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Indigenous Literacy Day at Opera House Sydney
T
his year’s Indigenous Literacy Day will be held at the Opera House on Wednesday 4 September 2013, 10.30am–11.30am at the Joan Sutherland Theatre Foyer. The special guests at this year’s Sydney celebration of national Indigenous Literacy Day will include a group of primary school students from Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School in Western Australia. The event will be hosted by Natalie Ahmat, NITV news presenter, and will include Andy Griffiths, popular children’s author and ILF ambassador. Tjuntjuntjara is in the Spinifex Lands, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. It is to the north of the Nullarbor Plain, 680 km north-east of Kalgoorlie, and is
considered to be the most remote community in Australia. For most of these school children, this will be the first time they have left their community, let alone been to a big city. At the Opera House they will be performing some songs and reading their own stories from the recently published How does your garden grow? This book is the result of the inspired collaborative efforts of the students and staff at Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School and 13-year-old Melbourne school boy Lachie Coman. ILF is proud to be its publisher. When Lachie heard about the Vegie Patch Program at Tjuntjuntjara two years ago when he was just 11 years old, he was
keen to share his passion for growing vegies with the kids in the community. With the support and encouragement of our Foundation together with popular children’s author and ILF ambassador Andy Griffiths, Lachie travelled to Tjuntjuntjara and was able to share his love of reading and writing too! Lachie will be coming from Melbourne to catch up with his new friends from Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School, and will also be reading from the book. Other special guests will include ILF Ambassadors, including authors ANITA HEISS, and musician JOSH PYKE. This event is supported by the Sydney Opera House. The Indigenous Literacy Foundation aims to improve
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literacy and hence the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Australian children living in remote and isolated regions. Over the past three years it has sent over 100,000 books to more than
“I love watering the garden. I water it before school and I help the teacher. Plants all need water to grow.” - Recynthia Roberts, student, Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School “The vegie patch has provided us all with a shared interest for reading, writing and
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230 remote communities across Australia. For more information about ILF go to our website www. indigenousliteracyfoundation.org. au. Over 20,000 school children
storytelling.” - Lachlan Coman, 13 years old “Creating a book is a very similar process to creating a vegetable garden. Growing story ideas from small seeds of inspiration requires dedication and persistence.” - Andy Griffiths “Our students are a delight
will participate in Great Book Swap Fundraisers around Australia on Indigenous Literacy Day and libraries, businesses and members of the Australian Book Industry will raise funds.
to teach, because they are characterised by a passionate desire to learn, a love of books, enthusiasm, generosity, cultural pride and a sense of community.” - Lesley Chennell, Principal, Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School