It was wonderful to see the return of our Years 7, 8 and 9 girls this week and to welcome them back into the fold of our St Catherine’s School family. The younger girls in the Senior School bring a youthful enthusiasm of laughter and joy. Typically, members of a traditional family are biologically related but the emotional bonds shared amongst our ‘family of students and staff’ constitutes, in my mind, what matters most in a ‘family,’ significantly contributing to the wellbeing of each other. I believe our teaching staff fulfil a significant portion of caring for children. Their prime focus is to teach, nurture, support and provide emotional strength, which is pivotal for the development of your children. For this reason, I am extremely proud of our teaching staff.

As I stood at the gates on a somewhat chilly Tuesday morning, I witnessed the pure excitement expressed as they welcomed each other with a Covid-19 ‘new embrace’. I truly felt that our school cohort was united in their care and emotional support of each other.

As we approach the last week of Term 2, I believe as a School community we have found great strength in meeting the challenges presented to us over the past six months. If anything, we as a community are stronger and more robust in meeting the challenge that this unprecedented situation has thrust upon us.

At this week’s Senior School Assembly, I spoke of how only a few short weeks ago, I watched on through social media as communities around the world came together and sang joyfully on their balconies. Now, just as suddenly, we watch in confusion and fear as violence, anger and despair grip many parts of the globe. I remain heartened, however, by the knowledge that our youth are now working for change in their own communities today. My question to our students is, ‘What are you doing in your community’?

Given the Covid-19 situation and the impact it has had on many cultures around the world and in Australia, I would like to share with you some extracts from an article called Cultural Education: What We Learn from Others.

As an interdependent world, there are many challenges that we can tackle together. We need global cooperation more than ever, yet we find we are continuing to neglect the importance of cultural understanding that will prevent us from rising to meet the challenges ahead. We need to rethink how our international society functions, and we can only do so while respecting, appreciating, and having compassion for each other. We can dream about new international conventions and agreements, but until we train people to understand and value diversity and the benefits of the confluence of cultures, we will not be able to create sustainable and effective international cooperation.

We need to teach children and teens, the leaders of the future, the value of empathy, understanding, and care.

Schools across Australia can give students an in-person, creative experience that immerses students in cultural diversity, and provides interpersonal contact, which is critical to breaking down boundaries, creating familiarity, and instilling value and appreciation for the benefits of cultural diversity.

While COVID-19 is taking away thousands of lives and destroying economies, it is also allowing us to realise that we all need each other. We are in this together. Helping one another is not only the morally correct thing to do, but it is also a pragmatic way to solve our shared global problems. We can continue with business as usual and think only in localised terms, or we can change direction so that all humans can survive and thrive. Intercultural education is an urgent and important step in this direction.

I believe each one of us has a unique responsibility and opportunity to reflect on the words of wisdom highlighted in this in-depth article, and until individuals on a personal level treat others similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices, in a non-discriminatory manner, we cannot move forward as a human race with equality, fairness and justice.

Reference: https://www.wise-qatar.org/intercultural-education-what-we-learn-from-others/