MultiPride

The Afghan Mothers’ Morning Tea was a great success on Friday morning.

We are so fortunate to have Masooda as the administrator of the grant that is funding this and the reflective garden.

As an Afghani herself she was able to beautifully translate and act as a mediator as well as co-host the morning.

There was much lively discussion and feedback. The women are keen to get involved in the school and participate, but feel held back by the language barrier.

There were a number of outcomes which Masooda will collate as a report.

They are very keen to cook for us!

A huge thankyou as well to Elizabeth Bettink our CSCPCA(Cranbourne SC Parents’ and Carers’ Association) president who came and helped serve tea at the start.

The CSCPCA are a group of dynamic individuals that have already contributed so much to the school this year.

Andy Craig dropped in towards the end. As he has about 10 Afghan students in his pastoral care class he came to show his language skills, which were both impressive and hilarious.

When he greeted the group in Dari they thought it was fantastic.

Thanks also to Mahtash and Trish. Mahtash offered to translate and Trish offered to release her for the morning but unfortunately in the end Mahtash was unable to make it.

Finally thanks to Sharon Bourne who offered to represent the leadership team in the school as the PCOs were on PD.

The group will meet again next term in what will be the beginning of a community hub for the school.

This term MultiPride are seeking to deal with issues that come up in the meetings. One issue mentioned has been lockers. The group developed a survey and surveyed all classes in Year 7 and 8 to find out about issues that students have. These surveys are being collated and feedback will be given to the principal staff.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, students are also working on a “Welcome” sign in all the languages in the school. They hope to put this into the front office area and are currently working on making a list to send to the printer.

New students are always welcome to join MultiPride and after committing they are given a maroon school jumper. This jumper signifies the fact that they are approachable in the school yard if students have any issues they would like to talk to another student about.

As part of our community outreach and engagement of cultures, the school hosted an Afghani Mothers’ Morning Tea on Friday 14th September. This was the result of a Social Cohesion Through Education (SCTE) grant. The mothers were able to come to the school and discuss their issues and needs, and also spoke about how they enjoy sending their students to Cranbourne Secondary College. MultiPride students assisted in getting the Afghan students together to let them know about the morning tea.