Arts Week -

Big Arts Week 2008 - India
(Click here for page 2)

Roop Singh - A Storyteller with a Difference!

"As a school boy I was often bullied and victimised for wearing a Turban. Even today I still believe it was mainly due to ignorance. In those days there wasn't a lot of multicultural education or resources and certainly wasn't a part of the National Curriculum. It has always been my aim to help others understand my beliefs and my way of life. So when I was invited into a school to help promote a 'cultural celebration day' I grasped it with both hands. I soon found myself relating stories from the Sikh world to captivated audiences. There was no hard sell, no admonishment - just stories." Roop Singh

Roop Singh came into Whitgreave and after a spellbinding whole school assembly, he worked with year 5 for the rest of the day. We listened as he told us the story of his father's experiences when he first came to Britain in the 1950's, and worked with him to re-create the Gurdwara his father set up in London. In the afternoon, we created artefacts that we had learnt about in the morning and made a model of the Golden Temple. At the end of the day, we shared our work with the rest of the school. We had lots of fun and learnt a lot about Sikhism too!

Click here to see more about our work with Roop Singh.

Indian Food

Year 5 and 6 investigated, tasted and cooked a range of Indian foods. We tasted a large selection of Indian sweets. We also made some raita and tried it with a variety of chutneys on different Indian breads and popadoms. We investigated a selection of different spices and spent time exploring them with our senses, and then used them to cook a chick pea curry. Delicious!