STUDENTS have been celebrating the different cultures found in the North East to discover how they make a difference to our communities.
 Pupils at Cramlington High School, in Northumberland, held their One World North East week recently to explore identity and what it means to be a Geordie. The week of events ended with a performance, called the Global Village Carnival, which featured music, costumes and dancing from different countries and cultures. Event organiser and English teacher, Rebecca Wright, said: “We’ve been planning this event for the whole school year. At first we thought about just calling it a multicultural week, but we wanted to come from a different angle. “We didn’t just want to look at different cultures around the world, but make it more relevant to the students. So, instead, we thought it would be a good idea for them to look at the different cultures found in Newcastle and the North East and how it has impacted on the region. “The students spent part of the week going out into the community and interviewing people about what it meant to be British or a Geordie and the challenge was to bring the ideas together for a show at the end of the week. “The students were asked to design an outfit around the theme of ‘One World North East’. We didn’t want students to dress up in costumes from just one country, for example, someone representing Japan and another student dressing up in traditional African clothes. Instead, we wanted designs that showed different cultures and the North East together. “One student designed a T-shirt that showed Newcastle and the North East in the middle and other cultures were represented around this and they merged together; it was really good.” The event involved all 400 or so Year 9 students. The week was part of a three-week “wellbeing” programme where students take time out from the usual curriculum and timetable to attend workshops or out-of-school visits. Some of the workshops included henna painting, African drumming, Brazilian dance and mini-Olympics, where different countries were represented. Miss Wright added: “We had traditional food from other countries too. There were some dishes, like Indian, that a few of the students had tried before, but we also had things like Norweigian food, which was very different for them. “We have had events before that have explored different cultures, but this was probably the most ambitious. It was really popular and we’d like to run it again.” The other two weeks in the programme were Super Science Week and Personal Challenge Week, where students tried something they have always wanted to do, but never had the chance, such as photography, dog training, fashion design or mechanics. | 
Northumberland
