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What do 300 cultures, a never-ending number and a very cheeky puppy have in common?
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They all feature right here!
In this weekâs newsletter, weâre sharing some great ideas for Harmony Week (starting March 16), including games that celebrate cultures from around the world. With Pi Day just around the corner, weâve also found some fabulous activities to help students discover the magic of Ď in real life. Plus, our latest Squiz the World episode explores Iran and its people. |
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Harmony Week 2026 is almost here
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What happens when more than 300 cultures share one country?
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| Next week, across Australia, schools will be marking Harmony Week, a celebration of the many cultures that make up modern Australia. Held each March around 21 March â the United Nationsâ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination â the week is built around a simple message this year:Â Everyone Belongs. |
| If youâre one of our international teachers reading this newsletter from afar, donât worry, this oneâs for you too. Harmony Week is really a celebration of the cultures, traditions and stories that people from all around the world bring to Australia. |
| Today, nearly half of Australians (49%) were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was. We identify with more than 300 ancestries, and since 1945 more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia. According to national surveys, 85% of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia.*
If youâre looking for ways to celebrate Harmony Week in the classroom, the Australian Government has put together excellent ready-to-use school resources. |
IMO, one of the best ways to explore culture without it becoming a âonce-a-year poster activityââŚÂ Play games.
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| Games are a universal language. Kids in every country â from Australia to Argentina to Zimbabwe â have invented ways to turn a bit of space, a ball, a stick or sometimes absolutely nothing into hours of fun. |
| Harmony Week can be a perfect excuse to turn the playground into a mini world tour of games. Try introducing a new one each day⌠Fair warning, though, you might discover your students become fiercely competitive experts in games theyâd never heard of 10 minutes earlier. |
 Â Playground games from around the world |
  Traditional board games from around the world
And if youâd like to explore something closer to home, the Yulunga Traditional Indigenous Games, curated by the Australian Sports Commission, is a fantastic place to start. (Yulunga means âplayingâ in the language of the Kamilaroi (Gamori) people of northern-western NSW.) |
| Â Yulunga Traditional Indigenous Games |
| Side benefit: these activities are also an excellent way to burn off that mid-afternoon classroom energy spike. |
| Â Â * Statistics sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2016 Census printed in the Australian Government Harmony Week resources. |
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SQUIZ THE WORLDÂ –Â Iran
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| With tensions in the Middle East dominating headlines right now, we thought it might be a good moment to pause and ask a different question:what do we actually know about Iran and its people? |
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| This Tuesdayâs Squiz the World takes students beyond the news cycle and into a country with a remarkable story. Known for thousands of years as Persia, Iran was once home to one of the largest empires in the ancient world and today is a nation of more than 90 million people, rich in poetry, food, art and tradition. |
| Because when the news is full of conflict, itâs easy to forget that behind the headlines are millions of ordinary families, students and communities going about their lives. |
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Pi Day: The geekiest â and tastiest â day of the year
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| My favourite day of the year is Pi Day⌠and not just because itâs a very good excuse to eat pie. |
| Celebrated each year on March 14 (3.14), Pi Day honours one of mathematicsâ most fascinating numbers. Pi (Ď) is the number you get when you divide the circumference of any circle by its diameter. No matter how big or small the circle is, the answer always starts the same way: 3.14159265âŚÂ and continues forever without repeating. |
| That strange, never-ending number has fascinated mathematicians for thousands of years and appears everywhere from engineering and architecture to space exploration. |
| The modern celebration of Pi Day began in 1988 at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco, where physicist Larry Shaw organised a celebration that involved â quite logically â a circular parade and plenty of pie. |
| The best part? Anyone can join in. |
If youâre looking for ways to bring Pi Day into the classroom, there are some fantastic resources available.
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| The Exploratorium (where Pi Day began) has created a wonderful collection of hands-on activities that help students discover Ď by measuring real circular objects â bowls, cans, lids and plates â and seeing the number appear for themselves. |
 Â Exploratorium Pi Day activities
For older students or maths lovers who enjoy a challenge, NASAâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory has Pi Day problems that let students tackle the kind of calculations engineers use when exploring space. |
| Â NASA Pi challenges |
| Happy Pi Day! |
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Fun Finish: When the humans leaveâŚ
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| Last week we shared Dobby the four-eared cat, so this week weâre tipping the hat to the dog lovers. Meet Button, whose first day home alone was caught on the home security camera. Letâs just say Button didnât spend the afternoon quietly reflecting on life choices. Instead, the puppy embraced a burst of doggy freedom that included some enthusiastic exploring and a healthy dose of chaos. |
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| Clearly, Button didnât waste the opportunity to enjoy a little unsupervised table time. |
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Whatâs on this week?
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| Hereâs whatâs happening around the country and the world: |
Monday – Commonwealth Day
– World DJ Day
Tuesday – International Bagpipe Day
Wednesday – National Assessment Program â Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN ) commences for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9
Thursday- The anniversary of Gandhi beginning the Salt March, a famous act of peaceful protest against British rule in India (1930).
Friday – World Sleep Day
Saturday – Pi Day (0314)
Sunday – International Day to Combat Islamophobia
– World Speech Day |
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Know a teacher whoâd love this? Pass it on.
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| We love hearing from you! Reply to this email with any feedback, suggestions, or funny teaching stories, or hit us up at [email protected]. |
Now get out there, and have a most excellent day!
Over and out. |
| – Christie Kijurina, Squiz Kids Educator |
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