Nov
11
2017
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN MOUNT PRITCHARD
Yesterday, the students at Mount Pritchard East Primary had a great afternoon celebrating their diversity and unity with the Charity Bounce Hoops for Harmony program. Hoops for Harmony teaches primary school students key life lessons through an interactive basketball program engaging every student to participate in the program. Using the principles, skills and training learned on a basketball court the program focuses on teamwork, promoting inclusiveness, and valuing diversity.
The students at Mount Pritchard East Primary represented cultures from all over the world. It was amazing to have volunteers from Newington College join us who were able to converse with the students in their own languages including Vietnamese, Armenian, Arabic, Spanish, Tongan, Samoan and Mandarin. It was beautiful to see each student feel proud of their heritage and their language being spoken. This unique environment allowed everyone to hear the languages of others and inspired respect for other cultures, promoted inclusiveness and hopefully ignited a desire to learn a new language in the minds of students.
On court, the Charity Bounce team soon discovered the basketball talents of the Year 3’s and 4’s who could dribble and pass and shoot hoops with great self-assurance. They certainly gave our Charity Bounce team a good contest as they communicated and worked together as a group, no matter their ability. Their confidence and belief in themselves and others grew as they saw what they were able to achieve and the challenges they were able to overcome.
One highlight from the day was when all the Mount Pritchard East students cheered as Darcy, House Captain of Moulton at Newington College surprised the Mount Pritchard East students with a large gift of basketballs, footballs and rugby balls from Newington College.
We would like to thank all the primary students and staff for welcoming our Hoops for Harmony program to their school and we wish them all the best developing their diverse set of skills both on and off court.
Students learn about appreciating diversity through Hoops for Harmony as Long strikes up a conversation in Vietnamese
Try to not look at the ball while you dribble. Learning new skills is fun!
A student sharing a conversation in Spanish as everyone learns more about languages from around the world.
Charity Bounce is a not for profit organisation that exists to inspire positive change to overcome disadvantage for individuals and communities. With a focus on Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and Culturally Diverse communities, including newly arrived refugees we aim to move people toward a more positive future through the development of sports, the arts, health, education and employment focused social programs. The programs are delivered in partnership with professional athletes to motivate change and inspire.
