Koorie Education 

& Engagement

Congrats Jenaya!

Jenaya Bartlett has been selected as a Vice Captain for EMC in 2023, our first female Indigenous student to ever represent EMC in a Captaincy role.  We're so proud of her!

KELiS Presentation to the DET Koorie Engagement Community of Practice

On Thursday 3 November, 5 EMC Koorie students Jenaya, Marley, Noah, Nevaeh and William presented on Koorie Emerging Leaders in Schools (KELiS) to staff from DET regions, DET central and VAEAI.

The Community of Practice provides a forum for discussion about a wide range of topics including: engagement and inclusion, attendance, literacy and numeracy, curriculum, transitions, family engagement etc.

The students represented the South East Victorian Region, and were part of a panel discussion with SEVR Koorie Education Manager Tom Cazaly and KESOs Brian Walker and Alan Johnson.  Observing was SEVR Executive Director of School Support, Anthony Raitman.

KELiS brings together secondary school students from the Bayside Peninsula area together to build the skills of Koorie students in leadership skills, cultural and community connection, and advocacy skills to build their confidence to use their voice in their own respective schools.   

KELiS launched in National Reconciliation Week this year, and EMC hosted the inaugural event.  KELiS involves termly events (rotating host between schools who are involved in the project) with a focus on information sharing, skill building and action planning for students to follow up Koorie student driven plans in local secondary schools.  So far Rosebud SC and Dromana College have also hosted KELiS, and Term 1 looks to venture to Carrum Downs SC.

Increasingly, Aboriginal young people are being asked to, and want to be, active in their communities; especially with the discussions around self determination, Treaty, reconciliation, racism, flag rights and January 26 entering mainstream media.  The feedback from EMC Koorie students and students from other schools tells us that they want to be part of these discussions but feel like they want more leadership and advocacy skills, understanding of their culture, and support to make strong connections to local community opportunities. They report they feel pressure to provide voices to issues they feel passionate about but don’t always have confidence to speak up about, or know how to protect themselves from tokenism. They have identified their schools as their comfort zones, and KELiS aims to bridge the gap between school and community; so Bayside Peninsula Area Koorie students are ready to step up as leaders of the future. 

SAVE THE DATE...

• 2022 RAP review with Support Network - TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER
• Koorie Christmas - TUESDAY 29 NOVEMBER