Cathie Sutton & Nick Burley

Harmony Week – Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion

We are excited to share that Harmony Week 2026 is next week! Celebrated across Australia from Monday 16 March to Sunday 22 March 2026, Harmony Week is a time to recognise and celebrate the rich cultural diversity that strengthens our communities. It’s a week dedicated to promoting inclusivity, respect, and understanding, encouraging all Australians to celebrate our differences and work together for a more harmonious society.

What’s Happening During Harmony Week?

From Monday, 16th March to Sunday, 22nd March, we will be participating in various activities that highlight the importance of kindness, acceptance, and celebrating the different cultures in our school. Students will engage in lessons that focus on diversity and inclusion. This is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to learn more about the backgrounds, traditions, and experiences that make us unique.

Wear Orange: Orange is the official colour of Harmony Week in Australia, symbolising unity and respect for all cultures. We encourage students to wear something orange on Friday 20th March to show their support for diversity and inclusion.

For more information about Harmony Week and how to get involved, please visit the official Harmony Week website: https://www.harmony.gov.au/

Respectful Relationships Focus

Over the next five weeks, our whole school will be exploring Emotional Literacy as part of the Victorian Curriculum Respectful Relationships program.

Emotional literacy is the ability to recognise, understand and express our emotions in healthy and respectful ways. It also involves developing empathy — noticing and responding to the feelings of others.

When children can identify what they are feeling and why, they are better equipped to manage challenges, solve problems, maintain friendships and engage positively in their learning.

Across all year levels, students will participate in age-appropriate lessons that explore:

Recognising and naming a wide range of emotions
Understanding how emotions show up in our bodies
Exploring how thoughts, feelings and behaviours are connected
Developing empathy and perspective-taking
Practising strategies to regulate big emotions

You may hear your child using language such as “I feel…”, “My body feels…”, or “I need…” as they build confidence in expressing themselves.

Working Together With Families

Emotional literacy grows strongest when children see it modelled both at school and at home. You might support this learning by:

Naming your own feelings in everyday moments
Asking your child, “What were you feeling in that situation?”
Talking about how your family manages big feelings
Reading stories together and discussing how characters might be feeling

By strengthening emotional literacy, we are supporting students to build respectful relationships, resilience and a strong sense of self.

We look forward to partnering with families as we continue this important work together.

Classroom Parent Representatives

Thank you to all of the incredible parents that have already volunteered to be classroom representatives in 2026. These people play an important role in helping classes stay connected socially and up to date with happenings around the school.

We are still seeking representatives from Prep D, 4C, 5B, 6A and 6B, so if you are able to put your hand up for one of these classes, please get in touch with Kate via email kate.bretag@education.vic.gov.au.

Cathie and Nick

Assistant Principals

Date	Time	Volunteer
Monday 16th March 2026
Wednesday 18th March 2026	10.30am - 12.30pm	Olivia Phillips
Friday 20th March 2026	10.00am - 12.30pm	Sarah Dickinson
	10.00am - 12.30pm	Sasha L'Huillier

Monday 23rd March 2026	10.30am - 12.30pm	Sue McKellar
Wednesday 25th March 2026	10.30am - 12.30pm	Simone Verswijven
Friday 27th March 2026	10.00am - 12.30pm	Stephanie Madden
	10.00am - 12.30pm	Elena Lazzarotto

Canteen

Canteen Roster