During this year’s event, Year 3 and 4 students from Jewish independent, Emanuel School were hosted by their Catholic peers at Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart, for a morning of bread-making, team building activities and making new friends.
Emanuel School principal Linda Emms, head of primary Natanya Milner and Kincoppal-Rose Bay head principal, Erica Thomas and junior school principal Rachael Symes revelled in the day and said it provides an opportunity for students to learn to make traditional breads that symbolise celebration, family, and community within Jewish and Christian cultures.
“Kids Breaking Bread is about creating opportunities for children from different communities and backgrounds to embrace diversity and build genuine friendships,” KBB co-founder Anna Solomon said.
Allegra Spender, Member of Parliament for local area, Wentworth, spoke to students and urged them to share the pride and joy of each school and take the opportunity to learn from each other.
“Too often we can end up locked in our own silos, speaking only to people like ourselves,” Spender said.
“Kids Breaking Bread is an opportunity to build bridges between our schools, share our religion and culture, make new friends and build a stronger, more cohesive community where we all belong.”
The initiative was borne of a simple but meaningful conversation between four parents and friends – Solomon, Amanda Morris, Louise Israelstam, and Phoebe Malouf – who shared a vision of creating stronger ties between communities through their children.
“By baking and sharing bread, the children are actively learning and embracing the similarities in our different cultures, building positive foundations for the community,” Morris said.
“We are thrilled to be able to deepen and strengthen our connection through this beautiful collaboration.”
Speaking during last year’s initial event, Emms said initiatives like Kids Breaking Bread are important in building community cohesion.
“Providing opportunities for students from different school to find out what they have in common and developing understanding of the cultures and traditions of each other is key to developing meaningful connections,” Emms shared.
Milner said the emerging friendships allow the children to explore both their similarities and differences in a meaningful and celebratory manner, while Thomas shared that the experience is fun and incredibly rewarding for all involved.
“Kincoppal is truly excited to be the host school this year welcoming the Emanuel students into our school and our community.
“Experiences like these are incredibly important in breaking down barriers early and nurturing empathy and respect.”
Combining flour and fun, Kids Breaking Bread demonstrates how small acts of connection can help shape a more inclusive and compassionate future for the next generation, and is something that the founders hope could potentially be replicated in schools country-wide.
