From the Head of Primary 17.04.2021

This week in assembly we talked about the very important topic of diversity. Next week, three of our Key Stage 2 students, Serene, Eshaana and Fion, will each deliver a speech to other schools across Malaysia at the Nexus Children’s Global Summit. This is a great opportunity for us as a community to recognise the importance of this key issue and ensure that our children have the necessary knowledge and understanding to ensure a better world for the future.

I am now going to hand over to Eshaana, Serene and Fion and share their impressive speeches with you.

Good day teachers and friends. My name is Eshaana Kaur and I am from Kinabalu International School in Sabah.

First of all, what is diversity? Diversity means differences. People may be different in many ways, including race, language, culture, appearances or religion.

I think it’s cool to be different and when you are different, you are uniquely awesome!

Wouldn’t it be a boring world if everyone was exactly the same? If we all looked identical, dressed alike, ate the same foods – the world would be pretty uninteresting! We will all generate similar ideas to solve problems and there will be less creativity.

Differences only serve to enrich our lives and bring new ideas and energies to our world.

Let me tell you a story. My brother is unique because as a Sikh, he has never cut his hair and he wears a turban – the only boy in school like that. He had a hard time in school the first few weeks because other kids were taunting him.  However, his friends soon realized that underneath his unique appearance, he’s just a typical goofy kid and now they have lots of fun together.

Therefore, I feel that we should teach children to celebrate and value differences. We need to be kind and accept others. Only then, the world will stop with racism and we will all live in a peaceful environment.

We all look different on the outside but what matters most is we are the same inside. We are all humans.

Thank you.

Hello friends, Ladies and gentlemen ,

When I first heard the topic for this speech; Embrace Diversity, I immediately thought of my favourite TV show, Ninjago.

It made me think of Ninjago because of how many problems were solved despite the struggle and differences, and how it changed many people’s lives inside Ninjago.

According to the dictionary, diversity means variety. In my classroom, there’s a variety of students. Each of us are different because of our nationalities, religions, backgrounds, cultures, languages, and thoughts about each other. So that also means we think and act differently.

Ninjago starts with five main characters: Kai, Zane, Cole, Jay, and Master Wu.  They all are different, but realise they must work together to reach one common goal: To protect Ninjago and keep the island safe. Kai was the hot-tempered one, he never listened and never thought twice, he was quite stubborn. But Master Wu taught Kai to cool down, and always think things through. He was the one who managed to attain the Sword of Fire and save his sister. Master Wu was the one who taught all the ninja to work together and never give up.

Cole was the leader, and was very tough and serious. But inside him he had a heart of gold. He had to hide it because he needed to act tough. But he showed his generosity when he trusted Kai with holding the Scythe of Quakes. Master Wu taught him and the rest of the ninjas that you don’t need to hide who you really are, but you can embrace it, learn to understand, accept it and turn it into something good.

The Ninjago characters are a perfect example of student’s diversity in KIS, and I’m sure in many other situations too and the story demonstrates how we can Embrace Diversity and create a happy, successful school.

Hello everyone! My name is Fion and I am from Kinabalu International School. Today I’m going to talk about diversity.

Diversity is our way of living, like shared language, beliefs, values and behaviors which are passed down from one generation to the next.

It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. It is an exploration of these differences in a safe, positive environment. In our school we celebrate individual and cultural diversity, each student is unique because of their cultures and races.

For example, at Kaamatan festival we still dress up, despite our different nationalities, we respect the cultures of Kaamatan. While during Chinese New Year, we also dress up and experience Chinese traditions together.

It is extremely important to support and protect diversity because by fostering a climate where equality and respect are valued, we create a success-oriented, cooperative and caring community.

We know that diversity expands our minds and enriches our creative process. It sharpens our sense of self and helps us learn about different cultures, experiences and value systems.

I think that diversity is very important as we learn the individual differences between different people and we can explore how unique each person is.

Thank you for listening!

And on that note I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Mrs Joanne Smith

Head of Primary