Inclusion Update | Term 3, 2025.
Wear It Purple Day.
On Friday, August 29th, there was something different about Mac.Rob. Violets were blooming. The bake stall had taro flavoured food. Nereids had their debut. Words could not describe it, but some could say it felt a bit extra… Purple. The reason for this was because it was… “Wear it Purple Day!”
Wear it Purple Day is a world-wide celebration that promotes pride and acceptance for young people who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. This day was created in 2010 as a measure to combat the high rate of suicides amongst queer youths due to the bullying and discrimination that they faced. Today, WIPD is often celebrated in youth-centric institutions such as schools, universities and even work places as a way to let young queer people know that they are accepted and that the institution is a safe space for them!
“But why the colour purple?”
There are a few reasons, but the main one is that purple is not a primary colour! As it is a mix of pink (associated with femininity) and blue (associated with masculinity), purple showcases the diversity present within the LGBTQIA+ community. Therefore exhibiting how a series of individuals collaborate to foster a strong community.
Wear it Purple Day is a very special occasion for Mac.Rob, and hence the Inclusion committee worked very hard behind the scenes to plan a week full of optimal student immersion!
To kickstart the week, a bake stall was held on Wednesday in conjunction with Year 9 classes. The majority of the food sold was purple in colour! Thanks to the students' kind contributions, we were able to sell our delicious treats and raise money to donate to the Wear it Purple Day Foundation.
The next day, informative and interactive slides were viewed by students in Connect. This aimed to promote student engagement and spark positive discussions with the teachers.
Finally came Friday, the actual day of Wear It Purple! We began this beautiful cloudy morning by warmly greeting students with bright smiles and little purple ribbons as they walked into school. We were kindly donated stickers and wristbands by the Wear It Purple Day Organisation, and these were handed to students who wore a touch of purple on their uniforms as a token of appreciation for their celebration spirit!
After this point, we were wriggling in our seats during class, just waiting for lunchtime to approach! When it finally did, each committee member ventured to the activity that they had been allocated to host. Some members organised a hand print mural station, others attended a Socratic seminar held by Headspace (the National Youth Mental Health Foundation in Australia). Our Co-Captains went from station to station, primarily supervising the bold voices open mic event and purple runway. It was truly fantastic! There was a point in the day when the rain tried to interfere with our hand print mural station, but luckily our team members had planned for deterrences like this beforehand and had brainstormed a back-up location!
We summed up the day by thanking our students for their ongoing positivity and enjoyment. It was brilliant to see so many students show up to our events, and we were honestly PURPLE-xed with the numbers. Our Co-Captains said a few words and announced the winners of the raffle and the Banned Books Competition. It was delightful to see the genuine happiness in the eyes of students who had received the recognition they’d worked so hard for.
Overall, this dazzling day was an absolute success, particularly in terms of our detailed planning and resilience. We can’t wait for you to see what we have planned for next year!
Banned Books Competition.
From July until August 25th, mischief and mystery engulfed the Mac.Rob library. The books, which were once shunned, beamed proudly from their shelves, drawing in the avid readers to Mac.Rob’s very first Banned Books Competition.
This competition encouraged teamwork, creativity, and immersion in media and literature, but also challenged social norms and the outdated ideals that cause many books to be banned all over the world.
It was found that many banned books typically contain content of race, gender and sexuality; the banned books competition aims to provoke students to question why such themes are considered “taboo” or “inappropriate,” and overall to break out of these ideals and so, fostering acceptance and community.
The Inclusion Committee and Library staff, as well as the McReads group, worked tirelessly to plan for this event, eventually settling on a Banned Books Bingo, which not only included books, but also many creative endeavours such as costume design, film making, and story writing.
Upon the conclusion of this event, books were discovered… memories were made… and rules were broken, giving the bookworms and creatives a chance to unite and dive into beautiful works of literature that had once been silenced.
Lots of love and Amity,
The Inclusion Committee