Nallei Jerring

On Wednesday 14th May, ten of our students at Ballarat High School travelled to the Whitten Oval, home of the Western Bulldogs, to kick start the Nallei Jerring Program for 2025.

What is Nallei Jerring?

The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation’s Nallei Jerring program (meaning ‘Join and Unite’ in Woi Wurrung Language) aims to support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people, by providing opportunities through the Western Bulldogs as a way of encouraging leadership within the local Aboriginal community. 

Upon arrival, we heard a Didgeridoo performance from Paul Kelly (who insists he is THE Paul Kelly and the singer has copied him 🤣). Paul also led the students through a mini tutorial on the circular breathing techniques required to play the Didgeridoo. 

We then took a tour of the facilities at the grounds and were able to observe the team  training on the field on what was a beautiful sunny day. 

After recent upgrades to Whitten Oval's facilities, we were impressed with what we saw as we wandered through the players gym and could see through to their indoor training field. 

Following some lunch, facilitators Jordan, Linda and Katen led us through an activity where we paired some famous indigenous faces to the land on which they originate from, learning and locating traditional place names on the map as we went along. 

This was a great day out for our students who are making connections with their mob at Ballarat High.

Jessica Quick

Drama Teacher