St Albans Heights Primary School will host an event on Thursday March 24 to celebrate the cultural diversity of Australia during Harmony Week.
Harmony Day, which was celebrated on Monday March 21,, is all about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
This year’s Harmony Day event at the school will also include the opening of a new learning space available for multiple purposes including at play time and for outdoor classes.
The school will also have a number of activities happening, including penne and mandala art and auskick AFL footy with parents.
Community hub leader, Dannielle Tomlinson said the day was a great chance for parents and students from different cultures to connect.
“There’s a big range of diverse backgrounds at our school,” Ms Tomlinson said.
“We also have a lot of newcomers to the country and people that have English as a second language, a lot of families that have their own communities, but we’ve got some families that have not connected to their communities yet either.
“Harmony Day is going to be a great way for them to connect to familiar people and people with familiar cultures.”
Ms Tomlinson also spoke about the importance of inclusion and belongingness in the community and wanting to help achieve that on the day.
“I think for a lot of our family that come to Australia and are new to our country and new to our school and a lot of the time, it can be isolating, especially during COVID and lockdown, it made that situation worse,” she said.
“Back at home they have their own communities, villages, family members and everyone there to have that input into raising their children.
“That’s what we hope the school can help with, give them a new community and a new sense of support, but lockdown really put a dent in that so now we’re really hoping to encourage them to get that back with the families.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from or your cultural background, we would still be each other’s support and hopefully help parents feel less isolated and more supported.
“If they do need help or require support, we want to ensure that they feel safe and comfortable with us to come to the hub or the school and ask us for support because there is a lot of support we can offer them.”
Max Hatzoglou
