Aboriginal Education

A message to our graduating First Nations students – Class of 2025. 

It has been a privilege to be part of your cultural learning journey over the past six years. Thank you for embracing every opportunity and for teaching me so much along the way. 

Together, we’ve shared Deadly Study Sessions, Pathways to Dreaming, bush walks, bush tucker cooking, art and dance programs. We’ve celebrated students recognised for their cultural leadership and commitment at the AECG Awards and through educational scholarships. 

We’ve met inspiring First Nations leaders – from our local Elders to Adam Goodes and Dr Kirsten Banks – each reminding you that you can reach for the stars while staying grounded in culture and community. 

As you step forward into the next chapter, remember that your strength, pride and connection to culture will always guide you. 

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home.”  

— Australian Aboriginal Proverb 

Best wishes for the journey ahead – you are truly deadly.  

From Mrs White 

DEADLY Study Sessions – New Model Trial 

This term, we are trialing a new model for our DEADLY Study Sessions to better meet the academic and cultural needs of our First Nations students. The new approach involves two intensive sessions each term, combining the literacy and numeracy support currently offered with a hands-on cultural workshop — some of which will be delivered by local knowledge holders. 

We kicked off with Year 7, spending the first period in a numeracy session using The Bush Tukka Guide by Samantha Martin. This fantastic book not only features bush tucker recipes, but also provides extensive information about native plants and animals, their locations, Aboriginal names and traditional uses. Students applied their numeracy skills through quantity calculations, scaling, working with units of measurement and fractions. 

In the second part of the session, students took their learning to the kitchen, cooking one of the book’s recipes — damper done three ways with Lemon Myrtle, Wattle Seed, and Davidson Plum. The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive, and after a few more test runs, we hope to roll out this new model to our Year 7 and 8 students in 2026.