Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4! 

I trust that each family had a wonderful break and enjoyed some quality time together during the holidays. 

2024 Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference

Next week, Armidale Catholic Schools and CSNSW will co-host the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference. The theme is Spirit on Country: Learning together then, now, and always. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our Diocese.

Earlier this year, the Message Stick, which invited us to gather for this conference, visited our school community and then travelled across the remainder of our Diocese. It will finish its journey next Tuesday at the Conference.

Students from Sacred Heart School have been selected to participate in the conference's opening ceremony. Next Tuesday, they will speak the traditional Gamilaraay language on Country at the Myall Creek Memorial Site. Over 500 participants from across NSW will attend the Conference and experience this unique opportunity to connect with Country right in our Diocese. I wish to thank Miss Dorrington for the time she has taken to support our Sacred Heart students in preparation for their important role in the Conference.

All schools in our Diocese were also asked to create Aboriginal Artwork depicting their school's storyline. The students collaborated with Mrs Angela Jensen, Mr Cruze Morley, and Ms Courtney Hayne from St Xavier's, Gunnedah, to depict the Sacred Heart Boggabri story.

Gaay giiruu biidjinma-li (True words win) “Truth Conquers”

Artist Courtney Hayne presented this artwork to the staff and students at Sacred Heart this Wednesday. We thank her for the countless hours she spent planning, designing, and executing this painting, which will be on display during the Conference.

Here is the Artist's Statement that outlines the meaning behind the components of our beautiful artwork:

Artwork Name: Gaay giiruu biidjinma-li (True words win) “Truth Conquers”

Artist: Courtney Hayne

Contributions: Mrs Angela Jensen, Cruze Morley and the students of Sacred Heart School

This wonderful artwork was created by Courtney Hayne, who is a local aboriginal woman with strong connections to the Gamilaraay area.

The title of this artwork is Gaay giiruu biidjinma-li, which translated from Gamilaraay is ‘True words win. Our Sacred Heart School Motto is “Truth Conquers”. This motto reminds us that being honest and doing the right thing will lead to good outcomes and make us stronger.

Recently, Sacred Heart students participated in a workshop where they learnt about and drew traditional aboriginal symbols with St Xavier’s Cultural Leaders, Cruze Morley and Angela Jensen. Courtney has incorporated these drawings into a painting that tells the storyline of Sacred Heart School. 

Sacred Heart Boggabri was established in 1911 and is possibly one of the last Catholic schools to be established by Mary Mackillop and the Sisters of St Joseph of The Sacred Heart. You can see the silhouette image of Mary Mackillop in the foreground. She is immersed in a traditional aboriginal smoking ceremony to cleanse away evil spirits and welcome good spirits.

The artwork is painted mainly in traditional ochre colour. The bright colours in the artwork link to the present day. You will see this in the students' handprints and the traditional aboriginal symbol for community connections.

The artwork portrays the colours of the Aboriginal Flag: black representing the people, yellow for the sun and red for the earth and also the Torres Strait Islander Flag; green for the land, blue for the sea, black for the people and white for the dancer’s headdress. The sun sets in the West, and the mountain range that surrounds Boggabri sits in the East. You can see the Southern Cross in our night sky, and this is the same symbol on the Sacred Heart Year 6 sports uniform. 

The Crucifix and heart symbols are of great importance in representing our school and are at the centre of the painting. These two symbols are the Sacred Heart emblem and hold special meaning and links to our students’ Catholic education and love of God. Our values of perseverance, responsibility, respect, kindness, honesty, tolerance and cooperation are listed around the crucifix because they are at the heart of our actions. Traditional Aboriginal symbols of community connection, meeting places and native animal tracks are important in our local area. People come together to meet from different cultures, which is integral to connecting our community. Emus, goannas, kangaroos and koalas are some of the native animals seen in our local area. You can see the symbols of the animal tracks in the background of the artwork.

The Namoi River flows north-west past Boggabri. The artwork depicts various meeting places along the stoney river bank and thatching lines to show the roads travelled. You can imagine our First Australians meeting along the river to share the day’s hunting with each other, celebrating with dancing corroborees and passing on culture to the younger generation. Traditional aboriginal symbols of bush tucker and boomerang are also featured in the painting.

We thank Courtney Hayne for giving up her time to share her artistic talents in creating a unique artwork that tells the story of Sacred Heart School, Boggabri. 

I look forward to sharing some highlights from the Conference with you in our following newsletter.

Come and join our Family Fun Night - Next Friday @6pm

I look forward to seeing as many families as possible join us next Friday night for our Family Pizza and Tennis night in Boggabri. Please RSVP as soon as possible.

Warm regards,

Claire Ryan

Principal