LATEST STORIES
Celebrating our diversity
At BestStart Ngatai Road, we pride ourselves on being a Centre that embraces many diverse cultures. We believe that for our children and Whanau to Blossom in our Centre, their cultural background needs to be nurtured and included in our learning. In our Centre we have children from 12 different Countries, so we started the year by celebrating the cultures of our children and families.
In February, we celebrated the Korean and Chinese New Year with cultural food, craft, and clothing. One of our teachers, Cindy, brought traditional Korean instruments into the Centre for children to experience and explore. Cindy made Kimbap with the children and they were able to eat this for lunch. Exploring different cultures, helps our tamariki to find their sense of belonging and grows their understanding of others.
During March, we learnt about the Indian culture with the help of our teacher, Bhavi. Our children had the opportunity to decorate Diya Lamps, and make and eat Samosas. The children in our Centre were also able to wear their cultural attire.
Some of the other cultures we learned about were Dutch, Tongan, Samoan, and Aboriginal. The children drew and painted Tapa Cloth patterns, made Lei necklaces, and decorated boomerangs in traditional patterns. One of our families shared a traditional Dutch game with us called Koekhappen, where a ginger loaf is tied to string and the children had to try and eat it without using their hands. While exploring these different cultures and their traditions, we were able to build meaningful connections with parents and families, including them in our Centre planning.
To finish our focus on cultures in our Centre, we had a Cultural evening and Easter celebration. Our families came together and shared food from their culture. This was a great opportunity to build and grow relationships with our families and make them feel valued in our learning community.