One of the highlights in recent years has been the acknowledgement of our diversity and colourful heritage.
We celebrate this through the popular UNITE Week. Last year we were forced to put our collection of flags away as we responded to the challenge of Co-Vid. This year we have been blessed to come together as a whole College and celebrate across the whole week.
The week was launched by the Year 12 Leadership Team in our Senior Assembly; these students put together a variety of activities that highlighted our rich backgrounds and heritage. Language, religion, cultural traditions and our broad variety of ethnicities could be areas of division and conflict, however, at Thomas Hassall we have mostly experienced a strong sense of acceptance and unity. This has required individuals to practice tolerance and acceptance of difference at times when we might choose to do otherwise. I think for me this is one of the pleasures of teaching in the South West and it is certainly one of the highlights of teaching at Thomas Hassall.
The week culminated in our whole College Assembly on Friday that included some beautiful stories around student families, wonderful songs and an acknowledgement of Country by one of the local Aboriginal custodians. At lunch the Senior Students enjoyed different foods and finished the day by participating in some colourful dancing from various cultures.
Thank you to all the parents, teachers and students who make up our community. There is a rich resource of experience and backgrounds amongst our community that we are only just beginning to tap into.
Above : Some characters of the day celebrating their backgrounds - Mr Young (New Zealand), Mr Whelan (Irish) and Mr Butler (English)
