What does Saint Patrick's Day celebrate?

Saint Patrick's Day celebrates a Christian Saint named Patrick. Patrick was a missionary who helped to bring Christianity to Ireland. He is the patron saint of Ireland.

In the United States the day generally celebrates Irish-American culture and heritage.

When is Saint Patrick's Day celebrated?

Who celebrates this day?

The day is celebrated as a religious holiday by the Catholic Church. It is also celebrated in Ireland and by Irish people around the world. Many non-Irish join in the celebrations in many places, especially in the United States. It is a public holiday in Ireland.

History of Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick was a missionary to Ireland in the 5th century. There are many legends and tales about how he brought Christianity to the island including how he used the shamrock to explain the Christian trinity. It is believed he died on March 17, 461.

Hundreds of years later, around the 9th century, people in Ireland began celebrating the Feast of St. Patrick on March 17th each year. This holiday continued as a serious religious holiday in Ireland for hundreds of years.

In the 1700s the holiday began to become popular with Irish-Americans wanting to celebrate their heritage. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held on March 17, 1762 in New York City.

What do people do to celebrate?

There are a number of traditions and ways to celebrate this day. For many years the day was celebrated as a religious holiday. People in Ireland and other areas of the world went to church services to celebrate. Many people still celebrate the day this way.

There are also lots of festivals and parades on this day to celebrate Irish culture. Most major cities have some sort of St. Patrick's Day parade. The city of Chicago has a fun custom where they dye the Chicago River green each year.

Probably the main way to celebrate St. Patrick's is to wear green. Green is the main color and symbol of the day. People not only wear green, but they dye their food green. People eat all sorts of green foods such as green hot dogs, green cookies, green bread, and green drinks.

Other fun traditions of the holiday include the shamrock (three leafed clover plant), Irish music played with bagpipes, eating corned beef and cabbage, and leprechauns.

Saint Patrick's Day Activities!

• Go Green! - Come dressed in green
• Footprint four leaf clover craft
• Class display of a Pom Pom Rainbow leading into a pot of GOLD!
• Rainbow necklace
• Make Leprechaun hats
• Who Has THIS Letter? - Make 2 sets of 26 shamrock/clover shapes and program them with letters:
  • Give out a shamrock to each student. Keep track of the letters you give out. From the second set, only have those letters in front of you, face down.
  • Make up a rhyme such as: Letter, letter. Which shall it be? Who has the letter that's in front of me?
  • Flip over a letter shamrock and the children who have that letter will let you know that they have it!
  • You could also have multiples of many letters if you want to focus on specific letters. In this case, a few children would have the same letter.
    VARIATION: This activity could be done for number recognition or color recognition as well.
• Coin Sorting (pretend coins or cut out of cupbaord)- In advance, precut pots (for pots of gold) and program them with numbers for the children to count the number of coins onto the appropriate numbers.
• Make green playdough
• Celtic Music - Play different types of Irish music (jigs, ballads, etc.) for the children to dance to. Suggest they dance to the tempo/speed of the song they hear. Add a "freeze dance" component by tell the children they need to freeze when the music stops.
• Irish Brown Bread – click link for reciepe: https://www.preschool-plan-it.com/st-patricks-day-activities.html 

What is National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence?

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NSA) is held annually on the third Friday of March. It is an opportunity for the schools, childcare centres, community to ‘take a stand together’against bullying and violence.

When is National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence?

Friday, 17 March

What kids say on the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

Types of Bullying

• Verbal - Name calling, teasing, putting someone down, threatening to cause someone harm.
• Physical - Poking, hitting, punching, kicking, spitting, tripping or pushing someone, breaking someone’s things, pulling faces or making rude hand signals.
• Social - Lying, spreading rumours, playing horrible jokes, leaving someone out on purpose, embarrassing someone in public.
• Cyberbylling - Using technology to hurt someone else by sending hurtful messages, pictures or comments.

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence Activities!

• Group discussion - Discussing Action against Bullying and Violence and right from wrong.
                                  - How it makes a person feel
• Feelings – talking about feelings through books, role play
• Reading stories about friendships!
• Encourage children to play with other friends in the room that they haven’t play with before
• Group activities where everyone has a turn and cheer for one another – i.e. parachute activity
• Further information and resources: https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/

Everyone needs a support team!
Let Kids Helpline be a part of yours.
If you’re being bullied, it’s really important to talk to someone you trust.

