Harmony Day

What a wonderful feeling of celebration there has been around the school this week as our community came together to celebrate diversity here at SKiPPS. A week all about inclusiveness, respect, and building a sense of belonging.

Classes have been exploring our theme of ‘Everyone Belongs’ through various activities ranging from storytelling and philosophy to arts, games and music. 

Here is an example of how some of the Year 5/6 students started their week: brainstorming the purpose and meaning of ‘Harmony Week’.

And here are some students from 1/2L working on acrostic poems and collaborative displays

Our happy Foundation students showing everyone belongs through their hats and their singing.

Avni and her mum (Nikita) taught 5/6L how to create Rangoli sand designs from Northern India.

Halimah, Samira's (3/4B) grandmother, came in today and spoke about her family tree and her family's journey to Australia. 

HOME LEARNING PROJECTS

At home, students and families have been sharing their family food stories and, in some cases, making the special dishes and meals that form the basis of these stories. They then selected various ways to present these experiences and these stories to their peers as their Home Learning Project.

OPEN AFTERNOON

At Wednesday’s ‘Open Afternoon’ families were invited to come in and share in the learning that has taken place, both at school and at home. As a result of this wonderful work, each of use learnt so much about each other and the places in the world our families are connected to.

Multicultural Picnic

This week has also seen us come together as a whole school at our various events and performances. 

Following a hugely successful Open Afternoon, we welcomed all members of our community to join us for a multicultural picnic; and what a wonderful turnout!

The picnic was opened by inspiring Capoeira performance.

Capoeira is a dance-like martial art, primarily associated with the North of Brazil.

A workshop, where many of our students took up the challenge of learning this ancient martial art form, followed the performance.

Interesting Fact: historically, they would sometimes perform/fight with blades strapped to their ankles or held between their toes!

The picnic was an opportunity for families to share foods and stories from their cultures, with others. In many instances, the food shared had been part of the Home Learning task.

HARMONY DAY (THURSDAY)

Our official Harmony Day kicked off early with a French flavour and Crepes, served by… accompanied by some beautiful French music…I don’t know about anybody else, but I felt like I was transported to the streets of Paris in mere moments.

Crepe Fact: Their name comes from Old French ‘crespe’ which traces back to the Latin ‘crispa’ or ‘crispus’ which means curled – probably a reference to their ruffled edges.

Look at all these happy faces!

Assembly was an all singing, all dancing extravaganza with our community showing their continued commitment to the week by dressing in clothing linked to their cultural background or the orange theme.

We had Mexican dancing, a performance by the orchestra, roving Harmony-Day-fashion reporters, work shared by students from throughout the school and a final check of our World Map to see all the places our community is connected to.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, a troupe of Celtic dancers arrived to blow our minds with music and dancing many of our students had never seen before. Everyone had a go! Yes, that’s right, the entire school!

Harmony Week has helped us learn so much more about one another. How lucky we are to be part of such a diverse community.

Thank you to everyone who has made this a week to remember. A special shout out to SKiPPA and Kara, Brooke and Allison for all the work they put into organising our special guests and performances and all their problem solving along the way.

Mel Borella

Learning Specialist

(Wellbeing)