A pupil gets their ‘passport’ stamped.

Children at San Andrea School took some time out from class yesterday to get a taste of multiculturalism and ethnic diversity by visiting ‘international’ stalls set up on the school grounds in L-Imselliet.

From nibbling on Parisian pain d’épices to grooving out in Sudanese drum circles, pupils got a feel of several cultures and cuisines at the school’s first International Day.

“About 30 per cent of our pupils are foreign, so this is a celebration of the multicultural environment this school has created,” Mary-Rose German, a member of San Andrea’s Parent Foundation, said.

Set up by the foundation, the fair was made up of about 20 stalls mounted and manned by parents and other foundation members.

Jennifer De Melson, a French mother of two, said: “Every day here is a multicultural initiative. These children come from all over the world and the school provides an environment that not only embraces their different ethnicities but encourages them to share it.”

Students were given a San Andrea mock passport that was stamped by parents every time they visited a different stall.

Jessica, eight, said she had been through five different passports, even if she threw the first two away after accidently smothering them in lemon curd and marmite at the Great Britain stand.

Libyan doctor Elfath El-Nifro spends much of his time shuttling between his practice in Tripoli and his family in Malta. Besieged by children asking for Libyan flags and traditional sweets, Dr El-Nifro said that uprooting his family to Malta at the beginning of the Libyan crisis was the best decision he had ever made.

“It was so important that my children were made to feel welcome here. After the revolution, Malta provided a safe haven for my children where to grow up. They couldn’t be happier here,” he said.

Matthew, 10, ran around asking his friends whether they knew that Gozo was the same size as Guernsey after having visited a stand set up by mother of two Liz Mahy.

Ms Mahy said her children loved moving to Malta. “I think all the children here love the fact that they’re different,” she said.

The event was visited by the French and Italian ambassadors and sponsored by the HSBC Contact Centre.