Students at Jesmond Public School celebrated Harmony Day by embracing different cultures from around the world.

More than two-thirds of the school’s students speak English as an additional language, and 13.4 per cent identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

The school marked Harmony Day on Friday 8 March, ahead of the official day on 21 March, to give its community the opportunity to join in activities and a lunch before the start of Ramadan.

Principal James McGill said celebrating inclusion and a sense of belonging was particularly important for the school, with so many students who were new arrivals or from refugee backgrounds.

“The cultural and linguistic diversity at our school is unique to this region,” he said.

“It adds immeasurably to what students learn in the classroom and the playground.

“As well as giving all students a comprehensive multicultural view of themselves and their friends, it reinforces every day how we can all support each other no matter where we come from.

“As staff, it is hugely rewarding to witness this process, and very exciting to think where this experience might take our students in future.”

Students and staff dressed in traditional cultural clothing, or in Harmony Day orange.

Community members ran cultural workshops, including an Aboriginal artefact workshop, and classes on Indonesian dance, Swedish, Congolese and Yazidi culture (by Callaghan College, Waratah Campus students), and traditional Afghan cooking.

“It was a great day of celebration,” Mr McGill said.

“But at the most important level, every day is Harmony Day at Jesmond Public.”

Harmony Week runs from Monday 18 March to Sunday 24 March. The 2024 theme is 'Everyone Belongs'.