Cooinda News

It has been great for us all to be back in Cooinda and our mob all together after a few tough years. There have been lots of happy faces and we are all glad to be back together. Jackson Parkes and Lisa Selsby successfully implemented our 2021 Year 7 Aboriginal Studies program. We received a lot of feedback from our students and all were glad to have the opportunity to learn about our amazing cultural heritage and the many stories and heroes that have contributed to the 60,000+ years of our nation.

We are now two terms into our 2022 Aboriginal Studies program and have welcomed all of our Year 7s to this course. Mr Parkes and Ms Selsby have begun implementing our 2022 Cooinda Cultural Program where we have many activities planned for the Cooinda kids this year.  This is an exciting program that creates stronger connection to culture, history and to other members of the group and it is always rewarding to see our kids forming lifelong bonds with each other. 

For the last two years we have been planning, developing and designing our bush/medicine garden and yarning circle. Our biggest thanks goes to Janine Webb for her grant application, Gavi Duncan for his creative ideas and knowledge, Josh Cheverall for his design and preparation of the space and for the continuing support of our Principal, Andrew Backhouse. Many of our Cooinda and mainstream students will now begin researching and then planting many bush food plants and bush medicine plants. We are proud of the progress we have made so far and look forward to a day in the near future when we can invite families and community members to join us to connect with the space that is really special to us. 

Our PLPs have begun and this is always a rewarding experience for all who attend.  Personalised Learning Plans are always beneficial and are a positive time spent with our students and their families. Recently some of senior students went up to the University of Newcastle's Aboriginal Enabling Program Yapug with Mr Parkes and met with other schools that are embarking on this program. It was beneficial for these senior students to connect with a space where they can go to continue their education after school. We welcome our new Year 7s to Cooinda and look forward to further connecting with them and hearing their stories. 

We are looking forward to organising our NAIDOC celebration day in Week 2 Term 3 where we will be welcoming the schools from the Gosford City Learning Community to Henry Kendall for a day of cultural programs run across the school. Mr Parkes and Ms Selsby would like to thank all our Cooinda kids who continue to step up and show up each day, you are all very important to us. 

Mr Jackson Parkes and Ms Lisa Selsby