On 21 September 2007 the College was recognized by the United Nations and we became the first Australian secondary school to become a United Nations Global Peace School.
Becoming a Global Peace School aligned with our core values of Innovation, Excellence, Sustainability and Respect. It also complemented our commitment to relationship building through the practice of restorative justice.
Restorative practices, peace building and human rights are ongoing and particularly important to our community as many students have not experienced fairness in the past and do not necessarily have a strong understanding of human rights.
Save the Children is an international organisation that manages this program and has supported the College in becoming a Peace School. We have the opportunity to teach about peace and human rights and also celebrate our shared vision for our community and our world.
Events such as Harmony Day, International Women's Day, World Refugee Day, World Environment Day and International Day of Peace enable students and staff in the College to celebrate together in a way that teaches about our cultural diversity and values our commitment to harmony.
Our commitment to using restorative practices to resolve conflicts and the inclusion of peace building within the curriculum has resulted in us realizing our own village at the College.
One of our students, Cheko, a Kurdish refugee was prompted to write this poem:
Trust
I know a kind river, which runs from a humane source.
Everyone can drink and take pleasure from it.
The river can speak many different languages, understand the melody of birds and can read the dream clouds.
This river looks like a rainbow and everyone loves it.
This friendly river in a stormy night is orange and in the calm of day it is blue.
Believe me it is not a fable; it is real.
This river is not far from you but if you want to have some lovely water for your garden
and if you tend to see laughter on flowers, don't look to the sky. You can find it there.
Just go to Thebarton Senior College and ask the teachers.