Going back to Yiramalay was like going back home

At the start of 2022, I was selected to be the Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School Community Engagement Officer. My name is Stanley Shaw Marr, I am Bunuba (Father’s side) and Kija (Mother’s side). I am proud to say my hometown is Fitzroy Crossing in WA. I have two older brothers and one younger sister, who also live there as does most of my extended family.

I can remember hearing about the Studio School in 2010 from family members, “You know you should probably come out to the school and have a look; I’ve known you all my life, you would be a good role model for young people at the school.” I would ask questions only to be told that I would have to come out there and experience it for myself.

The Executive Director would bump into me at the IGA in Fitzroy Crossing and humbug me about working at the school and in 2014 I thought, why not? I’ll give it a go, and that is how I started working at the school. In 2015 I moved to Melbourne and mentored the Indigenous boys in houses in Glen Waverley.

The Learning in Residence (LiR) opened at the beginning of 2017, and I joined the team as a Residential Mentor. Being part of the LiR team was a huge learning experience for me and I appreciate having the chance to work there. I was seconded to Yiramalay in the Kimberley in Term 3 last year, the Community Engagement Officer role became available at the end of the year, and I applied and was selected, it was perfect timing. The role involves building trusting relationships with families within communities that our students come from, going into communities, engaging and endorsing the school, listening to the needs of families, and interviewing prospective students and their families to see if we are a good fit for their student. Being a local works to my advantage, I know the community and elders around the Valley and have family and friends across the Kimberley including Derby, Bidyadanga, Karratha, One Arm Point, Halls Creek and Roebourne. Working as a mentor over many years, I am also well known to students and their families in the NT communities where some of our students come from.

It’s been great so far, we participated in the Fitzroy Expo this term, I told everyone to come down through social media. When I got into town everyone asked questions about how to enrol to get into Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School. The biggest challenges of the role are just getting students set up with Abstudy, families find it challenging to get this done and that’s where I support them. We are engaging with more families across the Kimberley now and several organisations including Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation are actively supporting and promoting the school. Although COVID-19 has created some travel restrictions, it has not affected my role significantly, I know that it will get better in the coming months.

This job has been great and I am really enjoying it here. Going back to Yiramalay was like going back home. I don’t even worry about going into town most weekends, I prefer to just chill here at Yiramalay.