As part of our ongoing commitment to developing inclusive attitudes, we want to draw on the beliefs, values, cultures and knowledge within our school community and the experiences our children and families engage in as part of this.
Given many families at Cheadle Hulme Primary School celebrated Eid recently, we felt it was important to extend these celebrations in school. Doing so has provided children, parents/carers and staff with an opportunity to share their cultural and religious heritage and traditions with each other.
The children took part in a range of activities and were very fortunate to be joined by parent/carer volunteers who enriched the day even further. Thank you to all of our volunteers and to those that helped us plan this wonderful celebration!
The children took part in many activities to celebrate Eid:
- They listened to an Eid story told through one whole school text, which was authored by one of our parents. Each year group delivered a few pages of the text in a child-led, collaborative assembly which the author attended. They also held a Q&A afterwards for pupils to ask their own questions about the story.
- Parent volunteers supported throughout the day while pupils learned about the tradition of henna, and even received their own temporary henna tattoos!
- Each class had protected time for children to share photographs of their Eid celebrations.
- Children attended in their ‘best clothes’ and had a class party with music recommended by parents which was used in Eid celebrations in our community.
- Children had the opportunity to taste dates at snack time. Breaking fast with dates is a tradition and key opportunity to talk about Ramadan and Eid.
A quote from Mrs Illidge, Head of Inclusion:
“It is an absolute joy to see the children sharing their traditions and beliefs with their friends. The respect, awe and wonder they show for each other’s different cultures is something to celebrate and I am delighted our school community has come together to celebrate Eid. A huge thank you to all of our parents who supported on the day, or attended the Inclusion meeting to enable the celebration, and ensure it was authentically representative of our diverse school community.”
We look forward to building on experiences such as this in future which represent the diverse array of culture, heritage, values and beliefs of the families in our school community, as well as the wider world!