Our Staff

Welcome to the new Principal Mr Butts!

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the new Principal Mr Butts! He joined the team at the beginning of Term 4 as the leader of our College.

We hope you have had the opportunity to say hello to Mr Butts while he has been in the school yard before and after school.

Staff PD Day - Rumbalara & The Flats, Mooroopna

Term 3 ended with a staff PD Day at Rumbalara and The Flats in Mooroopna.

By engaging with the experiences and cultural practices, our educators not only deepened their knowledge of Aboriginal history and spirituality but also developed the cultural competence needed to support Aboriginal students in feeling seen, valued and respected.

The day started with meeting Aunty Cheryl who had made each of us a necklace made from emu feathers and sap. We made 𝘋𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘢 (white smoke) where we waved our necklace in the 𝘋𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘢 and then cleansed ourselves in the smoke.

The whole staff attended Rumbalara where we listened to Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Lance talk about the rich Aboriginal history within our Goulburn Valley region. They spoke of ‘The Flats’, an area between Mooroopna and Shepparton, where the Aboriginal community consisted of homes/shacks, a church, a kinder, a maternity service and medical services. We passed around possum skins, snakes, paperbark, emu eggs, snake skins, photos and a possum skin cloak, learning of their importance to our Indigenous community. We learnt that 𝘙𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 means 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘸.

We wandered along the path to The Flats, chatting with Aunty Cheryl as we went, learning of a new app developed by Sharon Atkinson and her team where it translates Yorta Yorta language to English. Uncle Lance also shared his fishing tips. Both were so eager to teach and were a wealth of knowledge!

Back at the College we came together in our Corroboree area to reflect on our learning - demonstrating how deeply this session had touched us all.

"You can talk about this history, but until you actually immerse yourself in the culture you can’t really grasp the depth," said Deputy Principal Kate.

The day was one of learning, celebration, sadness, recognition, history and connection. We are extremely grateful to Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Lance for giving of themselves so we can be educated.

On Sunday, October 13, three of our staff, Tara J, Peter O and Amanda walked 35km in The Bloody Long Walk along Mornington Peninsula to help Australians living with mitochondrial disease. Well done to all on completing a worthy challenge.