On Wednesday, we held International Day at Cypress. Children came to school dressed in outfits that represented their cultural heritage and parents, carers and staff shared their cultural heritage with the pupils at Cypress.
LITTLE CYPRESS
In Little Cypress the children were learning about Australia. They enjoyed painting Australian animals, in the style of Aboriginal dot paintings. Rainbows enjoyed a visit from Eliza’s mum, who taught them a delightful Polish song along with actions.
RECEPTION
In Reception we travelled to Australia to visit the Australian/ Columbian artist Maria Fernanda Cardosa and her photographs of the tiny Australian Peacock spider, with their bright abdomens. We created our own peacock spiders and had to work collaboratively to create a web to display them on. We had Sullivan’s Mum come in to speak to us all about Taiwan, what it is famous for, what are some of it’s traditions and how it’s language of Mandarin is written as symbols. We also had Elijah’s Mum talk to us about the festival of Diwali she celebrates and Ms Dorcu taught us a Romanian playground game. We learnt how to say “Thank you” in Mandarin, Nigerian, Gujarati and Romanian.
YEAR 1
Year 1 learnt about North America and focused on the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. They painted self portraits in the style of JMB and then decorated these with things to do with North America like an eagle, cowboy hat and even a yellow school bus! Emma’s mum spoke to children about Italy and we learned about different Italian foods and landmarks such as the Coliseum. Remi’s mum joined us (with her tiny baby!) to read the children the story of Rama and Sita.
YEAR 2
Year 2 learnt facts about South America. They explored the artist Agata Muceniece from Trinidad and created their own colourful art prints. Marlowe’s dad and Indra’s mum kindly led a Bollywood dancing session for Year 2, which they all absolutely loved! Malcolm’s mum led a session in our library sharing Scottish folk tales and teaching some children Gaelic. Ivie’s Dad told children facts about Nigeria and shared some puff puff treats.
Year 3
Year 3 have focusing on the continent of Europe and looking at the artist Claude Monet. They have created their own versions of the Bridge at Giverny using wax crayon and colour wash. The children have learnt how he made his garden and used this as inspiration for his art. Year 3 have also learnt some traditional country dancing and how to play Ludo. They have been visited by Zaniyah’s grandma who shared some Anansi stories with the children and talked about the culture in Jamaica. Eliza’s mum also came to share her heritage by teaching the children all about Armenia.
Year 4
In Year 4, the children have been focusing on the continent South America. They have completed geography to identify key countries and completed research about the culture, flag and traditions of countries in this continent. Year 4 have also studied the artist Frida Kahlo and completed their own self portraits in the style of her work choosing images to represent their identity. Year 4 have also been visited by Izzy’s mum who taught them about the culture in New Zealand, Isla’s mum who shared lots of fascinating information about South Africa and Raymond’s grandma who cam to talk about the culture in France.
Year 5
Year 5 have been looking at the continent Africa focusing on the artist Yinka Shonibare. They have looked at the countries in Africa and the range of foods and cultures. For their art project, they have worked to create their own patters in the style of Yinka Shonibare’s prints and put them together to create a fish. They used acrylic paint and cartridge paper to create these. Year 5 also had talks from Mrs Simadree who shared her heritage in Mauritius and Miss Ahmed who shared her Islamic cultural heritage. They were also visited by Lathans’ mum who gave her talk in sign language with Lathan translating and Caitlin’s mum who came to share her Scottish heritage.
Year 6
Year 6 have focused on the continent of Asia. They have been learning about the countries and cultures in Asia. They then zoomed in on Japan and the artist and the artist Kokusai who created the famous painting ‘The Great Wave’ using a block printing technique. The children have created their own versions of this painting filled with icons to represent the culture in Asia. The children have also had talks from Mrs Joshi about India, Mrs Gould who spoke about her heritage in South Africa and Mrs Manson who shared her Jewish heritage.
Food Tasting
We ended the day with a fantastic food tasting with parents from across the Cypress community sharing dishes from their cultural heritage for children to try, Miss Ahmed also ran a stall doing Henna art. She is so talented! Thank you to EIlidh from the PTFA for organising soft drinks and ice poles for this event, on a VERY hot day!
Finally, a huge Cypress ‘thank you’ to all our staff, parents and carers who came in to run a workshop, cooked a dish or created a costume. We appreciate every single one of you.
Ms Binks, Mrs Sorensen and the Cypress Team
