FILIPINO food was on the menu for children at Holy Rood Junior School when they learned all about life in the Phillipines.

Children at the school took part in traditional dancing, singing and sampled traditional food on Friday with the help of Filipinos who are living in Swindon.

It was another of the school’s international days to teach the children about different cultures.

Headteacher Tony McAteer said: “International days are very important to us because we are a very multi-cultural school and we have got about 18 different nationalities represented within the school.

“We have respect between all the various nationalities represented within the school and what better way to do it than to teach each other about different cultures.

“If children find out about a culture and why they do certain things they are more likely to have respect for that culture.”

There was a presentation about the history and culture of the Phillipines, a video tour and the children were taught a traditional Filipino song.

For lunch, the youngsters enjoyed treats such as menudo, a type of stew, pansit, noodles with vegetables, and a leche flan for pudding.

“We were fortunate because we had five members of the community here in Swindon who agreed to come in and do presentations for us and help with cooking traditional Filipino food so the children could sample that at lunchtime,” said Mr McAteer.