A celebration of culture in community
18 April 2024
The staff and families of St John Paul II Catholic Primary School have a history of embracing their unique community and living out the school motto of “In Harmony.” Following a successful celebration of our African nations in 2023, an Asian Cultural Evening was planned for this year’s P&F welcome back to school event.
The evening commenced with each year group performing an Asian song or dance including Year 1 singing Twinkle, Twinkle in Chinese, a Bollywood Dance performed by Year 3 students, Year 6 students singing a K-Pop favourite, Year 5 performing a Persian Dance and Pre-Primary students singing in Indonesian.
Members of the school’s Vietnamese and Filipino families entertained everyone with traditional dances. A highlight was the Chinese Lion Dance, performed by members of the school parish St John Paul II, led by the soon to be ordained Deacon Jason Yeap who embraced the important role of being the lion’s head.
Principal Martin Tucker thanked all involved for the successful event and credited the collaborative efforts of the parent and friends group (P&F), the parish, families and students.
“Our families take immense pride in sharing their culture, and celebrating our wonderful community is so important at St John Paul II CPS.
“It was fantastic to see families, staff, students and parish coming together, wearing Asian cultural dress, having fun and also learning about the culture of others. I am truly grateful to the staff who prepared the student performances, our P&F who planned the evening and our parents and parish for wholeheartedly participating in this unique experience.”
The children and families were issued with passports and had the opportunity to participate in traditional Asian activities and games including lantern making, sepak takraw and lion dancing. Whilst the activities were taking place, many families took the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal from one of the Thai, Japanese or Filipino food vans.
The evening concluded with a Korean Flash Mob which involved staff, children and parents.
When asked about how she felt being involved in the Asian Cultural Night, Year 5 student Jasmin said, “When I performed the Filipino dance it helped me feel proud of my culture. It made me happy that my friends were dancing with me and I loved that everybody joined in the activities, the highlight was the flash mob because it was a really fun dance.”
