Celebration of Cultures

In our increasingly interconnected world, the celebration of diverse cultures has become more important than ever. The rich tapestry of traditions, customs, languages, and cuisines contributes to the beauty of human existence.

Our Nido classrooms are privileged to be brimming with diversity. Therefore, many of our early schools tend to celebrate cultural events close to their community and their hearts. Here at Nido, the strong sense of belonging, community connection and environment are some of the Reggio Emilia values we are inspired by.

In this blog, we will explore different events that Nido Early Schools are proud to be celebrating all year round.

Diwali

This five-day festival is also known as the Festival of Lights, with the name coming from the Sanskrit word “Deepavali” which means “row of lights”. Lights are symbolic in fending off evil spirits and overcoming darkness, in keeping with the festive theme of good triumphing over bad and knowledge over ignorance.

Nido Early School Mount Hawthorn (WA) is one of our early schools that has a strong Hindu presence in the community and actively promotes cultural celebrations, so this colourful celebration was a natural part of the children’s curriculum. Educators provided the early school with traditional outfits such as saris, kurtas and dupattas to wear. Families of Indian culture brought their children in wearing traditional clothing, and educators of Indian culture did henna tattoos.

On the other side of the country at Nido Early School Franklin (ACT), the early school celebrated this day with traditional food and educational talks. “Here at Nido Franklin, we try to immerse ourselves in a variety of different cultures. We want to create a sense of belonging within our Nido community and showcase different celebrations that hold special meaning for our children, families and Educators.” says Service Administrator Isabell Stewart.

It’s not only educational, but lots fun for all children and educators. “I just learnt this week Diwali is the Festival of Lights and the clay lamps help people find their way” describes one of the children from Nido Early School QV1 in Perth.

Mooncake Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is one of the most important events in Chinese culture, held on the 15th day of the 8th month, on a day of a full moon. The Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn.

The celebration has a strong community connection. Nido Early School Willetton in WA is another early learning centre contributing to cultural awareness and celebrates this event with children’s families.

“It is something they are very passionate about sharing, so mostly the families take the lead on guiding us through this one.” Says Anthea, the Curriculum Leader from Nido Willetton.

In Chadstone, Victoria, the early school incorporated a few grandparents and parents in making paper lanterns and mooncakes, which is a typical sweet for this celebration. Nido Early School QV1 (WA) celebrated by using the mooncake mould with playdough and green beans, making snow skin mooncakes with red bean filling, creating moon art with colour spray, making their own marks with Chinese calligraphy tools, creating lanterns, and reading many books about this celebration.

Monthly celebration of cultures

Newly opened Nido Early School Coburg North (VIC) is still at the beginning of their journey of connection to local community and getting to know more about their families. Within just five weeks of being open, they recognised sixteen different cultures and languages in their school and were quick to incorporate a new tradition. On the last Friday of every month, every educator, if able, will bring in food from their culture to share within the staff room. Whilst sharing this food, they share stories, recipes, and memories of cooking these foods at home, or with their families. The plan is to incorporate the tradition into children’s curriculum and introduce language classes, including educators’ and family languages.

Chinese New Year

The beginning of the year celebration on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar has been part of Nido events for many years. During this time, children learn about the importance of this tradition, different calendars in the world, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and customs such as creating lanterns, tasting traditional food, or learning a dance that is typical for the Chinese New Year.

Experiences like these allow the children to learn about different cultures and helps build inclusive practices where they can feel a sense of belonging.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week is celebrated each year at the end of May and continues into the beginning of June. As the dates remain the same every year, the topic changes and encourages people to take steps accordingly.

It is an opportunity for our early learning schools to reflect on their role in the reconciliation process and to act toward building respectful and inclusive relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Nido Early School Montrose celebrated this day very creatively. The early school created intimate spaces across all rooms. These spaces were designed for children to explore and question Indigenous communication; symbols, books, cushions, and native animal experiences, with educators carefully placed to answer questions and scaffold learning.

The Early School went even further and created a centre wide project, where they sent blank footprints home with the families and asked them to contribute by decorating the footprints with their child. This sparked conversations about our nation’s first people in their homes. Each foot was returned to the early school and carefully displayed down the hallway with a sign that represents us “bravely walking together to make change” which was the theme of the year in 2022.

Earlier this year, Nido Early School QV1 (WA) explored a range of natural materials at the touch, smell and create station. They also learnt weaving techniques and created their own representations of the amazing weaving art and baskets.

Chadstone’s reflection week started earlier that month in May during the staff meeting. They explored the meaning behind Reconciliation week, the Stolen Generations, and how that all connects to NAIDOC Week’s theme, For Our Elders. The team at Nido Early School Chadstone invited families to share what their Elders mean to them, and to imagine what not having that connection would mean to them personally.

Celebrating cultures is not just a one-time event; it’s an ongoing commitment to recognising and appreciating the richness of all cultures in childcare centres across Australia. By embracing the beauty of each culture, we contribute to a world where tolerance, respect, and unity prevail. This is how we want to bring learning alive at Nido Early Schools; as global, active citizens that are free to create, explore and discover.