The Living in Harmony initiative is designed to highlight cultural issues for all Australian citizens through a number of ways:

• Help build a peaceful and productive future for our children by setting an example of how to live in harmony, making the most of our racial, cultural, social and religious diversity; and
• Put into practice the best of traditional Australian values - justice, equality, fairness and friendship.
• Celebrate Australia's many successes as a diverse and harmonious multicultural society;
• Re-commit to our common values of respect and goodwill towards our fellow Australian's of all backgrounds.(Click for link to government website http://www.harmony.gov.au/harmony.htm )

 Building a  school as a meeting place and learning community can be driven by people who share the same vision. A school is often the first entry into the local community for new arriving families. It is sometimes the only contact many people have with their local community.  To create an environment at the school that fosters a sharing of ideas and support, of innovation and a regard for diversity as a strength, is the vision.

The New Horizons project continued these aims and aspirations in 2009 community programme, building on previous initiatives and planning. To create a meeting place and learning community, the facilities at the school were available for interested groups to use. Community and parent workshops involving a range of ages and cultural groups were held throughout 2009.

These workshops were run by a number of community organisations some of which are under sponsorship from Ashfield Municipal Council.The workshops were run at different times to give ample opportunity   for  many people to attend. The workshops covered topics such as Information Technology, Parenting Skills,Transition to school, Volunteer training, Behaviour Management, Starting Points for parents with children under 4 and Parenting Between the Cultures. There were also workshops in Chinese language with suitable content for grandparents and and elderly citizens.

Success was measured not just by the number of people who attended, but also the level of discussion, interaction and requests for follow up workshops.

Click here to download a pdf of the Community Resource Booklet. This gives you a comprehensive list of the many people, organisations and businesses that have been involved with the New Horizons Project.