Week in Townsville

ST JOHN BOSCO CATHOLIC SCHOOL – COLLINSVILLE

Sharing cultural heritage

St John Bosco Catholic School is a co-educational Prep – Year 6 school located in Collinsville which follows the philosophy of their Patron’s teachings; to provide children with opportunities that inspire hope and celebrate their individual achievements through joyful learning experiences.

So when looking for opportunities to improve the cultural learning and teaching at St John Bosco, the school collaborated with Birriah Elder, Uncle Colin McLennan, to create a space where all students and staff can gather to learn and share their religious and cultural knowledge and stories.

Completed at the beginning of this term, the new space contains a yarning circle with the Rainbow Serpent in its centre, a flag raising site for ceremonial Acknowledgement of Country and artwork reflective of the Birriah people. The project also saw the school’s Bush Tucker Garden transformed into a plentiful Native Food Garden where local Elders helped guide the project and created a learning page where students and staff can explore the native plants, discover their names, and find out how the plants are used.

Principal Nicole Preitz said the collaboration with the Birriah people, the Traditional Owner Group, provides an educational experience and an accurate interpretation of a native Indigenous garden.

“We wanted to highlight the importance of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in our community and ensure the space provided an opportunity to learn more about the Birriah people, their culture, and recognise their importance in the history of the Collinsville region".

Nicole said that there were many community groups and businesses who enabled the project and hopes it will be utilised by the whole Collinsville community. “The involvement from the community through volunteering or donating their time, resources and in-kind support has been amazing. Not only has it enabled our students and school community to share and learn about the Birriah people, it has allowed us to extend the learnings to other Collinsville schools and community groups.” said Nicole.