Multicultural Day 2018

Carwatha College P-12 celebrated the Multicultural Day on Tuesday, 11th September. We take pride in saying that this SRC initiative has become a tradition at our school. The students, staff and parents came together and enjoyed cultural performances, traditional dress and food on the day. We were able to express our pride in the acceptance and celebration of different cultures at our school. We reflected on the ethnically and racially diverse student population at our school, the subtle, yet significant, benefits of multiculturalism and also the consistent accepting and welcoming attitude from our school community, which makes us all feel valued and enriches our sense of belonging.

We all came together as Australians with rich and unique backgrounds. Students felt confident and comfortable in sharing their background with the school community, showcasing the mutual feelings of respect that are integral to our school. We had performances from Indigenous, Argentinian, Philippines, Indian, Australian, Vietnamese, Cook Island, Greek, Jamaican, American, Malaysian, Irish, Thai, Armenian, Korean and Chinese backgrounds. International students, who are a significant part of our school culture, also presented a number of acts. We had Lion Dancers, who represent the Chinese culture, begin the assembly. They symbolise strength and are considered auspicious. The assembly culminated with a Bollywood dance workshop, which was another highlight of the day. Students showed great enthusiasm by participating in the workshop and learning some modern Indian dance moves.

In addition to the special assembly, we had organised multicultural food stalls at lunchtime. Students had the opportunity to buy food such as Cheese pizza, cevapi roll, chocolate and blueberry muffin, lamb pide, vegetarian samosa, kimbap, burrito, oblatna and baklava. We would like to thank Mr Chris Willis, Mrs Katife Coskun and Mrs Zekija Isic for kindly donating food from their culture. We had also invited some henna artists who created temporary henna tattoos on students’ hands. Students and staff dressed up in their cultural clothes and it was great to see many parents attend our special assembly. This day provided the school community the opportunity to help promote inclusion at a very special forum.

It has been amazing to be a part of something so remarkable! We would like to thank all staff that supported us in organising the day, and the whole school community in reaffirming their spirit of acceptance by celebrating multiculturalism as a school community.