Intercultural Day unites students from 54 countries

The students, teachers and families of North Presentation Primary School are gearing up for their Intercultural Day on 15 June and this year’s celebration is set to be their biggest and best yet.

Home school community liaison officer Maura Coleman spoke to the Cork Independent about the upcoming event: “Currently we have 54 nationalities. We like to think of ourselves as a melting pot on the Northside.”

Maura explained it is important to the staff that the richness of different cultures is embraced.

She said: “We are quite a unique school; I don’t know many others that would have such a high number of foreign nationals. It’s a safe and welcoming place that’s very diverse and as a school, we feel it’s important to celebrate that.”

The day promises to be full of fun with plenty of activities, and families are encouraged to come along and get involved.

She added: “It will be a bright and vibrant day and the kids are looking forward to it, they have been working so hard.

“The children and parents can dress up in their own national dress, and the kids will perform in different languages, with different songs. We will have an art gallery in the yard too, displaying a project the parents worked on about what their culture means to them.”

A particular highlight of the day is a chance for families to indulge in culinary delights from various cultures: “We have a ‘taste around the world’ and a tasting table. Each parent is invited to bring in a dish from their culture, and some of our parents have gone on to open businesses based on this,” she said.

The festivities will conclude in a typically Irish way, Maura said: “We are going to finish the day off with a big ceili mor, remembering that we are all Irish and we all live here.”

With some of the families in the school facing challenging circumstances, Maura explained that North Presentation, wherever possible, is committed to making life a little better for the children.

“There are quite a number of families that are in emergency accommodation that we would we be supporting. We have Ukrainians who are being housed in women’s hostels and Irish families that might have been evicted from their homes,” she said.

She added: “We are a safe space of stability and happiness for the children, so anything that we can do to make the parent or child’s life easier, and help the kids to have a happy day, we do that. We run a homework club for any children that are in emergency accommodation or who may not have a table to sit down and do their homework. We provide all school lunches, and every child gets a hot meal every day.”

After enduring challenging times over the past couple of years, Maura said the school aims to close the school term with an inclusive, joyful celebration.

“It’s been a tough couple of years for many families and we want to finish off the year with a celebration.

“We want to remind people of the happiness you can get in something very simple. And that’s what we are hoping to do on that day,” she concluded.