Why MITS Is A “Gudwan Pleis”

The Melbourne Indigenous Transition School, AKA: MITS, brings twenty-two young Aboriginal kids to Melbourne for the opportunity of a better education. It also aims to change the way people think of Indigenous people. I am of the opinion that MITS is a great place for both the students who go there and the MITS community.

I started MITS this year and when I came here, I was very nervous and shy. The MITS community almost immediately welcomed me with open arms. Who doesn’t want a warm welcome? I soon got to know the other kids and now it’s almost the end term two and we are all starting to feel like a family. I love how supportive and encouraging the teachers and boarding staff are. We have lots of Indigenous staff who we can relate to and talk to about cultural aspects of life. We find that being around all these Aboriginal students and staff makes us comfortable and wanting to share our culture.

I can’t believe how exciting it has been already! We walk up and down Rowena Parade every day. We also feel very welcomed by the Rowena café staff and neighbours, that often wave at us when we walk by. One of the most exciting things about our school is we are the only school in the world which is based in a professional sporting club. If you support Richmond or not we get to see the footy players almost every single day, whether it is watching them from our classroom window or assisting them, when some of us get picked to run water.

Furthermore, it’s not only the teachers and boarding staff it’s the incredible volunteers and the Rowena Parade community. We have volunteers at both the boarding house and school. We love having the volunteers around and they do a lot for us. For example Jan coming in every Thursday for art, it could be painting or sewing heat packs or even making teddy bears; we have a lot of fun. We love our Thursdays for another reason as well. Every Thursday after school Con and the other Rowena staff kindly donate their time to make us delicious freshly baked muffins. We love our muffins every Thursday and our art with Jan, big thanks to them!

We have so much fun learning and I really think that we have all improved by a huge amount. We came down from the Northern Territory communities or Gippsland for the opportunity for a better, bigger, brighter education. MITS is a school that allows Indigenous kids to transition for one year, to help them make strong relationships and get used to Melbourne. MITS also have various partner schools and both the teacher and boarding staff work hard to find the school that suits us best.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that MITS is a great place for young Indigenous kids. It is supportive and it helps us create strong relationships across Melbourne. Finally, MITS having a strong connection with the Richmond Football Club and the unmatched educational opportunity it gives us, make its one of the best places ever. It truly is a “Gudwan Pleis”

By Ruby

MITS is a good place

MITS stands for Melbourne Indigenous Transition School. At MITS we learn to write and read better. We also have Wellbeing, ICT, Math, Art and lots of great things like Book Club. At MITS we have 22 kids, 3 kids from Victoria and 1 from Western Australia and the rest are from Northern Territory.

On the weekends we play for Richmond Junior Football Club. We have also met the Richmond Football Club players and see them every week.

On weekends we do awesome things like going to the football at the MCG, swimming at the beach, shopping at Chadstone and Culture King, watching Baker Boy and Yothu Yindi as well as seeing last year kids and the 2017 and 2016 mob. One of the big highlights was when all of the boys went camping with Mr Brad and Patty on the Mornington Peninsula and it was a wonderful weekend. We played footy climbed hills and cooked tucker around the fire with Rick and Liz.

At MITS each term we have two captains and when we go on excursions to places like the city the two MITS Captain talk before we leave to say thanks and they also run assemblies.

Next year I’m going to St Kevin’s College to study hard and play footy for the school.

By Adam

Why you should come to MITS

MITS stands for Melbourne Indigenous Transition School. Our classroom is at the Richmond Football Club and we live next to St Kevin’s College in Richmond. At Lockington we have homework to complete every Tuesday until Thursday. In the classroom the teachers set homework for us to help our learning.

We learn history and all about famous Aboriginal people. I loved learning about William Cooper because he tried to save all of the Jewish people from the Nazi’s. At MITS we also do Book Club every Wednesday. In Book Club we find words from the book we don’t know and we look them up to understand them. In P.E. class we do new sports each term that has included SEDA soccer then SEDA netball. I also like the game Capture the Flag. I also like doing maths because I like timetables and measurement. We measured the Punt Road Oval and Yarra Park. This was fun. At MITS the teachers also take us out for excursions in the city and around Melbourne.

When we first came to Melbourne, we all didn’t know each other but as a class we formed a big circle and we shared stories about ourselves. Where we come from and what our Totems are. When you finish MITS and go to a partner school you can still visit MITS. When you finish the year you will miss the MITS family but anywhere you go the staff or teachers still look after you.

By Antonio

MITS Family Newsletter

Issue 6 · 25 Jun 2019

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