Heathmont College Hari Indonesia, Cultural Day celebration

On Tuesday, 25th March, we held our annual Indonesian cultural day celebrations with 130 grade 6 students from our neighboring primary schools. Students learnt traditional dances, martial arts, batik designing and sepak takraw ball game. The sessions ran for the whole day led by Heathmont College Indonesian students. Students then enjoyed a delicious lunch of nasi goreng and spring rolls. It was a great language and cultural immersion day!

Besides enriching students’ Asia Literacy skills, this event also provides excellent support for the primary school students, ensuring a smooth transition to secondary schools. They also provide brilliant opportunities for senior Indonesian students to learn and teach others about Indonesian language and culture.

“We enjoyed teaching the primary school students making batik and being creative. It was such a great day learning about Indonesian culture. The nasi goreng ayam was delicious! We’re looking forward to teach again next year”, Evie, Y, Sylvie, Zoe and Violet, Y7.

“We were privileged to participate in our school Bali tour last year, and it was great to talk about our experience. We also showed our Bali movie that we created”, Ruby, Miah, Zoe, Sam and Fleur, Year 11.

“We enjoyed helping out during the Indonesian day. We were happy to see our primary school teachers and friends,” Jayden, Kai and Aidan, Y7.

“We enjoyed learning and teaching the Poco Poco dance to primary school students. They loved it”, Grace, Fleur, Gemma and Sam, Year 11.

Feedback form Marlborough PS

Bella H - I loved eating nasi goreng -enak!

Annabelle V- I enjoyed learning the "poco poco dancing". The high school students were really helpful. I am looking forward to starting high school!

Amy K - It was lots of fun playing congklak and playing sepak takraw.

Heidi R - I enjoyed learning martial arts - I learnt lots of different moves.

Sophie - It was great to meet students from other primary schools.

“It was very engaging for the primary school students to participate in Heathmont College’s Indonesian day event, including the opportunity to see learning in a secondary school. I also love seeing my ex-students there”, Mary-Ellen D, Indonesian teacher, Bayswater North PS and Marlborough PS.

Feedback from Great Ryrie PS

Students from Great Ryrie PS had the most wonderful time immersing themselves in the Indonesian culture, as well as tasting the delicious Nasi Goreng. Thank you very much to Heathmont College, Ibu Devathas and all the dedicated student helpers! They’re bagus sekali! ,” Jeslyn, Indonesian teacher

Engagement with the Indonesian community

This term, year 7 Indonesian students were partnered with students from Karangmojo Secondary school in Jogjakarta, Indonesian. They worked on collaborative tasks with the Indonesian schools. Students from both schools exchanged letters about themselves in simple Indonesian. They talked about themselves, their likes and hobbies.

Year 7 and 8 students also researched on Easter and Ramadan Eid and compared information in Indonesian. It was a very multicultural experience learning about other religions.

“It was amazing to learn about how different people celebrate their religions. I enjoyed writing a letter to the Indonesian school students and also translating their letters to learn more about them,” Zoe B and Zoe P, Y7.

Submitted by Prema Devathas, Languages Curriculum Area Leader and Indonesian teacher.

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