NAIDOC Week at Penrhos College

This November, we celebrated NAIDOC Week at Penrhos as we respectfully acknowledged the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation as the traditional owners of the land on which we stand. Festivities opened with a beautiful Welcome to Country by special guest Ingrid Cumming. A proud event for all which included an amazing speech by Year 10 student Chiara and dance performances by students from Penrhos and Aquinas College, whilst the Yidaki/Didgeridoo and tapping sticks were played. A spectacular sand mural celebrating connection to Country was created to cover the Rixon Amphitheatre, and students enjoyed tastings of delicious damper with bush tucker and ‘roo stew. Many thanks to the Student Reconciliation Committee for hosting and to the NIAA, MADALAH and Future Footprints for their support.

Always was, Always will be. Speech and artwork by Chiara Miller-Sabbioni

Kaya, I am Chiara Miller-Sabbioni and I am a Wadjuk woman of the Noongar nation and a Budimaya woman of the Yamitji nation.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which we are meeting, the Wadjuk Noongar people. My ancestors walked, occupied and inhabited this land for tens of thousands of years. Our culture is the longest, continuous culture on earth, so we take NAIDOC Week to cherish, celebrate and commemorate the first nation people of Australia. Celebration of our culture should not be restricted to one week alone but should be an integral part of an all-embracing Australian culture, as it is essentially the founding culture of our nation.

Traditional owners of this nation occupied various countries. You may be thinking how is this possible? Imagine Europe with no Germany, no France, no Spain, no Sweden and no England. Their culture taken away, their languages murdered and their traditions forbidden, followed by a new alien culture established over the whole of Europe. Their land is stripped away, and the people dispossessed. They need to learn a whole new language and a whole new way of dealing with daily life. This scenario is comparable to what happened to Australia and my nana’s great grandmother.

For 232 years the institutions of our society such as the education, housing, justice, political and health systems have failed to integrate the first nations peoples’ culture. Therefore, those establishments that I have mentioned do not cater for Indigenous Australians and never have. The inter-generational dealings have mostly seen first nations peoples feeling rejected and excluded from mainstream society.

Institutional racism is defined as “the systematic distribution of resources, power and opportunity in our society to the benefit of people who are white and the exclusion of people of colour”.

Since the birth of Australian colonialism, non-Aboriginal people have been preoccupied with defining ‘what is Aboriginality’. British colonialists tended to define Aboriginal people by the ‘amount of blood’ they had, as well as the colour of their skin. This notion was absurd, particularly considering when in Noongar culture the collective that lives on the boodjar (country) is considered as moort (family) irrespective of pigmentation. This theory laid the foundations for racist discourse in this country and normalised it within society.

An example to clear up any confusion: hypothetically, I would be defined as a ‘quartercaste.’ This language is structural dehumanisation, which not only has disenfranchised Aboriginal communities but has been at the centre of manifesting issues with identity. Furthermore, this theory perpetuates racial discrimination in this country which directly affects me. I myself am a victim of this, I have suffered inter-generational trauma as a result of this theory. In Year 3, my class was reading an article on an Aboriginal woman. I jumped up like a jack-in-the-box, proudly proclaiming my Aboriginality for the first time in a public setting, before being slammed straight back in that box of conformity; the class made sure I knew my place — I, of course, was “too light to be an Aboriginal” or “only a quarter”.

Racial legislation is definitive proof of racism, as it takes the form of implemented policy reinforced by the authority of the state. In 1905 in WA, many oppressive laws were imposed upon the ‘Aborigine’ of this state. These laws were enforced by the ‘Protector of Natives’ — usually the local police — who had power to decline marriages, for example (which Aboriginal people had to ask for in the first place).

Furthermore, in the state of WA, Aboriginal people were not allowed to be on the streets after 6pm unless they had a ‘dog license’ — a citizenship certificate which had to be applied for and required the holder to cut ties with their Aboriginal family and friends. This legislation was in place until 1971, within the lifetime of many people in this room.

Lastly, the most oppressive and far-reaching piece of legislation was the control and authority which the Protector of Natives had over the guardianship of Noongar and other children — essentially, this would be the foundation for the Stolen Generations in decades to come.

There is still no treaty and no makarrata or peacemaking process. In Aboriginal ways of being, recognition of wrongs of the past sparks greater understanding on both sides of the conflict.

Have you learned about the history of genocide on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island)? Let me share with you another hidden truth. 4,000 men and boys from across Western Australia were imprisoned

in the ‘Aboriginal-only Rottnest Island Prison’ between 1838 and 1931. These men were prisoners who built the prison they were to be forced into. Aboriginal men at this prison were violently treated to the point of death. I’ve got one, simple question for you — would you go to Auschwitz and have a party there?

themselves on current issues. In spite of an alien culture and the challenge of walking

to generation. What can be achieved, however, is an in two worlds, many achievements have been made by Indigenous Australians in all walks of life. Such as Jessica Mauboy, Cathy Freeman, Buddy Franklin and David Unaipon (who was well-known as the Australian Leonardo Da Vinci and is on our $50 note) — just to name a handful from a long list of achievers in the fields of arts, law, medicine, education, politics and media.

