27 May 2016
Dear Parents,
As a result of our school ‘starring' on SBS Television last term, I was contacted by a journalist from the ‘Australian Teacher' publication. This is a well-respected publication that is read by thousands of teachers across Australia. The journalist wanted me to explain why Auburn North is acknowledging as a very successful public school and why I love being a member of Auburn North family.
My response was published in the May edition of the ‘Australian Teacher' and I thought I would share with you an extract from the article. The extract is reproduced below.
‘Principal at Home Within His Cultural Melting Pot'
At Auburn North Public School in Western Sydney, Principal Mark Harris is the head of a very diverse ‘family'. With 671 students from more than 50 different countries, the primary school caters to the highest percentage of refugee children of any school in Australia.
"Our school is one of the most multicultural schools in Australia and probably the world. Our school really is the United Nations," Mr Harris said.
Having been at the helm for the past 17 years, Mr Harris believes the school has succeeded where the UN has not – having a diverse group of people coming together and living in total harmony.
"We're a very cohesive, harmonious, happy school community and we do call ourselves the Auburn North Family," he said.
As an educator of more than 38 years, Mr Harris has taught in five different countries but until Auburn North, he admitted that he had never stayed at a school longer than four years.
"I've been here for 17 years because I love every single minute of it. We set an example, we believe, of what can be achieved in our public schools," he proudly stated.
Central to the school's success is it's ‘New Arrivals' program, which offers daily English classes for refugee students. There are also four languages on offer – Dari, Arabic, Turkish and Chinese – though as many as 45 different languages are spoken by students at home.
And, in a little demountable classroom known as ‘Harmony House', the education extends to parents as well as their children. Regular courses are held in English, mathematics, health and computer skills.
"I'm not aware of any school in Australia which has such a high level of participation of parents as Auburn North," Mr Harris explained.
"We have morning assemblies every morning where we present awards and make announcements, which are interpreted by our community language teachers. We have more than 140 parents every single morning participating."
"If we want our children to be happy, successful learners, we need to engage parents and we need to give them the opportunity to learn about our education system and to further develop their levels of English, mathematics and computer skills," he stated.
The process of welcoming new families into the school community begins right from enrolment. Staff and interpreters sit with families to discuss their background and co-ordinate support programs for students and parents.
For some families, it might be the first time they have ever been in a school. Students are then placed in classrooms where at least one other child speaks their first language.
Mr Harris said that the results speak for themselves. As well as achieving consistently high NAPLAN scores, Auburn North won the 2012 NSW Cohesive Community School Award.
"We don't dumb down the curriculum for our boys and girls, they are all capable of achieving the very, very best," he emphasised.
"We don't have any behavioural problems, which is quite extraordinary. Our students just love learning and love their school."
Mr Harris puts it down to the school's motto – ‘The Best of All Worlds'.
"Our children come to Auburn North and learn life's most important lesson…regardless of one's background, colour or religion, we are all essentially the same."
This is a lesson he believes can't be replicated in other sectors of education
"The only way we can improve harmony and improve relationships between people is for children to attend public schools and learn that lesson and learn from each other."
Mr Harris hopes to play a small role in making Australia a better country for all.
"If a couple of thousand students go through Auburn North learning that we're all the same and they're happy and their parents are engaged in their children's learning, then that's going to keep me motivated for the rest of my career."