Reconciliation Action Plan launch

Kalea Haran Principal

Over two years ago, Penrhos College began the journey to creating a Reconciliation Action Plan.

This journey involved our entire community, from students, staff, parents and traditional custodians of the land in which we live – over 40 people in all attended meetings and together, created our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), that has a clear vision. A vision I trust our community will embrace.

Penrhos’ vision is to build strong inter-cultural knowledge within our community to understand and acknowledge the history, impact and relevance of the past and current experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Penrhos College is proudly a diverse and inclusive community.

By listening to the many different voices in our community, we aim to develop a shared understanding, genuine empathy and respect for past, present and future peoples.

By giving time for truth telling, we will grow our knowledge and build awareness to strengthen our community and our understanding of Australia’s true history. This will ensure that we all feel safe and respected in sharing our stories and promote a space for healing. What I love about Penrhos, is we will always speak out against prejudice and ignorance - it is part of who we are.

Our vision, and our goal, through this RAP is to develop a strong sense of belonging, cultural identity, pride and aspirations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of the Penrhos community.

It is about embracing an inclusive learning environment - where we will nurture and create positive change.

United, we set a path towards a future where reconciliation is a lived reality and not simply an idea.

Our Reconciliation Action Plan is to become a part of the core of who we are at Penrhos College.

Moving forward, I trust we will all embrace its intent as we make a commitment to learn, unlearn and relearn to achieve our reconciliation goals.

I sincerely thank the Reconciliation Action Committee for all their support and advice throughout this journey - the RAP is something we can all be proud to be a part of.

To read a copy of our Reconciliation Action Plan, or to learn more please head to www.penrhos.wa.edu.au/RAP

Penrhos College would like to thank Talicia Griffin (Year 12) for her outstanding artwork contribution, pictured above.

A sign of reconciliation

During 2021, Principal Kalea Haran launched a competition to re-design the space outside her office, to create a warm and welcoming environment, instead of the overcrowded jungle there at the time. After much deliberation, the panel chose the student Reconciliation Committee’s application for a ‘Reconciliation Garden’. The garden also features special additions from other finalists including bird baths and friendship benches.

With assistance from the Penrhos College Foundations ‘Helping Hand’ fund, in consultation with the students, the grounds team took to work on the garden.

Our Reconciliation Garden is now filled with native plants; and is designed with connection and community in mind, it provides seating for friendship groups and a pathway connecting the school. Its central feature is a Balga tree, symbolising a spiritual connection as a guardian of people and place.

During October 2022, Lytoni Cheinmora (2022) began her work on a large mural in the Reconciliation Garden, representative of her connection to Country, as a Karajarri and Yawuru woman from Broome. The design includes references to the landscape, fauna and the dreamtime snake which resides in the river near Kalumburu.

The place of this artwork as a feature in the garden, reminds us that members of our community each have their own connections to stories, cultures and places outside of Penrhos, which contribute to the richness of our school culture and are opportunities for us to all learn from each other. With the help of the younger Ngala Maya students and some of the Year 11s and 12s, Lytoni’s artwork was translated into a brightly coloured design, created especially for this location.

One of the aims in our new Reconciliation Action Plan is to visibly demonstrate respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in the physical environment of our school. We understand we can make our respect visible in the learning environment through the incorporation of meaningful, relevant and culturally appropriate art, artefacts and symbolism which reinforce our work toward reconciliation, making our intentions and actions clear to our students, families and the broader community. The Reconciliation Garden is one of the first steps in this direction.

We would like to thank all the staff and students for their hard work and creativity in bringing this project to life!

Music at Penrhos

Jane Alderson Director of Music

This year we had another challenging start to the year with COVID-19 causing interruptions to school programs, traditions, performances and activities. We started our rehearsal program for the year adapting to split venues and rehearsing outdoors. Despite the challenges, the girls have continued to shine and impress the College with their dedication and commitment, maintaining an outstanding performance tradition at a number of significant events including the St George’s Cathedral Recitals, Jazz at the Llew Woodford and the recent WA School Music Festivals.

