3 minute read
Harmony Day
We can learn a lot from children and Kinross Wolaroi School’s Year 5 students recently showed us the importance of inclusivity and celebrating diversity with their song ‘Raise Your Voice’ for Harmony Day (21 March).
The lyrics were inspired by books the students read during their library lesson with Junior School Library Teacher Lisa Pengilly as part of Harmony Week. The books talked about Australia’s cultural diversity and the students’ favourite book was ‘I’m Australian Too’ by Mem Fox.
In groups, the students chose phrases and words from the books to create the song. They then spent their music lesson with Junior School Performing Arts Coordinator Katie Sinclair combining their ideas to create a collaborative song with a chorus, touch of rap and some very powerful messages.
“Creating a tune to accompany the words took many hours of hard work. Using GarageBand on their iPads, the children listened to the music as they individually recorded themselves singing the song,” said Mrs Sinclair.
Each recording was airdropped to Mrs Sinclair who had the difficult job of editing them together to create a magical choir.
KWS’ Year 2 students then allowed Year 5 students to use their amazing classroom display titled ‘Everyone Belongs’ as a backdrop to a group photo. The Year 2 students had traced their hands and joined them together in a circle.
After the photoshoot, Year 5 students took the opportunity to sing their song to a very polite Year 2 audience before it was entered into the Harmony Day Songwriting Competition.
Katie Sinclair, Junior School Performing Arts Coordinator
A reflection of how hard the students worked, Raise Your Voice went onto win first prize in the competition’s primary school category.
“The students really enjoyed the process of reading, creating and reflecting on what Harmony Day means to them,” said Mrs Sinclair.
“Our Year 5 students were delighted to win the prize, but more importantly, it has given them an appreciation of how a small pebble can create bigger ripples and they have been excited to see how their song has reverberated outside the School.
“We are looking forward to sharing it more widely within our School community and beyond. We’d love everyone to be able to sing along to the chorus!”
The prize money will go towards a playground game that fosters inclusivity.
“The Junior School spends a lot of time focusing on the five core values: respect, inclusiveness, courage, resilience and commitment. We can use these to understand the importance of respect and inclusiveness in our own School community and in the wider community,” said Mrs Sinclair.
“The students and Junior School Student Representative Council will look at ways to use the prize money to buy an outdoor game for the playground that encourages inclusivity and respect. We have already been brainstorming ideas about the types of games they’d like to see.
“This will be a fantastic way for our Year 5s to leave a legacy to encourage future students to consider ways of creating harmony in our playground.”
The School will encourage students to enter a song into next year’s Harmony Day Songwriting and Poster Competition as a way of demonstrating awareness and appreciation for Harmony Day •
