18 Mar 2016
Dear Parents,
When Tim Bailey, the Channel 10 weather forecaster, and his film crew visited our school in 2014 he made many complimentary comments about our school to his more than 500,000 viewers. One comment he made was that ‘Auburn North is humming in harmony.'
Tim was correct about that day two years ago and about every day at Auburn North. While I believe our Auburn North family is humming in harmony every school day we celebrate Harmony Day but one day each year. Today was the day this year.
We formally celebrated 2016 Harmony Day with a special assembly this afternoon. During the assembly Iram Bookbinder, one of our year 6 students, explained what Harmony Day means to her as a member of our school community. Please find below a copy of the speech that Iram presented.
‘What Harmony Day Means to Me – Our Diversity is Our Strength'
"Harmony Day is a day each year when we celebrate who we are, where we are and how lucky we are to be in this outstanding country. The general message of Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs' and that we should celebrate Australia's diversity. It is a day of cultural respect for all the people who call Australia HOME!
Did you know around 45 precent of Australians are born overseas, including me? This clearly shows how multicultural our home is. Every year we have a different Harmony Day theme to engage ourselves and others in the celebrations. The theme for Harmony Day 2016 is ‘Our Diversity is Our Strength'. To me this means our differences are what makes us unique and stronger as one.
Harmony Day celebrations help us understand how Australians of different backgrounds live together in peace and harmony. It allows us to celebrate our cultural heritage with others and appreciate that our differences are what makes Australia a special place to live in.
Let me share with you my first day at school. It was great! I saw many new faces from all around the world! The diversity of our school became my strength. Then, when I came home, I heard my parents talking about this wonderful multicultural school I was going to. Our school is based on peace and harmony, which reflects the theme of Harmony Day this year.
Not many countries are as multicultural as our school with this many backgrounds. We are very unique. To live peacefully in Australia, it is important to ensure that everyone from different backgrounds feels equal and involved in the society. This is why we have and celebrate Harmony Day!
Please remember, ‘our diversity is our strength' and as young people, you can play a big role in helping to make Australia a great place to live in, where everyone belongs!"
Iram Bookbinder - Year 6 Student
I think you will agree that Iram has explained very clearly what Harmony Day means to her and she has also convinced us that ‘Our Diversity is Our Strength'.
During today's assembly two students and one parent received Harmony Day awards to acknowledge their contributions to the development of our harmonious school community. Their names and the reasons for their selection are outlined below.
Razia Mosavi received the K-2 Harmony Day award because she is a young girl who displays respect and care for all her classmates and is a very responsible young child. She creates a friendly and welcoming attitude to everyone and is liked by all.
Shakhzodjon Pulotov, a year 6 student, is a model student who is courteous and respectful. He often volunteers to help his peers and teachers in and out of the classroom. Shakhzodjon is particularly sensitive to the needs of others, especially assisting new students settle into their new school by sharing information to help them with their learning. He always displays the school values of respect, responsibility, cooperation and friendship.
Mrs Wasim is a wonderful mother of four children, all of whom have attended or are presently attending Auburn North. Mrs Wasim is a very intelligent yet humble person with a kind heart. Mrs Wasim has been using her knowledge and skills in computer education to assist many of our students' mothers further develop their computer skills. She has done this by coordinating training sessions each week in ANCLIC for our parents. Last year, Mrs Wasim organised four workshops for mothers to assist them take care of themselves, believing that a happy, healthy mother creates a home filled with love, joy and peace.
Congratulations Mrs Wasim, Razia and Shakhzodja.