Our senior ensembles gave excellent performances in the recent WA School Concert Band and Orchestra Festivals, with the String Orchestra and Camerata Strings both receiving awards of Outstanding in their divisions. Not only did Camerata Strings receive an outstanding award for their performance, but this was also the first year that they were entered into the Festival in Premier Division and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Basie Band and Coltrane Jazz also gave excellent performances as part of the WA Schools Jazz Festival and provided a fabulous night of entertainment with Vox at the recent Jazz at the Llew Woodford. Kate Jeffery was recognised on bass at the Jazz Festival with a Certificate of Excellence for her performance with Coltrane Jazz and stepping into the breach for Basie Band at the last minute when their bass player went down with COVID-19.

A highlight for Music this year was the opportunity to perform in the premier Western Australian performance of Eumeralla.

“With a fusion of Western classical tradition and First Nations culture, Eumeralla soars with resilience and reconciliation.”

Penrhos was invited by composer Dr Deborah Cheetham AO (Yorta Yorta) in 2021 to perform in Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace, presented by West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Cancelled due to COVID-19, the performance was rescheduled for September 2022. Conducted by Benjamin Northey, the work also featured Ms Cheetham as soloist (soprano) alongside;

• Linda Barcan, mezzo soprano • Don Bemrose, baritone (Gungarri) • Dhungala Children’s Choir • WASO Chorus

Premiered in 2019 by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and sung in dialects of the Gunditjmara people of southwestern Victoria, this work combines poetry, three choirs, orchestra and the platform of the Requiem Mass.

The Penrhos College Chorus, an auditioned ensemble consisting of girls in Years 8-10, was formed in response to the invitation to perform Eumeralla. The Chorus rehearsed over 18 months, in addition to their involvement in other College-based vocal and instrumental ensembles to culminate in the longawaited performance in the first week of the Term 3 holidays. The girls relished the unique and exceptional opportunity to perform a groundbreaking new Australian composition, both musically in navigating a complex score and linguistically in the chance to learn and sing in Language, particularly the dialects of the Gunditjmara people of southwestern Victoria.

The opportunity to work with Dr Cheetham AO provided not only inspiration, but a greater appreciation for the work and its background. Through her generous and heartfelt sharing of the historical and community context alongside the setting of the composition, Dr Cheetham enabled and encouraged a greater insight into the significance of this project, and our involvement within it.

Penrhos College would like to acknowledge the honour that we feel to be given the opportunity to perform in such prestigious company, and our appreciation for being part of such a momentous and significant work.

We have already begun our venture into reigniting the collaborative partnership between Wesley College and Penrhos College, and this year have launched the combined Penrhos/Wesley Chorale. Their first performance was held at Chaplain Paul’s Commissioning Service with the Irish Blessing, and the students recently performed a moving rendition of Lully Lulla at the inaugural Wesley Carols.

Alexandra Rhys-Jones, one of our Year 11 students has provided a personal account of her involvement in the choir this year:

The combined Penrhos/Wesley Chamber Choir has been unnamed since its debut, however the members and staff involved speak for themselves. Mr Van Reyk is an extraordinary Choir Director. He fixes our problems instantly as they arise and ensures we are equipped for our performances. While being a somewhat strict teacher, he is extremely understanding and caring and is also one of the nicest I know! Mrs Alderson isf the gem of our choir. Her smile and joy lights up the room as she waltzes in as cheery as one can be. She is super, almost too patient for us and is the most understanding teacher I know of.

And the members themselves, what a fabulous choir. I am honoured to be a part of this group of strong men and women. We had around 3-5 rehearsals before each performance, and they were all done to perfection and memorized (except for when we started a song in an entirely different key which arguably was a better key.) We all sing together in perfect harmony and with such support it is one of my highlights every Wednesday evening.

I can’t wait to see what is in store for these fabulous singers next year and I’ll end on this: you don’t need a name for a choir to make it fabulous. We are living proof of that.

The Penrhos College Music Department are also delighted to announce that Erica Wong, our top Music student for 2022 was offered the Delano Scholarship by UWA Music following an excellent audition on violin. Erica is the second Penrhos student to be offered this prestigious scholarship, following Monique Rossi who graduated as our top music student in 2021.

The purpose of these scholarships is to assist and encourage gifted music students to undertake instrumental performance units in any major offered by the Conservatorium of Music in a priority area of the Conservatorium of Music’s performance activities.

We are looking forward to a less interrupted and challenging year next year, with several events already lined up and in planning, including Music Camp, Visiting Artist and further collaborative projects with Wesley College.