Principal's News

Malvern Primary School is committed to our students becoming ‘responsible global citizens’, with a sense of social awareness and respect for cultural diversity.  Our school Mission Statement, Vision, Values and Guiding Principles (available on the school’s website) all promote the idea of friendliness, tolerance, respect and understanding.  The acknowledgement of Harmony Week is important to the engagement of our students in the discussion of internationalism/interculturalism, which is an appreciation of the world, its cultures and the way in which people interact.

Harmony Week – Everyone Belongs

Harmony Week is celebrated from 15th to 21st March this year.

‘Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone’

Did you know?

• Nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was.
• We identify with over 300 ancestries.
• Since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia.
• 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia.
• Apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi.
• More than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.

(ABS 2016 Census Data. Check out the Australian Bureau of Statistics website)

As part of Malvern Primary’s Harmony Week celebrations, we are very lucky to have celebrated children’s author Amal Abou-Eid visit our classrooms to read from her books, My Muslim Mate and Why does Mum wear a Hijab?  We also have Marco Debie attending on Thursday 26th March with ‘A Beautiful Place’, a session of music and storytelling, celebrating our increasingly multicultural world.

Notification of both events have been sent to parents as part of the Term One Excursion/Incursion Levy.

Please see your child’s classroom teacher if you have any questions.

Robyn James