Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education News
St Mary’s and St Xavier's Gunnedah - Discovering Australian Native Foods, Medicines and Botanicals
Year 9, 10 and 11 Food Technology students were joined by students from St Xavier’s for an inspiring and immersive journey into Australia’s native foods, medicines and botanicals. Students enjoyed a fascinating presentation by Sharon Winsor, a proud Weilwan woman, chef, author, culinary storyteller, and founder of the Ngukirri Foundation and Australian Native Food Festival.
Sharon shared stories of her childhood in Rocky Glen and Gunnedah, where catching yabbies, collecting bush fruits and learning about bush medicines sparked her lifelong connection to Country. Students discovered the incredible diversity of Australian native foods and learnt how First Nations peoples have sustainably cared for and used the land for generations. They explored traditional knowledge about native plants, fruits, seeds, herbs and spices, as well as their contemporary uses.
The highlight was the hands-on experience! Students tasted native foods, smelt and identified herbs and spices, examined edible plant materials and learnt about traditional preparation methods.
Warraymaylaya Maal Dhuwi Retreat - Term 4
Information and Permission notes have been forwarded to secondary schools for the Year 8 & 9 Warraymaylaya Maal Dhuwi Retreat next Term Week 5 . Please ensure to return permission notes to school by Week 2.
National Indigenous Literacy Day celebrations
Schools across the Diocese celebrated National Indigenous Literacy Day with a special collaboration with Corey Tutt AO -an Aboriginal Australian STEM professional, author, social entrepreneur and the founder of DeadlyScience and author of “Come Home Bigibila”.
This book also celebrates the National Indigenous Literacy Foundation theme of “Country is our Teacher” with the amazing illustration from Jessica Tedim.
Jessica is a past St. Joseph’s Primary School Waglett and Wii Gaay student.
Our schools celebrated this deadly day with a live recording of Corey Tutt reading the wonderful adventures of Bigibila with group reading, dances and creative arts as part of the school's celebrations.
Wii Gaay Mentoring Sessions with Jess Tidem
As part of the 2026 Wii Gaay ‘50 Pages of Deadly’ project, our Wii Gaay students have transitioned into ‘Illustrators in Residence’. And who better to mentor our clever kids than the highly talented Jess Tidim? As you might recall from the recent Indigenous Literacy Day book that your schools celebrated, Come Home Bigibila by Corey Tutt, Jess was the illustrator. She is also a past student of Armidale Catholic Schools, calling Walgett home, and is a past Wii Gaay student herself.
The students have been engaged in learning how to create page spreads, sketch thumbnails for their books, do line work, use colour to convey mood, and add texture using various digital brushes.
We have completed two sessions with Jess, and our last session this week will wrap up with the students finishing their illustration prototypes and receiving 'publisher-level' feedback on their work.
A huge thank you to Jess for mentoring our kids, and thank you to all staff and schools for being so supportive in this experience.
