Harmony Day is such a special day to everyone at Dooral Learning Centre, not just because we get to dress up but because it celebrates all of our favourite things; culture, inclusion and love. Adults have a lot to learn from children when it comes to inclusion, as biases and opinions for children haven’t formed yet. As a result, each child is accepting and inclusive towards everyone, just as we all should be.
At Dooral, we strive to encourage children to have a strong sense of belonging both to their Dooral Family and in their broader contexts. To celebrate Harmony Day, we invited our families to watch a special parade where our children dressed up in a variety of cultural costumes. Across our centre we have families from New Zealand, England, China, Korea, India, Hungary and Papua New Guinea, to name a few. For our children who didn’t have anything to wear, we asked them to wear orange to represent communication and meaningful conversations, the official colour of Harmony Day.
The clothes paraded were gorgeous, and the children instantly knew how precious these items were. Our educators immersed themselves in the experience with Miss Angela wearing a traditional ‘Lap-lap’ from Papua New Guinea along with beautiful traditional tribal markings from the Nabva Paka tribe of Port Morsby.
Miss Pia wore a beautiful pink Korean kimono, and several of our educators wore Chinese ‘Quipoao’. Miss Gurbir wore a traditional Punjabi dress otherwise known as a ‘Salwal Kameej’. Miss Ysanne looked lovely in her very Australian cork hat. As you can imagine the children all loved the fact that their teachers were involved in such a happy day as well.
Many of children sported the colour orange while some came to school in their ‘Aussie beach attire’, thongs, sunnies, cozzies and a bucket hat! Don Bradman even made an appearance. Our toddlers also looked stunning in the children’s ‘Quipoao’ and Kung Fu Suits.
Our Director Miss Silvia was eager to encourage the children to explore a traditional Chinese Lion Mask by wearing and dancing with it. Every day at Dooral Learning Centre, there harmony is everywhere. Regardless of race, gender, age, and how long we have known each other, the relationships that have formed within our centre are so strong. We are so lucky to come to school alongside one another each day and have classrooms filled with laughter, diversity and inclusivity. At Dooral we endorse harmony. Our children are encouraged to lead their educational programs and also lead the way for how we should all interact easily and care towards one another.
