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Cultural education: how one school created an off- timetable event to raise awareness of multiple cultures
Mayessa Hamdan E
ducation Today speaks to Mayessa Hamdan, Inclusion Lead at Abbot’s Hill School in Hertfordshire.
Tell us about your school.
Abbot’s Hill School is an independent day school for girls aged 4-16 years (and boys aged 4–11 years from September 2025). The school also provides a co-educational day nursery and pre-school from six months and is based on the outskirts of Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. With a rich heritage, the school was established in 1912 by three Scottish sisters, Alice, Katrine and Mary Baird who opened a boarding school for girls in an old family home called Abbot’s Hill. Set in 76 acres of exquisite parkland, the school thrives on delivering educational excellence, balanced with academic rigour and deep-rooted pastoral care, ensuring a diverse and happy community of individuals who are inspired and encouraged to make a difference to society and lead purposeful lives.
Why is cultural education so important in school?
Cultural education is vital for young people as it nurtures understanding, respect, and appreciation for diverse perspectives and traditions. By exposing young people to various cultural narratives, arts, and beliefs, we can inspire their overall critical thinking and empathy, helping them to navigate our increasingly interconnected world. Our
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students are global citizens and integrating cultural education into the daily curriculum not only contributes to personal identity and self- awareness, but it also prepares pupils to thrive in multicultural environments, promoting social cohesion and reducing prejudice. We want our young people to value diversity and inclusivity and to be well equipped to contribute positively to our modern world.
What was the motivation behind hosting the school’s first Culture Day? We wanted to create a platform whereby we could celebrate and showcase the richness of our diverse community, but in a way that was fun, thought-provoking and engaging for our students. We are lucky to have such a vibrant school community and felt it was important to acknowledge this by finding new ways to champion difference. We wanted to ensure every student felt seen, heard, respected and valued. So, we set about creating an off- timetable learning event that allowed us to explore themes of identity and belonging more widely. We were also keen to incorporate activities and sessions that demonstrate how diverse learning environments can benefit creativity, problem solving and teamwork.
What kinds of activities did the students participate in during the event? The day began with a special whole school assembly looking at what culture means and
September 2025
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