Culture Week

Late Autumn saw the second annual school Culture Week. Originally started here at Oaklands by the previous Year 11 student leaders (current Year 12s) this year saw an even bigger and more impressive celebration put together for students by students. The week was peppered with different activities for the students to take part in, each raising money for charity. These included a Staff vs Sixth Form netball match, a Day of the Dead celebration and a food market with different meals  brought in from across the schools’ diverse student body. However, the events earlier in the week were just a precursor to the finale, the Culture Day show. The audience was made up of students dressed in clothes representing their culture and the show was performed by members from every part of the school. With successful musical acts featuring hugely talented singers, multiple rousing dance acts and a Sixth Form band. In between acts there was a catwalk for proud students to share their cultural dress. In the evening parents were invited to see an equally vibrant and impressive performance offering an insight into the students’ hard work and sharing the celebrations with the wider Oaklands family.

As a student in the Sixth Form, my personal contributions to the Culture Week obviously give me a bit of a bias towards its success. But from the netball game we nearly won, to the world’s best band performance (I might be the guitarist!) the entire week was packed with excitement and good fun. The school’s community helped create an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness. And aside from all the contributions to a good cause, (the money we raised through non-uniform day went to supporting education in St John’s School, Korogocho, Kenya), it also offered a new, fresh way of engaging us as students in the important conversation surrounding celebrating each other’s culture. For the new year 7s the week was just a taste of the sort of events our school offers its students. Equally the tremendous efforts of my peers in organizing the entire week were incredible to see.

Hopefully next year ushers in another triumphant show and fingers crossed maybe even taking it
further. The sort of freedom offered to students at Oaklands places it amongst the few schools in the county that offer these sorts of student-led initiatives and makes the school a brilliant place to be.

Sam Frost, Year 12

Autumn 2023