HOLY Rosary Primary School, Windsor, invited seven other Catholic schools to help them celebrate NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week this year.
The school, which has a strong indigenous representation, invited staff and students from Mary MacKillop College, Nundah; Holy Cross School, Wooloowin; St Pius’ Primary School, Banyo; Our Lady of Dolours School, Mitchelton; St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace; Brigidine College, Indooroopillly; and Lourdes Hill College, Hawthorne to join them in workshops and activities based around this year’s theme “Unsung Heroes – Closing the Gap by Leading Their Way”.
The guests heard stories about the history of indigenous people pre and post-European settlement, witnessed indigenous dance and culture in action, tasted bush tucker and participated in various indigenous arts and crafts sessions.
Principal Phil Standen said the aim was to give students an opportunity to share what reconciliation meant to them.
Mr Standen said it was also an opportunity for the other schools to be exposed to specialised areas of traditional indigenous culture like dancing, arts, bush tucker and games.
He said it was a good way of furthering the school’s vision and mission of “Reconciliation through Education” to the broader community.
“It’s our way of sharing the culture we have within the school,” he said.
“From the feedback we get it’s always a popular day with students because the students get actively involved and engaged with what they are doing.
“They walk away with something that they’ve created, they know the story behind what they’ve made and I think that creates a very good awareness of what we are trying to achieve from the day.”
Kiah Morgan, from Lourdes Hill College, said it was great way to meet different people from different schools and a highlight for her was learning what all the symbols meant in traditional painting, and making jewellery.
Alex Christie, from St Pius’ School, said he learned a lot about indigenous culture through the various workshops he attended.
For indigenous student Raymond Saunders it was great to have a chance to share his knowledge with students from the other schools who attended on the day.
“It’s been great getting together with everybody, meeting new people and showing them some of our culture,” he said.
“It was a lot of fun.”
