NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by all Australians. It’s a great opportunity for us all to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

This year’s theme ‘For Our Elders’ encourages us all to recognise that across every generation, Elders continue to hold a prominent place in First Nations families, communities, and the wider Australian society.

At Cranbourne Secondary College we celebrated NAIDOC Week in the first week of Term 3. 

Students participated in lessons across a range of Learning Areas that strengthened their understanding of the knowledge and wisdom of Elders, and explored the achievements and freedoms gained by Elders. By participating in these lesson’s students were able to recognise the resilience and strength we can all learn from Elders and appreciate their significance within Australian society.

Our Koori students led lunchtime activities throughout the week for everyone to get involved in. Students and teachers competed to see if they could ‘kick like Buddy’ in a longest kick competition seeing Hayden Cooper crowned as our AFL champion, coming close to kicking like Buddy with a 45m bomb. Our ‘shoot like Patty’ basketball challenge was taken out by Mehdi Sikandari, coming in equal first with college principal David Caughey.

Later in the week students offered hand painting, and face painting activities as well as friendship bracelet making and cupcake decorating using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag colours. In the quieter space, a collaborative watercolour activity was completed by staff and students across all year levels, completing a section of a mural that will be joined together as part of a bigger display within the college later in the term.

The students running these events displayed excellent leadership skills welcoming and encouraging their peers to get involved and have a go, creating a vibrant atmosphere around each activity and a successful celebration of NAIDOC Week, 2023.