As part of the pastoral programme to promote and celebrate different cultures and religions, and marking Eid Al-Fitr, a group of Year 9 students’ setup henna stalls during Wednesday break and lunchtime. 

Mrs Cruse (Head of Years 7 and 8) reflected: "I knew that a number of Year 9 students were passionate about Henna and celebrating their culture, so I thought that this event would be a really positive and fun way of doing this, whilst also raising funds for our school charity, United World Schools (UWS). The event raised a fantastic £415.97 for UWS, which will be doubled with the Aid Match Appeal. A big thank you for the contributions."

Gam Krobpetch (Year 9)

“Creating the henna was hugely inspiring, it allowed me to truly admire those who do it professionally as it is an extremely precise process. It motivated me to further educate myself on other unfamiliar cultures. Moreover, I was able to try something new. I really enjoyed participating in an important tradition which is so symbolic. Overall, I feel honoured to be able to take part in the henna stalls.” -

Ava Oldroyd (Year 11)

“Being able to learn about how to apply henna and getting to try some amazing and beautifully intricate designs was such a memorable experience. Not only because of the pieces of art we were able to create but because of the unbelievably supportive and encouraging people around us. Despite the fact that some of us had almost no experience with henna before, this was an amazing opportunity that I will definitely be willing to try again.”

Nawaal Qazi (Year 9)

“Firstly, I am incredibly thankful to the students who took out their time to do henna on other students: Ava; Gam; Aryaana; Sahitya; Noor; Aakriti; Haneha; Maham and Haram - thank you so much. I think it was also great for everyone to find out about the tradition of henna and where it comes from. Henna is incredibly important to South Asian tradition and culture, as well as religions such as Hinduism and Islam; so, when Mrs Cruse approached me and mentioned the idea of running henna stalls I was all for it! I am so grateful as it has been such a fun experience and it’s so lovely to share an important part of my heritage and culture with the BGS community. The students chose beautiful traditional designs - handpicked from different cultures. It was so nice to see the henna designs on students’ hands as they walked through the corridors throughout the day. Thank you, Mrs Cruse, for this opportunity!”

View the henna designs here.