Inclusion in schools is often visible during key events like Harmony Week, but the most impactful classrooms are those where inclusion is lived, visible, and embedded every day.

Authentic inclusion is not a one-off activity it is a culture. It is the quiet message students receive when they walk into a space and feel recognised, respected, and represented.

One of the simplest and most powerful ways to build this culture is through language using the Free Inclusive Wall Display and Lettering Tiles.

Featured: Harmony Day and Harmony Week: Inclusive Wall Display and Lettering Tiles

Why Language Matters

Language is deeply connected to identity. When students see their home language reflected in the classroom, it sends a clear message:

You belong here.

For many students, particularly those from multilingual or diverse cultural backgrounds, school can feel like a place where they need to adapt or assimilate. Small, intentional actions — like acknowledging different languages — shift this narrative. They communicate that diversity is not something to be managed, but something to be celebrated.

A Practical Way to Foster Inclusion

This multilingual greetings display has been designed with these principles in mind.

Featuring ways to say “hello” from languages spoken across Australia, it provides a starting point for recognising diversity within your school. With heading options including Harmony Week and Everyone Belongs, it can be used both as a seasonal display or as a permanent feature in your space.

What makes this resource particularly powerful is the inclusion of blank contribution tags.

By placing the tags, a marker, and blue tac next to the display, you invite students, staff, and visitors to add their own greeting. This transforms the display from something you create for your students, into something you build with your community.

Over time, the display becomes a reflection of your school and a visible reminder that everyone brings something valuable to the space.

Ways to Use This in Your School

1. Create an Entry Point

Place the display in a high-traffic area such as a classroom door, hallway, or front office. When families enter your school and see their language represented, it immediately builds a sense of connection.

2. Invite Student Voice

Encourage students to:

• Add greetings from their home language
• Teach the class how to pronounce them
• Share when and how these greetings are used

This validates students as knowledge holders, not just learners.

3. Make It Part of Your Routine

Incorporate greetings into everyday practice:

• Morning roll call in different languages
• Greeting the class in a new language each week
• Student-led greetings

This moves inclusion from a display to a lived classroom experience.

4. Connect to Learning

Use the display as a springboard for rich learning opportunities:

• Mapping where languages are spoken (Geography)
• Exploring how language connects to culture (HSIE)
• Writing about belonging (English)

This ensures inclusion is not an add-on, but embedded in your teaching and learning.

5. Acknowledge First Nations Languages

Authentic inclusion in an Australian context includes respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.

Where possible, include a greeting from your local language group, and discuss with students:

• Why languages are place-based
• The importance of preserving language
• The connection between language and Country

6. Extend Beyond Harmony Week

While this display aligns beautifully with Harmony Week, its impact is strongest when it remains visible all year round.

Inclusion should not be confined to a single week. It should be part of the everyday experience of school.

Inclusion Is Built in Small Moments

Authentic inclusion is not created through large programs alone. It is built through consistent, thoughtful choices that communicate belonging.

A greeting.
A language.
A name spoken correctly.
A space where students see themselves reflected.

These moments matter.

And when they are intentional, they shape a classroom — and a school — where every student knows:

I belong here.

If you are looking for a simple, meaningful way to begin or strengthen inclusive practice in your classroom or school, this multilingual greetings display offers a practical starting point that grows with your community.