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Indigenous Education
INDIGENOUS EDUCATION
Learning From and Celebrating Australia’s First Peoples
Throughout 2021, the College continued to learn about, share and celebrate Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures through many activities in the classroom and beyond. Whilst restrictions due to COVID-19 meant our cultural immersion to Nhulunbuy, our large NAIDOC celebration and some other excursions were cancelled, the year still brought with it many things to celebrate.
Staff and students are experiencing the relevance of this philosophy when it comes to learning in this space. We are on a journey, and it’s important.
Michelle Obama writes in her autobiography, “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
Reconciliation Week
This year’s theme was ‘More than a word, reconciliation takes action’ with celebrations held across the College. In the Secondary School, the Intercultural Captains and a diverse group of Year 12 students, with the support of the College’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) group, ran an assembly. Head of Upper School, Mrs Boyd, gave the opening address calling on students to think about the part they personally can play in working towards reconciliation. “Today you are going to hear about some actions that the College intends to make towards reconciliation, but as you listen, I encourage you to consider your personal first steps and invite you to make a commitment.” We welcomed guest speaker Wakka Wakka woman and Aboriginal Christian Leader Brooke Prentis, and Year 12 Gamilaroi student Sophie Smith wrote a pledge that was recorded by students and made into a video.
Georgia Stuart and Amarley Bron, Year 10
Giselle Kawane, Year 9
The school held a Kindergarten to Year 12 ‘Wear it yellow’ fundraiser where students and staff bought yellow hair ribbons to raise money in support of the life-changing work of Children’s Ground – an organisation led by Aboriginal communities that creates a new future for children filled with promise, hope and empowerment.
Indigenous Education
INDIGENOUS EDUCATION
Indigenous Round of Sport
The third annual Indigenous Round of Sport was held in Term 2 with a huge turnout from the Pymble community. Local elder Uncle Neil Evers gave a Welcome to Country followed by a ceremony run by our First Nations girls. Our Indigenous dance troupe performed a dance adapting their favourite stories of land, waterways and skies. The group recognised Wakka Wakka Kombumerri woman Katina Olsen and Wiradjuri dancer and storyteller Kerry Johnson who taught them the foundations of the dance. Loreto Normanhurst, Abbotsleigh and Monte Sant’ Angelo teams then joined our Pymble students for football, basketball and rugby sevens fixtures.
Literature Diversity Festival
The College’s Literature Diversity Festival was a chance to share individual stories and celebrate the differences that make us such a special and unique family. The festival provided unique and engaging opportunities for all our girls to connect with others, learn more about different cultures and foster the understanding that we all have stories to share and that we are all enriched by being members of a diverse community. Wiradjuri dancer and choreographer Kerry Johnson ran several workshops for students in the Secondary School. A group of our First Nations students also performed a Wiradjuri Berry Picking dance in the Preparatory School which showed the students the importance of dance as a medium of storytelling.
Continued Learning
Our First Nations students and families continue to lead the way for us on this learning journey and we thank them for their contributions to the College as well as the open way they have shared their stories and culture with our community. As one Year 9 girl remarked, “we are small in number, but we are mighty” which is evident in the outstanding contributions the students continue to make across all aspects of College life. Some highlights of the year include: • Students have the option of attending Culture Club at the PCYC in Waitara every fortnight. This is a chance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people living in the North Shore area to get together, form connections and learn from local uncles and aunties. • Gamilaroi woman and Australian Cricketer Hannah
Darlington visited the College during Term 2 to facilitate mentoring sessions with students. • Miss Teegan Wattam (2017) continued to support students as a cultural mentor. She also won an academic achievement award at Charles Darwin
University. • Tiarn Wilesmith, Year 12, fulfilled the role of Boarding
Social Inclusion Prefect. • Amarley Bron, Year 10, was part of the victorious First
Basketball team who took out the IGSA title. • Rhonda Kerr and Jayda Holland, Year 12, both produced exceptional HSC artworks. • Dezi Magann-Jones, Year 8, represented her peers as a
Middle School Leader for 2021. • Our Years 7 to 10 students participated in the
Macquarie University Culture, Leadership and
Scholarship (CLS) program. • Georgia Stuart and Amarley Bron, Year 10, gave an
Acknowledgment of Country at Admiralty House. • Our Year 10 students visited a local preschool to share their cultural knowledge and support the learning of the students at the centre. Miss Kate Howie, Indigenous Education Leader
Rhonda Kerr and Charlotte Lowe, Year 12
Maddie Morris, Year 8, Jaidey Samuelsson, Year 7 and Imogen Hawkins, Year 9
