International fortnight

Category: Biology, International Fortnight, News, Physics, Sport

July saw the return of our International Fortnight, which is a fantastic opportunity for the whole school to come together to celebrate and explore the cultures, histories and traditions of a country or region.

This year, we spent two weeks exploring different aspects of Africa and celebrating the diversity of African cultures. In addition to the wide variety of activities in lessons, form time, assemblies and during lunchtime, we also supported a very worthy charity through the fortnight this year. Departments, staff and students have donated old textbooks, literature and other resources to the charity Books2Africa, who collect and distribute educational resources to students and teachers in need across Africa.

Y10 and Y12 subject representatives prepared resources and activities for teachers to use in their lessons. Some departments also arranged external visitors to come into school to host workshops – we had Rebecca’s Beasts in Biology for Year 7 and Movema in Dance. Our Diversity Ambassadors prepared and delivered an informative and inspiring assembly, packed with details about many different African countries. Our Language Ambassadors put together a range of resources and activities for form time and each day we were treated to a song from artists of African backgrounds. School Council teamed up with PE to develop the staff and student Nigerian children’s games, including the staff vs student tug of war. Pupils were also able to try the Moroccan and Kenyan dishes available in the dining room.

In Physics, we are studying road safety and stopping distances, as Africa is the continent with the highest number of road deaths – averaging around 650 daily. Students explored why this is the case and were tasked with deciding what laws they would pass as an African leader, to decrease the number of road deaths.

In addition, Y12 produced a very innovative interactive activity and quiz on adaptations to African habitats that were delivered to Y8-10 classes.