Happy Harmony Week

Our school was awash with colour—particularly orange—as we danced, ate and celebrated our way through Harmony Week. Across the school, students participated in a range of opportunities to share their cultural background and gain a deeper understanding of others.

This is our 5th year celebrating Harmony Week and I think it’s been our biggest yet! The whole week is a huge team effort from the teaching staff and students as people embrace various opportunities.

I especially want to acknowledge the work of our wonderful Social Justice team who have worked tirelessly to decorate the school, distribute lunches, take photos and design posters. Auro and Nethuli as our Junior School Social Justice Captains and Noku as our Senior School Social Justice Captain have all made a fantastic contribution to the week.

And now, to celebrate all we were able to do…

Monday

Junior School Performers

Junior School students began to watch performances from students in Years 2–6. These were split across the whole week and meant we were able to share the talents of more than 20 students with the Junior School. Sincere thanks to Mr Hall for his coordination of the recordings and support throughout the week.

Here is a recording of our youngest performer, Sahansa, doing an Eagle dance as well as Saahib and Snaver’s combined dance.

Scottish Shortbread Class

Mrs Williams ran a lunchtime shortbread-making class for Years 5 and 6 students and everyone was able to join in the deliciousness afterwards! Thanks to Mrs Williams, Ms Mepstead and Mrs Khvorostin for spending their lunchtime doing this activity.

Delicious Lunches

Many happy Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed their special lunch orders courtesy of Rosie and Matt at Bazil’s Catering who supplied us with a delicious range of meals celebrating different culinary backgrounds. This continued on Tuesday and Thursday for different year levels.

Tuesday

A Touch of France!

Senior School students had the opportunity to enjoy a crepe making class with Ms Leach and the French staff—Mme Christensen, Mme Morgan and Mme Grant. It was a wonderful success and everyone was very impressed with the flipping skills of Mme Grant and Ms Leach!

Harmony Week Senior School Assembly

We were amazed by the talents of the Senior School students who shared their skills in the assembly. Thanks to Agam, Rahul, Tessa, Tania, Siya and Rushika for the hours of practice that went in to their performances. Grateful thanks also to Noku, our Social Justice Captain, who shared her own story and why Harmony Week is so significant for her.

You can watch the video of Tessa and Tania’s dance here.

Wednesday

Paella Party

Senior School students enjoyed participating in a Paella class with Mr Young assisted by Ms Rose and Mr Brown. They learned the importance of not mistaking paella for risotto and also of pronouncing it correctly!

Thursday

Cultural Clothing Across the School

We had our whole school cultural clothing day on Thursday and we raised much needed funds for Tear Australia’s work with First Nations-led projects and a local organisation, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The students looked amazing and embraced the opportunity to share their cultural background or to dress in orange.

Prep to Year 2 Parade

On Thursday morning Prep–Year 2 students gathered on the oval for our parade. They looked incredible and we were all treated to live performances by Harleen, Siya and Rushika. To finish off, all students formed the word ‘Harmony’ to mark the occasion.

Cultural Beatz Lunch

Senior School students continued the celebration by gathering in Casey Common and enjoying music from around the world. There was dancing, face painting of flags and the chance for students to get their names translated into Punjabi or Malayalam. Thank you very much to Ms Moya for organising this and thank you to Ms Goonetilleke, Mr Cozzio and Ms Carrie for coming along and to Ms Burns for taking wonderful photos!

Friday

Bollywood Celebration

We concluded the week by offering Years 4–6 students the chance to participate in a Bollywood Dance class run by our very own students, Siya and Rushika. It was a great opportunity to learn some new moves! Thank you also to Mrs Kyne and Ms Weinberg for their participation.