March 21, 2024
Students and staff members at Taabinga State School turned orange on Thursday as part of a celebration of diversity and inclusiveness at the school.
Orange is the theme colour for Harmony Week, a national celebration from March 18-24.
Deputy principal Shaque Dugdell said Taabinga State School was celebrating the fact that no matter where people came from, they were united by the Australian values of freedom, respect, fairness, democracy and equal opportunity.
“A wide range of activities were organised for the students to participate in, with the highlight being the creation of a ‘Harmony Quilt’ that each student and staff member were invited to contribute to,” Mrs Dugdell said.
Students gathered in the library at school on Thursday to design patches which will be sewn together by teacher Megan Frohloff into the quilt.
Mrs Frohloff said the idea for the quilt came from the award-winning children’s book “My Two Blankets”, written by Irena Kobald.
It’s the story of a little girl who arrives in a new country and feels the loss of all she’s ever known.
She creates a safe place under an “old blanket” made out of memories but as times goes by she starts to make a “new blanket” out of friendship and a new sense of belonging.
Mrs Dugdell said celebrating Harmony Day had stepped up at Taabinga State School over the past few years, particularly after it no longer clashes with “Bullying No Way” Day.
She said the number of students from different cultural backgrounds had also expanded in recent years, with pupils from the Philippines, Tonga, Vietnam and South Africa now attending.
The school had also decided to appoint its first “Cultural Captain” to help co-ordinate activities such as Harmony Week.
The 2024 Cultural Captain is Year 6 student Hannah Reibelt who joined with Student Council members to help decorate the school in orange for Thursday’s celebration.
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Taabinga State School will also be celebrating National Ride2School Day on Friday.
Students will gather with their pushbikes at the Kingaroy Netball Courts (near Rotary Park) about 8:00am and ride to the school.
Police will be on hand to supervise the young riders.
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There will be more Harmony Week activities in the South Burnett on Saturday! (March 23)
From 10:00am to 1:00pm, there will be live music, dancing, food stalls, arts and crafts and other activities in the Kingaroy Town Hall Forecourt in Glendon Street, Kingaroy.
Harmony Week recognises the diversity of Australians who come from many different backgrounds.
More than half of all Australians were either born overseas or have at lease one parent born overseas.
The Kingaroy celebration of cultural diversity and inclusiveness in being supported by Open Minds, Kingaroy Head To Health and the South Burnett Regional Council.
- External link: Harmony Week
(Year 4), Isla Carty (Year 2) and Emma Wagner (Year 6)
