Junior School Inquiry: Where we are in place and time

Junior School Inquiry: Where we are in place and time

Year 3 Students and Teachers Markus Munday and Nina Eleftheriou

For this unit of inquiry, we explored what makes a community, and communities in different countries.

The boys interviewed Ms Celia Hammond (former local MP) asking how they could make a positive change to their local community. Ms Hammond encouraged the boys to petition the local government about issues they felt were important, she explained what petitions are, what they achieve, and how they are done.

We began exploring our school community, the land it is on, and its history. This led to students showing a keen interest in Lake Claremont and its significant history.

Mr Micheal Spratt (Indigenous Student Programme Coordinator) spoke to the boys about Lake Claremont from a Whadjuk Noongar perspective. Lake Claremont was an important cultural and social landmark for the Whadjuk Noongar. For 60,000 years its name had been Galbamaanup, before being renamed Butlers Swamp in 1830, and then Lake Claremont in 1955. The boys were shocked and upset about this, imagining someone coming and giving them new names, or changing the name of our school. Mr Spratt also shared facts such as Lake Claremont being used as a camping and hunting ground, the roles of different Indigenous Australians, and how the lake was used as a landmark. We went for an excursion around the lake to take our wonderings further.

After our excursion, there was much debate about whether the name ‘Lake Claremont’ recognized the lake’s Indigenous history,

and many felt that a single name did not justly represent this history. Many of the boys started referring to it as Lake Claremont Galbamaanup. They explained that other people should also use this name, and that we could achieve this through a petition. If other areas of Perth, such as Fremantle/ Walyalup have dual names, why shouldn’t Lake Claremont? Some of the boys commented that “dual naming is making life fair and including everyone and means that all people will be happy” and “not giving the lake a dual name isn’t showing respect for its history”. The boys wrote their own petitions using learned facts, along with persuasive arguments, and collected signatures from family and friends who were in favour.

We liaised with the Mayor of Lake Claremont (Jock Barker) who was amazed by the boys’ learning, agreeing to come and give them a presentation about Government, and collect their petition. They are hoping to be successful in Lake Claremont being acknowledged as Lake Claremont Galbamaanup. This will respect its important Indigenous history, its cultural significance, and its role in connecting our communities, past, present, and future. Having a dual name will recognise both Indigenous and European history, their contributions to our community today and will be a small step towards reconciliation. This is an incredible initiative driven by the boys, and we are so proud of them for their learning and strong sense of justice.