Campfire Conversation

“Flying the Indigenous flag, seeing the flag, it makes us feel safe. You can then be your whole self at school. When I was at school, I couldn’t carry myself with pride.” 

This was one of the many comments recorded at our School’s inaugural Campfire Conversation (A Victorian Government initiative) which sought to provide the Koorie members of our school community with opportunities to define self-determination in education, and to tell us what our school could do to make sure that the Indigenous members of our school community feel welcome and safe at our school. 

Held at the end of Term 1, 30 participants took part in our Conversation. Discussion centred around changes that our school could make such as: establishing an Indigenous student group, ensuring that our history curricula teach the truth about the history of Melbourne and celebrate Indigenous culture, history, and heroes. Other suggestions included flying the Indigenous flag at the entrance to our school and having Indigenous murals painted on the school grounds. 

Our Indigenous student group has been established and is meeting next week to discuss which of these changes they would like to further in Term 3 and beyond. It’s exciting to have students across all year levels who would like to create change at our school to make it even more accepting and supportive. 

Chris Bush - Head of Student Voice and Leadership