If you need to talk to someone, call the kids help line on 1800 551 800.
For further information, click the following link: https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids

What is International Women's Day?

International Women's Day is an international day celebrating and recognising the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. 

The day is aimed for nations around the globe to help and raise awareness in eliminating discrimination against women and focusing on women gaining full and equal opportunities and rights.

On this day, we can take to appreciate all the hard working women we have around us from family, friends, community, politicians and women around the world that have voiced  the importance for women and the world we live.

International Womens Day 2023

#EmbraceEquity

“It's not just something we write about. It's something we need to think about, know, value and embrace. It's what we believe in, unconditionally. Equity means creating an inclusive world."

When is International Women's Day?

Wednesday, 8 March

How to get involved in International Women's Day!

• Wear Purple – Internationally, purple is a colour for symbolising women.
• Printing posters and discussing women to has had their voice heard and their achievements.
• Hold an IWD celebration at your centre – Hold an IWD themed morning tea or lunch, with women speakers
• Donate to your local women’s refuge – Why not celebrate International Women’s Day by making a donation to your local refuge?
  https://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/women/womens_directory/womens_refuges_and_crisis_accommodation 
• Do something kind for a woman you love – Whether it’s your mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, girlfriend, or a female friend… Why not celebrate IWD by making them feel special? 

What is National Employee Appreciation Day?

National Employee Appreciation Day is observed annually on the first Friday in March. This day was created as a way of focusing the attention of all the employers in all industries on employee recognition. Businesses and companies plan celebrations across the country to thank and recognised the achievements and hard work of their employees.

Employees are one of a company’s greatest assets. Recognition and appreciation are known as one of the key motivational factors in the workplace.

An employer may show their gratitude for an employee’s efforts and contributions to the goals of the company in a variety of ways from rewards to verbal interactions. Expressing employee appreciation increases employee job satisfaction.

When is National Employee Appreciation Day?

Friday, 3 March

Great Ways To Show Your Employees Some Appreciation

• Be Flexible – Flexibility goes a long way in this virtual reality world. If possible with your industry, allowing a little flexibility can reap huge benefits when you need last minute work done.
• A Thank You Note – When a job has been done well, a heartfelt, hand-written thank you means more than a slap on the back or a thank you gift.
• Team Effort Celebration – If the team pulled together and made it happen, reward them with an office pizza party, casual dress day or staff outing.
• Get Caught – Make sure the employee hears you telling someone else you thought they did a great job.
• Create a Culture of Encouragement – Employees who expand their horizons bring new skills to your workforce and will encourage others to do so too. Praise their achievements and encourage others to pursue their goals.

If you have employees, be sure to show them some appreciation and use #EmployeeAppreciationDay to post on social media.

What is World Hearing Day?

World Hearing Day is held on each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world.

The theme of the World Hearing Day is

Ear and hearing,
care for all!

The selection of the theme by the World Health Organization expresses the key message that that timely and effective interventions can ensure that people with hearing loss are able to achieve their full potential. It recognizes that, at all life stages, communication and good hearing health connect us to each other, our communities, and the world. It highlights that appropriate and timely interventions can facilitate access to education, employment and communication. Unfortunately, across the globe, ear and hearing care are insufficient, and the WHO argues that all public health systems should include ear and hearing care.

When is World Hearing Day?

Friday, 3 March

World Hearing Day Activities!

• Learning different types communication methods: Using sign language, or some gestures, or a picture board. It is equally important that other children learn to understand and communicate with the special needs child in their classroom. Learning sign language can be made a fun activity for the whole classroom.
• Learning about inclusion and disability; through group times, discussions, stories and creating little people figures from inclusion categories.
• Learning about our 5 senses
• Roleplay and Pretend Play - Play is an important tool in preschool learning. Children at this stage start developing pretend play. Direct pretend play by including a wheelchair, crutches etc into their pretend play area. You can also make dolls and toys with injuries or disabilities.

For more information and make some noise for #HearingForLife!: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2021/03/03/default-calendar/world-hearing-day-2021-hearing-care-for-all