Non-Indigenous people can be allies to first nations consciously to break the cycles of disadvantage. Allies can help by donating to organisations who fight to Close the Gap. Allies seek truth and work to understand that Aboriginal people are not all the same and come from many unique cultural backgrounds. Allies learn about Aboriginal ways of doing, knowing and being that are connected to the place they too call home. Allies speak up when they hear someone say inappropriate things about Aboriginal people and keep educating

As efforts are made to reconcile cultural differences and create a unified Australia, connection to land and country will always be unique to our people. NonIndigenous Australians could never have or acquire the connection to land that traditional owners have, as this is one which flows through from our ancestors — over 60,000 years of knowledge, passed from generation peoples by amplifying our voices and by acting

appreciation and respect for this depth of knowledge.

This connection that we have to our ancestor’s land cannot and will not be broken therefore Always was, Always will be.

Penrhos’ Reconciliation Action Plan

Penrhos College formally began its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) process with a first Working Group meeting on 18 November 2020.

We would like to thank those who have volunteered their time to assist the College in this important initiative. Presently, the Working Group includes more than 35 community members (families and alumni) and 20 staff with a wealth of experience and knowledge — we together look forward to evolving the RAP through a process of listening and conversation through 2021.

The first meeting of the Working Group was devoted to reflection on ways of knowing, being and doing at Penrhos. The group focused on raising key questions and hearing ideas, concerns and observations as we move towards formulating a vision statement to guide the first Action Plan. We are thankful for the involvement of families and alumni, for reaching out regardless of geographical location, to participate both in person and through video link — including our incoming Principal Kalea Haran, who dialed in from overseas as she prepares for her move from Singapore to Australia.

Our RAP will be designed to support our College community in developing an educational environment that fosters higher levels of knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions, for the benefit of our whole community. Our Action Plan will be centred around our Core Shared Values of Synergy, Respect, Integrity, Growth, Knowledge and Empathy. Through our RAP, we will commit to strengthening relationships, respect and opportunities in the classroom, around the College and with our community.

Developing our RAP is a longterm commitment that will require ongoing consideration and collaborative effort. The next meeting of the Working Group will be held early in Term 1 2021. The focus will be on creating a vision statement to direct the first year of our Reconciliation Action Plan process — key points such as classroom content and cultural awareness for staff will be first on the agenda.

Your Round Square journey of discovery is about to launch…

Paul McCarthy Dean of Co-Curricular

In the previous issue of The Penrhosian, I shared with you that Penrhos was seeking to obtain membership of the Round Square Organisation, a collective of 220 likeminded schools across 50 countries — and I am now pleased to share that, with the generous support of the Penrhos College Foundation, we have been successful!

International members of the Round Square Organisation are bound together by a very particular values-based approach to education, centred on the importance of student agency. Shared experiences across the globe are based on the Round Square IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service. We are delighted to now wear the exclusive Round Square badge with pride, as one of only two member schools in Perth.

Here’s what membership means for our Penrhosians: • Internationalism – Round Square schools encourage their students to seek out, discover and embrace similarities and differences between cultures and nationalities in ways that promote meaningful and lasting understanding and respect. • Democracy – Round Square schools encourage their students to develop a ‘spirit of democracy’ — a sense of equality, fairness, justice and a desire to do what is right for the greater good. • Environmentalism – Round Square schools encourage their students to understand our place in the universe, the forces that shape our surroundings and the impact we have on those surroundings.

Penrhos students will research the ways in which they will serve the society, and positively impact the environment of the communities they tour. • Adventure – for Round Square schools, the ‘spirit of adventure’ is defined by those who push themselves beyond their perceived limits, cross boundaries and discover that they are capable of more than they thought. Penrhos Round Square tour immersion opportunities will be unlike anything we have previously offered — get your passport ready! • Leadership – for Round Square schools, ‘spirit of leadership’ is founded in recognising that the most successful leaders are driven by their desire to be of service — to nurture, guide, develop and help others to improve and succeed. Penrhosians will lead their own tour itineraries and will design their leadership experiences in the context of the Round Square IDEALS. • Service – for Round Square schools, ‘spirit of service’ is a celebration of personal development through the practical experience of bringing sustainable support and benefit to others — our well-established community service and culture of giving will be taken to new heights, through the opportunities on offer through Round Square.

In 2021, we will develop opportunities for both Junior School and Secondary School to engage with the Round Square IDEALS — what that will look like across the College will change with the age of the students. Be it collaborative — via online interactions — or face-to-face in cultural or service opportunities, regionally, nationally or internationally (when global circumstances allow), our students will engage in realworld learning and periods of reflection.

I look forward to leading the Penrhos team responsible for embedding the Round Square IDEALS over the coming months and years. The selection process we went through was rigorous — it involved nomination from another Round Square global member school, site visits and evaluations by Round Square global representatives along with the Principal of another Round Square School (in our case this was completed by Alec O’Connell, Principal of the only other Round Square school in Perth — Scotch College), formal application and audit. Many students were involved in the journey, along with members of staff from both Junior School and Secondary School — I would like to thank most sincerely all those who embraced this opportunity as we now prepare to introduce and roll out Round Square opportunities to our co-curricular, tour, exchange and service learning offerings.

I invite you all to be part of our Round Square journey — this is an exciting time to be a Penrhosian!