Cultural News
St Mary's School Mooroopna
New - Ganbina Education Scholarships
Ganbina's Primary School Education Scholarships are designed to help Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander familes cover some of the education expenses.
The 2025 Scholarships are open to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children from Foundation to Grade 6 who are attending primary school in the Goulburn Valley Area.
For further information please see the attached flyer or contact Ganbina's Primary Education Program Officer - Sharni Beeton on 0438 217 399 or St Mary's Koori Educator - Tahlia Cooper on 5825 2858.
New - Morning Tea Invitation
We invite you to a morning tea to celebrate Reconciliation Week.
Time: 10 am – 11:30 am
When: Thursday 29th May
Where: Marian Centre
At 10 am we welcome Aunty Cheryl Bourke who will teach the Yr 3 – 6 indigenous students how to make an emu feather necklace. Parents and guardians are welcome to join in and assist students in making a necklace.
This will be followed by a smoking ceremony. Students from Prep to Yr 2 will join us for morning tea.
Please let us know if you are coming by Wednesday 28th May at the office or via Mrs Catherine Dyke’s email address - cdyke@smmooroopna.catholic.edu.au
New - Sorry Day Flag Raising and Smoking Ceremony at St Mary’s
On Monday morning the whole school gathered for a Smoking Ceremony led by Billy Cooper. We raised our flags to half-mast as a sign of remembrance for the Stolen Generation.
We listened to a poem titled -
“I am Sorry” by Stephanie Mulrooney
They travelled far across the sea to a strange and distant land,
They claimed your home for a foreign king with a flagpole stuck in sand. For the failings of my ancestors, I feel compelled to say,
That I am sorry for all they did, and all they took away.
For the ancient tales no longer told, the words no longer spoken,
For the families that were ripped apart, their hearts forever broken,
For the censoring of our history, too shocking to reveal,
For the wounds we have inflicted that we all must strive to heal.
For the struggles and injustices that linger to this day,
For the overwhelming sense of loss that never goes away,
For those who do not understand, and those who fail to try,
Who say things like, “That’s in the past, just let sleeping dogs lie.”
For all of this, I share with you my sadness and my sorrow,
In the hope that we may walk as one towards a new tomorrow.
By learning from our past mistakes, our ignorance and failure,
Perhaps, one day, we will become a reconciled Australia.
New - Sorry Day Commemorative Service in Shepparton
Our FIRE Carriers and the indigenous students from Year 5/6 attended the Sorry Day service run by the Regional Reconciliation Action Group, led by Diedre Robertson and Uncle Bobbie Nicholls. Many secondary students from various schools around the region participated with reading segments from the Bringing Them Home report and from the Justice Commission Yooorook. A highlight was the smoking ceremony, the Welcome to Country in Yorta Yorta language and the dancing by the Galnya Yenbena dance group.
As part of Sorry day, classes created handprints.
Reconciliation Week
During Reconciliation Week, our students will learn about significant dates that Aboriginal people have successfully protested or achieved a change in society, such as 1969 Referendum May 27th and June 3rd Mabo Day.
On Friday 30th May, students will create a pathway, symbolising the need to move forward with issues that still impact the lives of indigenous people, such as youth in custody, gaps in education, poor health and life expectancy of indigenous people. This will occur on Friday after lunch. Those parents who pick up their children from school are welcome to walk along the pathway and read what our students have reflected upon.
Also on Friday, 30th of May, our FIRE Carriers will travel across to Benalla to represent our school at the Mass for Healing and Justice. It will be held at 11am at FCJ College in Benalla. This is beautiful way to reflect and pray for reconciliation across Australia. If you would like to watch the live stream, there is a QR code to scan in the flyer below.
Significant dates during Term 2 include:
Week 7
Tuesday May 27th – Tuesday June 3rd – Reconciliation Week
Week 11 - Monday 30th June - Friday 4th July - NAIDOC Week (usually falls during the school holidays July 6th – 13th July) but we will celebrate early.
Workshops
Girls Indigenous Program
Boys Indigenous Program
Acknowledgement of Country
At St Mary’s Primary School Mooroopna we Acknowledge the Traditional people of this land. The Yorta Yorta Nation are the Traditional Custodians of this area and we remember their elders, past, present and future. We remember that the Aboriginal people of Australia will always be the traditional owners of the land on which we gather today. We continue to grow through education and reconciliation to a better future for all Australians.
