The Indonesian festival held on the last Monday of Term 1 was a resounding success. Nearly 500 primary students donned colourful costumes of the vast archipelago nation of Indonesia and treated our guests to a diverse and wonderful set of performances.
Throughout the term, our students consistently demonstrated teamwork and commitment, creative thinking and a positive attitude towards the Festival. It was a monumental challenge that our students rose to and I can honestly say that I was never so proud of our students and School community as I was that evening. It was a real pleasure to have honoured guests from the Indonesian Consulate, Balai Bahasa and the Anglican Schools Commission and to see them enjoying themselves as much as the parents and students.
Preceding the performance, there were a range of activities available to visitors including rides on traditional Indonesian rickshaws called becak, batik painting, a colouring-in competition, a book stall, and a warung stall selling snacks and drinks and gaba-gaba, a traditional game where one skips over 4 moving poles. One of the most popular stalls on the afternoon was the hot food stall run by members of the Balinese community. The aroma of charcoal-grilled sate, nasi goreng, mi goreng and lumpia was very hard to resist!
Congratulations to Megan Moffatt in Year 1 who won the colouring in competition. Megan was rewarded with a $20 Smiggle Voucher for her successful entry.
An event of this scale could never have happened without the support of many people. In particular I would like to thank our many parent helpers who assisted with sewing, creating props and assisting students. We were also honoured to have Michael Williams present the Acknowledgement to Country.
Another big thank you goes to our Middle School Language Ambassadors, who volunteered their time on the afternoon to run many of these activities themselves.
A massive thank you to the staff at the Indonesian Consulate, including Bapak Ade Padmo Sarwono and Ibu Dhani Padmo Sarwono, Ibu Widya Sineju and Bapak Sofari Hidayat for their generous contribution of time, lessons and support. Pak Ben, Ibu Liya, Ibu Nona and the talented Adma Weda family were also instrumental in our success.
Our biggest thank you goes to the students themselves. Hebat everyone!
Salam,
Ibu Bell