Last week, students participated in a range of activities to honour and celebrate the history and culture of our First Nations peoples. Students participated in different lessons designed to deepen their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and the significance of NAIDOC Week.
On Friday, students and staff were invited to celebrate the week by wearing mufti clothes in the colour of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. Middle and Senior students attended an assembly led by our First Nations students, which highlighted this year’s NAIDOC theme – The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy. The assembly featured traditional dance by Knoa (Year 8), a powerful and personal speech by Phoebe (Year 11) about why we should celebrate NAIDOC week and a message of hope and encouragement that focused on legacy and strength by Associate Professor, Cara Cross (mother of Mataya, Yr 8 and Aja, Yr 12). In the Junior School, students rotated through a variety of hands-on activities, including learning about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, reading culturally significant books, creating symbolic leaves for our Strength Tree and hands for the ‘Sea of Hands’ display and playing games inspired by First Nations traditions.
As we conclude this year's NAIDOC Week celebrations, we look forward to building on these events and continuing our journey of learning, respecting, and honouring our First Nation’s people, culture and history.
