture
- Friday 11th of March: First year students will visit the multicultural stalls followed by an address by our keynote speaker and a Multicultural Fashion Show in PE Hall. This will be repeated for TYs. The repeat show will be recorded so other year groups can watch it.
- Some Multicultural Volunteers have put together PowerPoints on inspirational women from their cultures which they will deliver to their classmates
The hard work and dedication of the student volunteers when it comes to highlighting all that is wonderful about their culture is to be commended. Many of their friends are also helping them with their preparations and learning about new cultures in the process. The names of all our volunteers are listed below:
Volunteers 2022
| Volunteers | Culture |
| 1. Hazel Hickey and Robyn Murray | Italy |
| 2. Scarlett Ramsey, Keira Payne & Molly O’ Shea | England |
| 3. Ruby Reynolds, Alisha Sheppard & Clea Stuart | Ireland |
| 4. Becka Nagel | Germany |
| 5. Kayah Anderson, Molly Martin | Jamaica |
| 6. Shannon Doyle | Japan |
| 7. Gabija Varnauskkaite, Ieva Sniezkaite & Rihanna Murphy | Lithuania |
| 8. Amelie Mirocha, Clodagh Wall & Mary Roe | France |
| 9. Isabelle Bates | Canada |
| 10. Hanin Al Kasem & Haya Al Kasem & Yosra El Hussein | Syria |
| 11. Auj Khan & Rayan Khan | Pakistan |
| 12. Alicia Omo, Zinzile Mtetwa | Nigeria |
| 13. Elena Ebner, Emma Daly | Croatia |
| 14. Mary Anne Redmond, Lilli Mai Harrison, Dinah Leonard | Thailand |
| 15. Isha Praveen Kumar | Tamil |
| 16. Sreelakshmy Bino | India |
| 17. Charlotte Buckley | Spain |
We look forward to an enjoyable and educational week for the school community!
School activities on Social Media
Please follow us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to read about and see pictures of school activities this week:
- Great success on the hockey pitch with two wins against Abbey School, Waterford
- Preparations for the grand re-opening of the Library on 28 February
- High placings in the most recent inter-schools showjumping event
- Ongoing tasty baking by Home Economics students
- Well-known past students coming back to help with camogie training
We wish all students and staff a very pleasant and well-earned mid-term break.
