Hello parents, staff, students and the wider College community. My name is Andrew Harrison and I’m the 2024 intercultural captain. This year for Harmony Week, the FIRE Carrier team have come up with the theme of being “Present and Proud”. This came from the broader intention of acknowledging all communities, places and occasions where people gather and have their own culture, and the ways in which these cultures enrich our lives. Harmony Day is a chance to think about our role in fostering an inclusive culture. It is an opportunity to reach out to someone new in our community, or someone we don’t know so well, to acknowledge what unites rather than divides us, being proud of where we are.

This year's Harmony Week started off with an extended mentor activity on Monday where mentors created flags of what represented themselves. Not just ethnicity and background but also things that describe themselves as individuals. This activity made it so that students were able to think about who they were past their heritage, considering how they defined themselves through interests and lifestyles.

Following this activity, Harmony Day on Thursday (21st) offered a chance for people to dress in casual clothes, expressing themselves comfortably and casually for the day with a gold coin donation going towards Caritas. The assembly on this day introduced the school’s official acknowledgment of country and Harmony Week theme, which was followed by students saying prayers in the different languages offered at school, these being Italian, Indonesian, French and English. After this, the main part of the assembly commenced: the “Brush of Fame”. This consisted of myself and Jasmine Alcock (12FECG) having a conversation about what culture means to us and associated stories about that. While this was happening Ms Chamoun and Orlando Benzon Tuke (12KMLE) were creating live abstract portraits of us. Upon the conclusion of the assembly, various food stores were set up at lunch from which students could purchase products. These included a bubble tea truck, sausage sizzle, baked goods and more; students were able to celebrate Harmony Day with all proceeds going towards Caritas.

Thank you everyone for an amazing week.

Andrew Harrison, Intercultural Captain (12ASVS)

Student of the fortnight:

We would like to award the “Student of the Fortnight” to... Orlando Benzon Tuke (12KMLE)!!!

Orlando, your sense of involvement in the Harmony Day assembly to paint a live portrait in front of the entire school is extraordinary and requires a huge amount of confidence and initiative. We thank you for making this year's Harmony Day assembly memorable and we are truly grateful for your kindness and willingness to help others.

    Andrew Harrison, Intercultural Captain 12ASVS          Orlando Benzon-Tuke 12KMLE