Harmony Day

We are excited to share our plans for Harmony Day 2025.

All the different cultures that come together in Australia bring many things with them: different foods, ways of dressing, languages, customs and beliefs and even our names. Harmony Day is about celebrating these differences and learning about new cultures. After its success last year, we will once again be turning Harmony Day into Harmony Week here at SKiPPS. We aim to use this week to focus on the positive things about cultural diversity and to support each other in countering the negative things. It creates a sense of belonging for all members of our community.

Although the overarching theme is, ‘Everyone Belongs’, we will also be exploring the importance of our names and celebrating our identity. In addition to classroom activities and name game activities throughout the week we will also participate in the following::

See below for some key events and dates with further details to follow in the next few weeks.

Harmony Week Home Learning Task - 'The Boy Who Wanted To Shrink His Name'

Our Harmony Week book this year tells the story of Zimdalamashkermishkada.

When Zimdalamashkermishkada starts at a new school, he knows he’s got to do something about his long name. When no amount of shrinking, folding or crumpling works, he simply settles for Zim – but deep down, it doesn’t feel right.

This is an uplifting and beautiful story, told from the perspective of a young Southeast Asian boy and is about celebrating cultural heritage, individuality and holding onto who you are. It is about not shrinking down in an attempt to fit in and appreciating the beauty in difference as well as the power of a person’s name which connects people not only to their identity, but family and cultural heritage.

In preparation for Harmony Week, we are inviting families to share stories about their family names and the reasons they may have chosen specific names for their children. This may be something steeped in tradition and culture, or simply a name chosen because of the way it looks or sounds. 

See the grid below for ideas and get creative. Think of different ways to share this task – perhaps an artwork, collage or photography project that shares your family’s stories.

Be ready to share your learning at school on Thursday 20th March when we will have an open afternoon to learn from one another and find out about the stories behind our names and other interesting things we’ve investigated.