Harmony week is a time to celebrate the multiculturalism of Australia. The week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all of us who live in Australia no matter where we came from. Orange is the colour used to represent this week and signifies social communication, meaningful conversations, the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.
Facts and figures from harmony.gov.au/about
- 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.
This week we celebrated Harmony Day at our Braddock Playtime Playgroup. This included dance, and a multicultural feast for the children to enjoy with meals originating from Iran, Turkey, Samoa, Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Australia Mexico, South Africa. The kids had an amazing time celebrating culture with their peers.
We also celebrated during the Harmony Day Event last Thursday at Kingswood Park Public School. Connect, Kari, NMA, Gateway also joined the event, and each brought activities for the kids and their families to engage and enjoy.
The KP students are so amazing, throughout the event they were all so engaged and polite which we love to see. It is a wonderful community at KP Public, and we loved seeing all of the families having a great time, engaged and happy to celebrate each other and all cultures.