Flags, food and fundraising took over Buckswood School on Saturday to celebrate culture and raise money for charity with students from over 45 nations taking part.

Buckswood was hosting International Day, an event to celebrate the culture and cuisine of the countries that the school’s students come from, while at the same time raising money for the school’s charity work in Eswatini (Swaziland).

International day is one of the biggest and well supported events on the school’s calendar, alongside sports and speech day, which will again see the school throw open its doors on June 15th.

Students worked in their national groups for two weeks leading up to Saturday’s big event; planning menus and preparing food sold at stalls decorated by the students.

Students wore their national dress for the event and brought ingredients from their homes as well as items that best represent their country and culture.

Parents, guardians, friends and open day guests came along to get involved in the fun and to support the charity.

Each year the event becomes more popular, utilising each student’s talents to create the best stalls. From cooking and dress making, through to business studies students putting their sales skills to the test on the day to compete with other stalls.

International Day raised over £840 for the charitable project in Eswatini in southern Africa, a place the school regularly supports and visits.

Each year, Buckswood students take a trip to Eswatini for students to take part in charity work to help local schools. Through this, the students can understand the implications for people living in a less developed country and the money from this event will be used to aid Eswatini development project, in health and education.

Co Principal Michael Shaw said: “The event is a great opportunity for the school and our students to celebrate the wide diversity of cultures that makes Buckswood such a special place to study. We are immensely proud of all of those who took part, a great total has been raised and this will make a great difference to the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. We thank all of those who contributed to a great day, including our parents and open day guests.”