In week 2 of Term 1 Minister Steven Jones, The Director of Schools Mr Peter Hill and a number of other school staff and students attend our new message pole and bush garden opening.

We had hoped to invite parents and local Elders, however with a COVID outbreak over the weekend prior, we put the safety of potential guests at the forefront. We will have a full opening during term 4, when we will reveal our new Cultural Centre.

DANCING

Dancing is well underway under the guidance of Ms Toumanda and Aunty Josephine.

MURAL

Uncle Kevin has been onsite and has begun a new Mural that in total will be close to 20 meters. This will surround our new cultural centre which will be shared with St Pauls allowing a strong connection between the two schools and hopefully the local community.

La PEROUSE

Two weeks ago students attended an excursion to La Perouse, where they were able to visit important sites to our ancestors who made first contact with colonists. Our Aboriginal students were encouraged to invite a friend, who could come along and learn about this very important place in Australia's history.

The day started with Uncle Joseph welcoming us to country and painting us up with local ochre. Students who were not allowed to take part in the paint up were able to miss that part of the welcome.

They learnt about local bush foods, medicines, birthing places and where people would have first stepped ashore.

It was a fantastic day, full of hope and beautiful weather. Students were amazing and so respectful of Uncle Joseph and Grant, who gave them an in depth understanding of the land and showed us very important local middon sites. They explained how to tell the age of an area by the things that can be seen in the land.

The day finished by visiting the Aboriginal museum, having dinner and taking a walk along the beach looking for signs of the past.

INFORMATION EVENING

The information evening is being held at school and we invite you to hear about the plans we have for the rest of 2021. This will take place on Tuesday 11th May 6:00 - 7:00pm.

We have a number of excursions, activities and cultural events coming up for your children and I greatly appreciate your efforts and encouragement of your child's participation in these events.

Kane Brown - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Coordinator