Wellbeing and Engagement

National Sorry Day

National Sorry Day is a significant day for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and particularly for Stolen Generations survivors. The idea of holding a ‘Sorry Day’ was first mentioned as one of the 54 recommendations of the Bringing them home report, which was tabled in Parliament on 26 May 1997. This report was the result of a two year National Inquiry into the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families, communities and cultural identity. On 26 May 1998 the first ‘Sorry Day’ was held in Sydney, it is now commemorated across Australia, with many thousands of people participating in memorials and commemorative events, in honour of the Stolen Generations.

At Newlands, we commemorated the day beginning with our student leaders explaining what Sorry Day represents and reading the Acknowledgement of Country. We flew our school flags at half mast as a sign of respect.

All students in Foundation to Year three watched the following presentation and our Grade 4 to 6 students discussed the significance of Sorry Day.

At Newlands we have a new Acknowledgment of Country. This was created by our Koorie students with support from our KESSO (Koorie Education Support Officer).

Acknowledgement of Country

Here is the land.

Here is the sky.

Here are my friends 

and here am I.

We learn at Newlands Primary School, on the traditional land of the Wurundjeri people.

We walk hand in hand.

We would like to say thank you for letting us share the land that you love, we promise to take care of it.

We want to pay respects to our Elders, both past and present and future.

NAIDOC Week - 11th to 15th of July

Plans are well under way for activities and events to take place during this week concluding with a day of engagement and celebration on Friday 15th July. 

We will begin the day with a smoking and welcome to country ceremony. Students will then participate in a variety of culturally based  learning experiences, which will include art, dance, games, story telling and investigation of local culture. 

During the week we will also be celebrating our new school houses through the formal recognition of house names and the flags which have been created for each house.

All school staff will participate in CUST(Cultural understanding and safety training) training during a professional learning session.

We will use this week as a platform to restart the development of our school RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan). Details on this and how you can be involved will be in upcoming newsletters.

Second-hand Uniform Sale

We will be holding a second-hand uniform sale on Thursday 9th June beginning 

at 8:30 a.m.

Donations for this sale will be collected on Wednesday 8th June. Please ensure that all donations are washed and in a resalable state. 

Donations will be collected at the front steps of the school.