MARRUNG UPDATE

Korrie Curriculum Cluster - Phase 2 Showcase Day 21st May 2026

Reconciliation Week – Going All In

As Brooke said so well, we were deeply honoured to begin our Koorie Curriculum Cluster Showcase on Thursday 21st with a Welcome and Smoking Ceremony. It set the tone for the entire day. 

Schools from across the regions, along with visiting departmental leaders, were able to experience the atmosphere that Melton Specialist School has become known for, welcoming, authentic and grounded in real relationships. What stood out most was not polished speeches or displays, but the practical everyday moments: students confidently greeting visitors, classrooms remaining calm and connected, staff quietly supporting one another, and culture being lived rather than performed.

In many ways, a specialist school led the way simply by showing what inclusion, belonging and respect can actually look like in practice. We should all be very proud of what we have all been a part of creating this space.

Check out the below Showcase presentation. 

Possum Skin Shawl Project

We were also incredibly proud to showcase the Possum Skin Shawl project in real life.

 The response from visitors was immediate and emotional. These are not just artworks, they are stories, identity, connection and healing stitched together through community.

 Huge thanks go to Jackie Blanks and Kate Slingo, who have kindly agreed to be contact people as this groundbreaking project moves forward with students, families and community walking alongside us. 

There is something very powerful about young people seeing culture held with care in their own school spaces. You could feel people realising they were witnessing something important.

Didgeridoo in Schools

The didgeridoo performances, however, became the heartbeat of the day. 

Our boys were extraordinary ambassadors for what this pilot program could become in schools across the country. Watching them stand together, breathe together and play together was something difficult to put properly into words. People cried. Staff cried. Visitors cried. There was a genuine sense that people were witnessing something much bigger than a school performance, a glimpse of what self-determination in education can look and sound like when young people are trusted, supported and proud of who they are.

 Adding to that was the inclusion that was demonstrated with non-Indigenous students learning to play. Magic. Special thanks to Sean Candy for his inspiration and guidance in helping us grow this from an idea into something real. 

We are also grateful to Assistant Principals Craig Thomson and Phil Nolan, who will now carry this men’s business work forward and continue building what it symbolises, particularly as Treaty conversations and educational reform continue across Victoria.

Djirri Djirri School – The name was chosen by Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Gail Smith. That was a reason. This family live on school grounds so it is most appropriate for the name change.

A Final word from Jamie 

 My thanks and best wishes go to everyone. I am leaving this school as of 29th May for some well-deserved Long Service Leave and then I am moving to FNQ! Thanks to ALL who have taught me so much and I have learned from. Especially the students I have taught and most especially my 2026 class, M03. All the best, Jamie 😊