School Reports
Pittville - A Cheltenham School that celebrates Multicultural Diversity!
Celebrating Diwali
To celebrate Diwali at Pittville School, a group of pupils from Y7-10 got together to perform the play "The Ramayana". This play is based on an epic poem and can be performed as a mime or a dance using masks. A visit from Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum with an Indian Box containing different objects, clothes, shoes etc. stimulated ideas for a performance of the play. The pupils set about making various props (a bow and arrow, masks, a monkey's tail) under the guidance of assistant head Judith Buckingham. There were four narrators who practised reading the play while the actors mimed the story. On the day, this proved to be an effective way of conveying the theme of good triumphing over evil in a really visual manner.
The pupils enjoyed preparing for and performing the play and it was especially good to see Hindu and non-Hindu pupils working together well and prepared to perform in front of their peers - no small feat!
Shrove Tuesday
Eight Polish students in Y7-10 recently celebrated a British tradition by making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. They had been learning to follow and give instructions and on Pancake Day they were able to put their learning into practice when they had to follow instructions on how to make pancake batter and then instruct the teacher how to cook them. The teacher followed their instructions to a tee and the results proved extremely edible with everyone sampling a piece of the finished product!
The students told of their own Polish tradition of eating as many doughnuts as possible as a mark of the beginning of Lent - maybe next year we'll try making doughnuts instead - but how do you flip a doughnut?
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