INTERCULTURAL WEEK

LEELA GRAY: STUDENT REFLECTION

In coordination with the Intercultural Week organised by the Languages department, the SRC exhibited a range of activities to further implore appreciation of difference at FCC. Our goal, to show that diversity is our greatest strength in our own community and worldwide, was coupled with a moral responsibility to raise awareness of the discrimination many face daily for being of a differing background, such as the spotlight racism confronting ‘African gangs’ in contemporary media and contrastingly, the silence in reporting of atrocities in Nauru and Christmas Island in traditional media. These issues hit far closer to home than many would like to admit. In light of this, SRC decided to raise money for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre as settlement is a difficult part of the journey in becoming displaced and sharing a sense of belonging is vital to feeling safe, it is something you can give even if you have nothing at all.

The week of the 13th to the 17th of August was filled with a colourful agenda, kicking off with an inspiring visit by author and refugee worker David Vincent of Initiatives of Change (pictured here with Leela Gray) who told his incredible story of being one of the lost boys of Sudan in an uplifting message to listen and learn each other’s stories. The festivities carried on, with country trivia games held in the library at lunchtime, a Somali literary professor speaking to senior English classes about the power of shared identity and the sense of belonging in storytelling, we were even so lucky as to host a choreographed dance in the forum brought by brave and brightly garmented girls in Year 10. Upon Friday, the grand finale of Intercultural week, students were encouraged upon gold coin donation to dress in their cultural clothes or flag colours. Seeing the array of proud nationality and listening to the compliments wafting through the morning air was an absolute delight! To further the donations, the SRC organised a cultural food fair in the forum that Friday whereby generous and culinarily skilled parents of students made food to sell.

 In the midst of heavenly rice paper rolls, beautiful arancini and glorious ANZAC biscuits, a Samoan dance was performed by eager students! It was a heartwarming sight, seeing children perched on the forum steps enjoying the performance and eating the delicious food, sharing a sense of belonging. There was so much applause that everyone’s hands were red by the time they got to fifth period but it was so worth it. We raised just shy of a grand ($964.15) all towards the ASRC, the student representative council gratefully thanks the hardworking teachers, the passionate parents, and the beautiful students of Footscray for making this all possible! Young people are the future, but they’re also the present.

The entire SRC were involved, and include:

• Year 7: Emily Micallef, Ava Strybosch
• Year 8: Fatuma Abdu, Abbey Simpson
• Year 9: Ruby Goonan, Dan Kilfoyle
• Year 10: Ariane Abanteriba, Julius Crino
• Year 11: Leela Gray, Toby Walker
• Year 12: Hayley Cassidy, Rocky O'Halloran

KRISTINE MURRAY - XENIDIS: STUDENT REFLECTION

As part of Intercultural Week, on Tuesday the 14th of August, students learning Italian in year 8 and 10 along with the VCE 11 and 11 theatre studies classes were given the opportunity to watch a well-performed play. In order to submerge these students into the Italian culture and arts, the school organized the company of ‘Make a Scene’ to perform their play “Fooling in Love” written in the style of Commedia dell’Arte. 

The students saw how the actors used different masks in order to portray various characters and many theatre techniques used throughout the play, including improvisation, breaking the fourth wall and using comedic techniques such humour and repetition. Overall the performance was engaging and such an amazing experience!

ROSA DEVERELL: STUDENT REFLECTION

Ciao! Two weeks ago, the year 10 Italian class went on an Italian Day Out dedicated to encouraging year 10 Italian students to speak the language and meet other students of Italian in Victoria. We engaged in many Italian activities such as clowning, quizzes, watched a short film and sing alongs with a live band. Not only did it increase our knowledge of Italy, but it was a very enjoyable excursion. We won a $30 gift voucher to Brunetti from winning a Kahoot and our classmate Francis won a pack of fancy pasta. All together, the day helped us get to know other students who are studying Italian as well as guiding our choice of continuing Italian next year. 

OLIVER FRAIN: STUDENT REFLECTION

On the second day of intercultural week, year 9, 10 and 11 students of FCC’s Italian and hospitality classes were privileged to partake in an Italian style cooking class run by chef Paolo. We were told that we would be making his take on a traditional risotto using a delicious vegetable native to Italy called ‘cime di rapa’. He demonstrated the basics of making the dish, whilst also conversing in Italian, giving all students the opportunity to learn new skills and gain knowledge of the language from a native speaker. 

We were then divided into groups and instructed to make the risotto using few but delicious ingredients that Paolo had purchased from a fresh food market. He gave us some great tips to make the dish better, such as only using carnaroli rice. Having finally made the dish, we were all treated to generous portions, served with a delicious burnt chilli oil (olio di peperoncino) and yet more parmigiano! 

Even though some amongst the group had mentioned that they didn’t like risotto, everyone agreed that it was absolutely delicious, specifically because of the cime di rapa which brought the dish to another level. Huge thanks to Paolo for the great experience and to Natasa for organising the class, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, and can’t wait to give the recipe a try at home! 

ITALIAN AND JAPANESE INCURSION

During the week from 13th to 17th August, the Languages Faculty organised a series of events as part of "Intercultural Week". The events scheduled included incursions and workshops on the cultures associated with the languages taught at FCC, namely Italian and Japanese. All Year 7s attended a Japanese/Italian performance and all Year 8 Italian students watched a Commedia dell'Arte performance, while Year 8 Japanese students enjoyed a Taiko Drumming workshop.

Other events included an Intercultural Dance in the Forum, performed by students and organised in collaboration with the Music department, a poster and self-portrait exhibition, organised in collaboration with Visual Arts, a workshop on postcolonial Somali literature and many more initiatives in collaboration with the students, led by the SRC, who admirably fundraised for the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.

Natasa Ciabatti - Head of Languages