Bienvenidos to our Hispanic Day!

By Ms Yarami RamosGomez and Mrs Sophie Manoharan, Spanish Teachers

Last week, Junior School students took part in our annual Hispanic Day celebration.

Hispanic Day aims to raise the profile of Hispanic language and culture by connecting students with the local Hispanic community. We hope that through these connections, we can enhance cultural understanding, foster global engagement, promote a love of language and work towards the mission of the International Baccalaureate to develop internationally-minded students.

This year, we added more Latin spice to our Hispanic Day with two dance studios teaching various Hispanic dances, a Cuban percussion workshop and a Colombian art workshop to complement the nine Hispanic embassies that showcased their culture.

As you entered the Junior School, the foyer’s decoration set the tone, with the walls showing Frida Kahlo’s portraits, the Amazon’s vegetation, and the Hispanic flags. Also deserving a special mention was the exhibition of the beautiful sculpture of an Alebrije (brightly coloured Mexican folk-art sculptures of fantasy/mythical creatures) created by the Year 3 students for the centre of the foyer.

Moving beyond the foyer and into the playground, the final ingredients were added to immerse our students in Hispanic culture: decorative banners, embassy stands and their Hispanic flags, plus Hispanic music filling the air.

To be in sync with the theme of the day, students wore clothes matching the colours of a Hispanic flag of their choice. And, in true festival spirit, students wandered around the Junior School playground to participate in three activities during a fifty-minute session. They engaged with the Spanish language in various ways: games, traditional dance, art and percussion.

Students were also enthralled by the Colombian, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Mexican, Peruvian, El Salvadorian, Spanish and Uruguayan cultures, words, stories and dances. They were able to use their Spanish skills to interact with the representatives of the Hispanic embassies. We could also not have hoped for a better day: beautiful, sunny and warm.

What will the students remember from this day? It is all in their beautifully-decorated paper bag.

We hope your children came home on Friday telling you all the stories, games and cultural activities they experienced. Let all the beautiful images and words in their heads flow until our next Hispanic Day in 2024! ¡Hasta el próximo año! (See you next year!)