Members of the Fijian community in Gütersloh went to Blankenhagen Primary School to mark Fiji’s National Day – 10th October, when the country gained independence from the UK.

This, the 39th year of independence was a colourful spectacular with music, costumes and Fijian students performing the Thimbi - a dance similar to New Zealand’s Haka. Traditional delicacies were handed around providing an opportunity to taste a piece of Fiji. L/Cpl Iliesa Tiko, involved in the performance, feels that this type of event is important, ‘This day is about showing the children what Fiji is about. We wanted to present our traditional customs, how we make our clothing and the weapons our ancestors used. We wanted to mark the day by showing the children our history and our culture’.

The main hall of the school was decorated with an assortment of articles for the children to see. On display were small hand weapons, pictures of life on the island and an assortment of ornaments.
They were all brought in by the families to show their guests, painting a picture of life in Fiji.

Luke Browning, year 6 student left the event full of praise. ‘I thought the performance was very good. The clothes were great but I especially liked the Thimbi dance that one of my class friends did’.

Amanda Worton, Foundation Stage Manager, and a key organiser of the event, was pleased with how a small idea blossomed into something so successful.’ One of my roles is English as Another Language (EAL) co-ordinator and part of this is promoting culture throughout the school. As Fijian Independence Day was coming up foundation stage decided that we would like to mark this special day but the head teacher thought that it would be better getting the whole school involved so the original idea has ballooned into what you see today.’

She added.’ The children were fascinated by the performance today. It’s brilliant for them to see their friends in a different role because they mainly see them in school uniform but today they’ve seen them in their own cultural setting.’

The performance was well received by the students and teachers of the school but Amanda felt that the students have also benefited educationally by watching the event.’ This will give the children more awareness of their own and other cultures and also show that there are many cultural differences around the world. The British Army draws on many cultures and that is reflected within SCE Schools.’

Head Teacher Ben Turner was enthusiastic about the level of support the event received.’ The special assembly was a super opportunity for the whole of our school to learn more about Fiji and its culture. The spontaneous song at the end was incredibly moving and we say Vinaka Vakelevu, or thank you very much to the families who helped us to put on this special event’.