Murri News
AECG - Connecting to Country
On the first day of Term 3 several of our staff including Mrs Helen Wenner and Ms Naomi Nean had the opportunity to participate in the Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee’s (AECG) day-long Connecting to Country program held at Tulladunna Reserve.
Connecting to Country is an Aboriginal community cultural awareness teaching program that provides a cultural conduit between the States teaching fraternity and Aboriginal people and communities.
64 teachers from small schools in the region came together for a day of learning about local Aboriginal culture and history.
Our Aboriginal Education Officer, Mrs Helen Wenner was pleased to be able to participate as a guest speaker and share her knowledge and stories of life growing up at Tulladunna Reserve. She received many positive comments and feedback from teachers present, with several acknowledging the importance of the stories she shared as they gave greater insight into daily life and that time in our history.
Helen acknowledges the tremendous effort of the many people in our community that ensured this was a successful, enjoyable and educational day.
NAIDOC Celebrations
With NAIDOC Week this year falling during the school holidays, Wee Waa High School students returned from term break and wasted no time holding our own NAIDOC celebrations, beginning with a special assembly ahead of a full day of cultural activities.
On the Tuesday, the Welcome to Country was delivered by local Edler, Aunty Cheryl Gordon. Our guest speaker was artist, Darryl Ferguson of Lightning Ridge. Darryl is no stranger to Wee Waa High School, having given a great deal of his time over the years to the school’s Aboriginal heritage and cultural education programs.
Inspired by this year’s NAIDOC theme of ‘Voice Treaty Truth – Let’s Work Together for a Shared Future’, Darryl shared with staff and students the story of a great Aboriginal leader, his great grandfather Mr William (Bill) Ferguson.
Mr Ferguson set up the Aborigines' Progressive Association at Dubbo in 1937 and played a key role in improving the lives of his people. On 6 May 2019 a statue of Mr Ferguson was unveiled in Dubbo to acknowledge and commemorate his significant contribution in driving equality for Aboriginal people.
Later in the week students enjoyed participating in a series of cultural activities ranging from language, bush tucker and Johnny Cake making to rock painting and crafting beautiful artwork on clap sticks that they got to keep.
Organiser of the school’s NAIDOC celebrations, Aboriginal Education Officer, Mrs Helen Wenner said, ‘It was terrific to see the students really enjoying and embracing the cultural activities. They got a lot out of it and it was fantastic to share more of the history and culture of the Aboriginal people of this region. NAIDOC is always a very special part of the calendar at Wee Waa High School and I’d really like to thank all of the staff who helped make our celebrations this year such a rich and wonderful experience for everybody.’
Goodooga Games
On the 1st August, 10 students travelled to Goodooga Central School to participate in the annual Indigenous Games Day. It was a very early departure of 5:45am to arrive in time for the opening ceremony at 9:00am. The smoking ceremony, traditional male dance and speeches from local elders and the mayor were a fitting opening of such a special event.
Our students joined teams with others who came from over 20 schools, including Muswellbrook and Singleton, along with some Sydney private schools. Games went for 15 minutes each and teams rotated around 10 different Indigenous games, playing for 3 hours. The emphasis was on teamwork and having fun together and the day was not intended to be competitive.
Wee Waa High School students all participated enthusiastically and were great mentors for their younger primary school teammates. Tyanna Gaydon was the recipient of an award for the 'best and fairest' player on her team as she consistently demonstrated great team work.
Thanks to Mr Stawski, Ms Bunner and Naomi Nean for supervising the students on the day.
Staff Graduate from TAFE with Diploma of Aboriginal Studies
We are so proud of two of our staff members, Helen Wenner and Naomi Nean, for recently graduating from TAFE with a Diploma of Aboriginal Studies. Making it even more special was the fact that their graduation fell during NAIDOC week.
Both Helen and Naomi are passionate about learning more of their Aboriginal culture and sharing it. So when the opportunity to undertake a Diploma of Aboriginal Studies came up, both were keen to juggle their work and life commitments to be able to undertake the course.
With the philosophy of ‘you’re never too old to learn’, Helen said she also wanted to demonstrate to her students that learning is a life-long journey.
The diploma course is nationally recognised and focuses on discovering, celebrating and learning about Aboriginal culture and sees both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students of all ages participate.
Helen said, ‘I really encourage people undertake the course. It opens doors and you develop a high-level understanding of Aboriginal culture and knowledge systems, as well as sociohistorical issues. It has been a very rewarding experience for both Naomi and myself.’
**Photo courtesy of the Narrabri Courier
Upcoming AECG Meeting
The next Wee Waa Local AECG Meeting will be on Thursday, 15th August 2019 at Dangar Park at 4:00pm. All parents of Aboriginal students are most welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing them there. For any enquiries, please contact Ms Naomi Nean.