GSSC cultural officer brings own heritage to the job

Fostering multiculturalism and acceptance is something Mr Saraf has navigated in his own life, having migrated from the Middle East.

But he's seen the culture change, slowly but steadily, in the decade since arriving in the Goulburn Valley.

A practising Muslim, Mr Saraf said the period of Ramadan this year was "terrific" for staff and students of faith.

“There used to be an issue with prayer rooms, but they have on three campuses, three different prayer rooms — open to all religions,” he said.

“When Ramadan came they said if the kids want time to go, they can, they're welcome to attend . . . how good is that?”

GSSC has students from Albania, Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan who are practising Muslims.

To share the cultural significance of the month of fasting with the school, Mr Saraf compiled information to distribute among staff members.

“They put it on campus for everyone — families, students, our staff,” Mr Saraf said.

“Teachers during Ramadan called me and modified their classes — if it had water and food they would change it so it was appropriate.

“I was surprised — I was about to cry when I saw this . . . it was amazing how much support we had.”

But he said he was frustrated by media reports on the transition to the new campus in 2022 "always looking for the negatives".

“Not a lot of people tell our teachers and staff `thank you’ enough,” he said.

“For my culture and other cultures, there's a lot of facilities and organisations, but I've never seen as much support as there is here — multicultural information nights, community meetings, cultural religion days.”

Mr Saraf said GSSC's week-long Harmony Day celebrations were particularly heartening for him as the school's cultural officer and a member of the multicultural community.

“When teachers see a multicultural day on the calendar, they come and ask us what it is, and tell the whole campus while we're celebrating it,” he said.

“It's created a culture of people supporting people, Koori kids, multicultural kids.

“I've never seen teachers and education support give up their lunch time and volunteer to sit and talk with the kids (at other schools).”