Cultural Diversity Week

Throughout Diversity Week, we had the opportunity to showcase and honour the unique family backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives that make our school community so special. From vibrant cultural displays to engaging discussions, each event and activity served as a testament to our collective dedication to embracing diversity in all its forms.

We are sincerely grateful to our students, teachers, staff, and parents for their creativity, passion, and openness during Diversity Week. Your willingness to share your stories, traditions, and experiences helped foster an environment of understanding, respect, and appreciation for one another. The HEARTS look AMAZING!!! Please enjoy the selection below of beautiful Family Hearts returned by some of our proud ENPS families!

(consent to publish names/photos provided)

Currently at ENPS we have families that speak languages: English, French, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian, Albanian, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Urdu, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Filipino, Chinese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Oromo and Somali. Our Harmony Tree created is something truly special and will serve as a visual representation of our shared values and the diversity that enriches our school community. It will stand as a testament to our commitment to fostering a sense of belonging for all members of our community, regardless of background, culture, or identity.

Today we also held a wonderful school assembly, hosted by our enthusiastic School Captains, Harry and Saanvi. Below is their perspective of what Cultural Diversity Week means to them.

Saanvi: Cultural Diversity Week is a time to celebrate and embrace the uniqueness of every individual at ENPS. We acknowledge the different beliefs, perspectives and traditions that everyone brings. It’s a week where everyone comes together as an inclusive community to share the differences of each individual and their race, religion, opinions and rights. I believe it is important to acknowledge Cultural Diversity Week and share our stories.

Harry: I believe Cultural Diversity Week is when we respect and acknowledge everyone's beliefs, religions and cultures. At ENPS we have different types of cultures across our student cohort, where we respect each other and our beliefs which helps us get along really well. Outside of ENPS when I think about my soccer team, we are a very diverse group of people. We acknowledge everybody is different and we accept each other's backgrounds while we work together to chase glory.

Harry, Sharon McWhinney, Saanvi and Kate Barletta

We would like to thank our guest speakers at assembly for being so BRAVE in sharing their cultural learning experiences, stories and knowledge:

Jordan and Kanchana (5EW)
Anusha and Anya (5JD)
Ira Bhatia (3KO)
Yash (5LR), Co Lam (5LR) and Parneet (5JD)
Mr Adrian Jones
Isabella (3LD)
Riyaarth (3LD)
Andi (FMV)
Lana (FSH)
Brooks (FLH)
Tanishq (FLH)
Myra (FAM)
Frankie (4AC)
Adem (4AC)
Emma ( 6MP)
Julian (6MP)
Numaan (6CP)
Aras (6AK)
Peyton (1NV)
Remy (1NV)
Santi (2CE)
Ashlynn (2SZ)

Another special highlight of assembly was the whole school community connecting with each other and joining in the fun by dancing the Macarena, led by Year Six students - wow, so much fun and positive vibes!

Throughout Cultural Diversity Week, each cohort engaged in a variety of authentic learning experiences designed to foster cultural awareness, understanding and appreciation of different cultures. Below is a snapshot of activities:

Foundation: The Foundation students inquired into people, families, languages, food, traditions, celebrations, feelings, appearance, acceptance and feeling a sense of belonging. We are promoting rich discussions and have used mentor texts to unpack the learner profile attribute; Open Mindedness, and are using our communication skills to make connections and share our own cultural stories.

Year 1: The Year One students spent time thinking and talking about what it means to be Australian. We watched Mem Fox’s ‘I am Australian too’ to introduce many stories of the people who call Australia home and the journey they took to get here. We used this to promote our understanding of the cultural diversity of Australia’s people. We talked about our similarities and differences, and in particular, what makes us unique.

Using this knowledge, each student created a quarter of a circle to share their perspective on being Australian, which were then combined to create a collage of each class’ cultural diversity. It was a great way to show how each of us belong, while still remaining individuals.

Year 2: The Year Two students listened to ‘Whoever you are’ by Mem Fox and discussed how people may look different, attend different schools, live in different houses and speak different languages, but they all have similar hearts. We had rich discussions about celebrating all the different cultures that are a part of Australia. The students also talked about what Harmony means to them. They each had a puzzle piece and wrote what Harmony means to them, which was then combined to make a collage of their thoughts.

Year 3: We have inquired into deepening students' understanding and the importance of respecting different cultural and family traditions through the key concepts of perspective, responsibility, and function. We used a mentor text called ‘The Two Blankets’ to ignite rich group discussions about attitudes and values such as Caring, Unity, Belonging, Kindness, Inclusive, Respect, Compassion and Appreciation. We also looked at what makes a great friend, ensuring everyone feels a sense of connectedness and belonging as part of our 'Who We Are' unit.

Year 4: Year Fours have inquired into different cultures through food. We read ‘Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street’ which is about a small community of people from around the world who share their different favourite meals. We spoke about our own cultures and foods that bring our families together. We reflected on our Who We Are central idea, ‘Building community creates a sense of belonging’ as we celebrated the diversity of our learning spaces.

Year 5: In our Foundation - Year Five buddy session this week, we discussed Cultural Diversity Week. It was an opportunity for Foundation and Year Fives to continue to get to know each other further, share with the class, and learn from the cultural richness within our community. Throughout our session, we placed a strong emphasis on the key concept of connection. By exploring and appreciating each other's cultural backgrounds, we discovered how this shared understanding fosters a profound sense of connection not only between buddies but also within the broader school community. We discussed how this can help us feel safe and happy to come to school.

Year 6: The Year Six students have gained a deep understanding and reflection into how our different cultural and family traditions are celebrated. Through the use of various mentor texts that focus on diversity, students have experienced and participated in learning tasks based on celebrating everyone’s differences represented across our Year Six classrooms. Students have also had rich discussions about how this creates a sense of belonging at ENPS.

A big shout out to the wonderful LSO staff Ange P, Jan, Joanna and Kathryn who also planned and provided a range of fun, engaging and cultural Lunch Club craft activities for students across the week in support of this special occasion!

This special week also marks Persian New Year, and the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21st March). Many of our ENPS families have now also commenced fasting for the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is a sacred month for the Muslim community. Members of the Muslim community may observe the period by fasting from food and drink between dawn and sunset, with a focus on devotion and spiritual contemplation. Eid al-Fitr, known as the ‘feast of fast-breaking’, marks the end of the holy month of fasting and is celebrated by feasts and gift-giving among family and friends.

We wish a Blessed Ramadan (Ramadan Mubarak) to all those observing 🌙💛

Nowruz (the New Day) is the Persian New Year and the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere, falling on the March equinox. In Persian it is called New Day or No-Ruz whereas the spelling in English may vary (Noruz, Nowrooz, Norouz). Big thank you Soren (3JR)'s mum, Maryam, for sharing the below photo of their family's Haft Seen, as part of this year's Nowruz celebration. Each item arranged on a Haft Seen table has symbolic meaning, representing wishes for the family and their friends in the new year. We wish our Persian families a wonderful Nowruz!

We are so grateful when our ENPS families share their cultural celebrations with us, and invite you to do the same. Please contact us essendon.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you wish to share your cultural celebrations in our newsletter throughout the year.

Cultural Diversity Week provided a beautiful opportunity for us to celebrate our cultural traditions and stories, and together embrace our differences - these are what make us special.

At ENPS we will continue to provide authentic cultural learning experiences and encourage community engagement, inclusiveness, and respect. Let’s continue to celebrate and empower our students to become global citizens who appreciate and embrace the beauty of diversity.

Take Care,

Mrs Mac

Intercultural Coordinator