Numerous traditions and cultures came together at St Jude’s Catholic Primary School Langford recently, as part of a combined Harmony Day and a Multicultural Fair celebration.
The celebration aimed to honour all of the traditions of the different cultures and offered an opportunity for each culture to showcase, share and celebrate their heritage within the school’s culture and wider community.
In an interview with The eRecord, Principal Lyn Stone said the school identifies as a multicultural community, with many of the families in the surrounding suburbs being from a very high percentage of migrant and refugee families.
Seventy-five per cent of the students do not have English as their first language and there are some 28 different languages spoken at the school community.
“While the Catholic enrolment is at 61 percent, other religions such as Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and other Christian denominations are represented at St Jude’s School,” Ms Stone said.
“However, the school embeds daily the Catholic traditions and these are embraced by all students,” she said.
Ms Stone went on to say that celebrations like Harmony Day are important for the community to embrace the diverse backgrounds of the children and include all the parents and families in the life of the school.
Students were encouraged to wear their cultural dress to school and unite as one diverse group within a welcoming Australian school.
Students participated in “Buddy” activities during the day as the school honoured their differences.
Year One student Carvyn Stubbs said that his favourite part of the Multicultural Fair was when the Chinese dragon took the red card off him with its mouth.
“I wished my mum had taken a video so I could have watched it again,” he said.
The Multicultural Fair offered the opportunity for families to cook and share traditional food as well as entertain the school community with cultural dance and performance.
As well as Indian, Sri Lankan and African dances, there was a poetry recital of a well-known Indian Poet, henna hand painting and the highlight of the night, the Chinese Lion Dance.
“This celebration provided the community with the opportunity to celebrate and enjoy their differences as well as build friendships and links to each other and the school community,” Ms Stone said.