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Making Aboriginal success mainstream
Believe, achieve, succeed: Murgon State High School principal Greg Smith and Catholic Education, Queensland, Indigenous Education chairman, Eric Law, want families, communities and their students to all support each other to succeed. They are pictured with Murgon State High School students Errol Simpson, Brittany Holding, Mikira Fisher and Barwoo Fisher. Images supplied
by Marcus Priaulx 30 June 2014
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or more than 200 years Aboriginal failure has been pushed down our throats to the point where some think it’s “culture”. Now education leaders are asking for family support to help children succeed. Cherbourg families are being asked to believe in their children so they can succeed. Murgon State High
School is to take even greater steps to ensure its Indigenous students can follow their dreams and find the work they love. And Cherbourg-raised, life-long teacher and achiever Eric Law has urged children to not fear failure as they chase their goals. “We need community change to ensure our children get ahead,” the now Catholic Education, Queensland, Indigenous Education chairman said. “We need our children
to understand that if they have a go at something and fail there’s nothing wrong with that as long as they learn from it. “Everybody that’s had success has failed at something, most likely numerous times. “I’d put myself in that category and we need our children to have courage to go out into the world and do something. “They’ll then be able to better support their families. “We need to get our
kids going to uni, right through to the end of it, getting good jobs and making something of themselves.” Murgon State High School principal, Greg Smith, said his staff would go to greater great lengths to make this happen and called for community and family support. The number of South Burnett Year-12 graduates doubled last year to 34 - with 10 coming from Murgon State
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High School - and more than 20 went onto uni, further training, trade apprenticeships and jobs within months of leaving. Mr Smith said Murgon State High School would now follow up with its graduates who were yet to be learning or earning, to help them to do so. The school is also putting students into work-based trainee and apprenticeships. “It’s good for the future, especially when our Indigenous students are employed locally,” Mr Smith said. “It’s leading by example as they end up being role models.” Mr Smith then called
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for his students’ families and friends to support the effort. “The greatest encouragement a parent can give their children is to get them to school every day, ready to learn, whether their child wants to be here or not,” he said. “That’s showing you believe in your children’s future and they need that support to succeed.”
Right: The sign to seek help. Below: Former Cherbourg mayor, advisor to government ministers and life-long teacher Eric Law and Murgon State High School principal Greg Smith want families and friends to support and encourage their children to succeed in living their life’s dream career.
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