Lawn Manor school celebrates cultural diversity with a day of activities

Pupils from Lawn Manor enjoyed a special visit from local community leaders as part of a day of activities to celebrate cultural diversity.

Lawn Manor is a mixed secondary school at the heart of Swindon which has pupils from more than 33 nationalities. 

Mr Das, who organised the day, said: "Cultural diversity is important in schools as it allows us to have a better understanding of each other’s cultures and ideas and we can learn from one another." 

Mr Das added that Lawn Manor Academy is at the heart of its community, and plays a key role in building a fair, integrated and tolerant society. By giving our pupils the skills, knowledge and opportunities to learn with, from and about those from different cultures, beliefs and backgrounds we can develop shared values. 

The event, held on 15^thJuly, created opportunities for Lawn Manor pupils to learn about the values of other religions, listen to music from different cultures and learn about different languages. Pupils spent the day getting involved in various activities such as learning how to drape Sarees, Polish baking, Indian cuisine and fruit carving.

Local community leaders were invited to the event and Canon John Cunningham from Holy Rood Church, Dr Sheikh Rafi Ahmed, the Muslim community leader and scientist, Ram Thiagarajah the school coordinator of the Swindon Hindu Temple Trust and Arindom Roy Choudhury from SHAROD attended and gave talks to the students about faith, beliefs and religions.

Sandra Muir, Headteacher said: "It has been a really fantastic day to celebrate our community. It is important to learn from different cultures and we are proud of our pupil diversity at Lawn Manor."

Mr Das added: "I am delighted with how the day has gone, I would like to thank everyone involved, I would not have been able to run an event without my colleagues and visitors who came to talk to the pupils. I hope the pupils enjoyed their day and we look forward to running the event again next year. "