NAIDOC Week Celebrations - From Mr Condie
Get Up Stand Up Show Up NAIDOC 2022
Last week our school celebrated NAIDOC Week. The theme for this year was "Get Up Stand Up Show Up." I have to say that this was one of our best NAIDOC Week's because of the way our students and staff got into the spirit of learning and sharing.
NAIDOC is an important part of our school year where we recognize the great history and culture of our First Nations peoples. The theme this year emphasised the need to take a stand and to become part of the reconciliation movement in our country.
We began our week on Monday with an assembly. There was a smoking/water blessing ceremony that purified and cleansed the space of our assembly. We had prayers to heal the country and the people of this land. The music of the Aboriginal Lords Prayer was played while the Australian and Aboriginal flag were raised together. At the end of our assembly we acknowledged the passing of Archie Roach and listened to one of his well known songs ‘Took the Children Away’.
On Tuesday Yaegl/Bundjalung man Mitch King ran body movement and dance workshops. Mitch got us physically active and his workshops incorporated elements of hip hop and Indigenous dance. He also made us think of rhythm and how our bodies have an internal beat.
On Wednesday Arakwal/Bundjalung woman Aunty Delta Kay came to our school to do cultural lessons. Our jarjums (children) listened to stories from Byron Bay and the coast. She reminded us to look after Bundjalung Jugun (Land) and to respect the spirits of this place. Aunty painted our faces with ochre in patterns of the dolphin, eagle and snake. Her wisdom and wealth of knowledge was something everyone took away from her lessons that day.
On Thursday we had a BBQ Lunch for our indigenous students and their families. We even got to taste some kangaroo along with the sausages we are familiar with.
On Friday Solid Mob from Ballina came in to run an anti-smoking program with our Year 5 students. We were reminded of the health dangers of smoking and the rise of
vaping in our society. I want to thank Leanne from Solid Mob for the prizes she brought and for the information she gave us. We also had a casual day where students and staff came in the Aboriginal flag colours. It was a sight to see everyone celebrating together with this small gesture.
Throughout the week we ran the ‘Deadly Doors’ design competition where each class had to decorate their classroom door in an indigenous theme. There were some amazing designs and it was great that the office/library participated as well. In the next newsletter I’ll let you know the Primary and Infants winners, but the ‘Deadly Doors’ was more about everyone being involved and showing their creative skills.
For NAIDOC Week we had the word ‘jingala’ (hello) in each classroom. Learning some of the Bundjalung language is something we can all do and is a small way we can learn from our First Nations peoples.
Overall a big week of celebrating and one that was very rewarding. A big bugalbeh (thankyou) to Mitch, Aunty Delta and Leanne for coming into our school last week. Lastly a big bugalbeh to our students for embracing the messages behind NAIDOC Week and the garimah (respect) they showed.
Mr Condie
Indigenous Education Worker
