Peter Carnley Anglican Community School

PETER CARNLEY ANGLICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE

Peter Carnley Anglican Community School celebrates a rich cultural diversity amongst its students, staff and families.

Principal Felicity House said while eighty percent of the School’s students were Australian born, many had parents who were born overseas. Twenty per cent of students were born overseas and come from 36 different countries of birth.

“Rich cultural diversity is celebrated and embraced as part of our School identity,” Ms House said.

She said celebrations like Harmony Week provided a wonderful opportunity to share cultural heritage. Staff and students wear traditional clothing that reflects their cultural identity. Classes engage in Harmony Week activities and multicultural cuisines are prepared by the canteen for students to enjoy. We also celebrate our cultural diversity by participating in dance performances, assembly items and assisting local artists with art collaborations.

The ‘Welcome Wall’ at the front of the Wellard campus reflects the multicultural make-up of the school, greeting visitors in seven different languages Noongar, English, Hindi, Indonesian, Chinese, Italian and Maori.

The colours for each word come from the colours on country flags including the Noongar word Wandju which represents the red earth of our land. Aboriginal cultural engagement is a focus for the School. The classrooms at Calista have been renamed with each classroom proudly displaying an animal with the reciprocal Noongar name. The School is engaged in the ASC RAP, with Principal Felicity House sitting on the ASC RAP working party. Throughout the School, staff and students look for opportunities to learn about the culture of First Australians.

Year 12 student, Faith Clowry has been at the forefront of raising awareness, first approaching Ms House last year to share her story at the Principal’s Assembly where the theme was NAIDOC Week.

“Faith wanted to share her story to the School community about her culture and growing up as an Aboriginal girl and woman. She lamented the lack of teaching of Aboriginal culture throughout her schooling. This is something we have taken very seriously, as we bring more content and truth telling to our classrooms,” Ms House said.

“Faith has shown tremendous leadership in Senior School and has been an advocate within our community to educate others about acceptance and respect, which are two of our School values. She is very proud and passionate about her heritage, and her passion in her discussions has planted the seed for further learning and inclusion of Aboriginal culture and heritage at the School.”

Faith spoke on behalf of students at ASC schools at the launch of the ASC Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in July. She spoke about what it meant to her as a proud Aboriginal woman, and her enthusiasm for further education in our schools. Faith’s speech is replicated in full.

FAITH CLOWRY’S SPEECH

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the Wadjuk Noongar people who are the traditional custodians of these lands and waters for they hold the culture, memories and hope of Indigenous Australia.

Hi everyone, my names is Faith Clowry, I am a proud Dharumbal Murray woman. My people come from Rockhampton in Queensland, I attend Peter Carnley and I am currently in year 12.

About 2 weeks ago, Ms House came to me and posed the question, “what would it mean to you to have a reconciliation action plan (RAP) in the ASC?” In the midst of all of this, my friends were putting together a Black Lives Matter assembly for the Senior school. We had spoken about our hopes for Indigenous and cultural studies, so when Ms House told me that the ASC was launching a RAP I got quite excited. This meant that the hard work we were doing would become part of something bigger, a plan to bridge the gap and create better understandings and opportunities.

To me, a RAP is all about creating opportunity and awareness for Indigenous people and at the moment, it is a time for change and education. The Black Lives Matter

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movement has sparked a huge conversation about what we should and shouldn’t be doing. It has made a lot of people realise that they may not actually know that much about the traditional custodians and that is why this is the perfect time to launch this RAP.

Since the Anglican Schools Commission schools range from K-12, it really does start with us from the very beginning. We start the education for children as young as three years old about current Australia and past Australia. My whole schooling life I would get excited when we would be learning about Aboriginal culture but as I got older, I realised was that there were not many of these moments. So to be told that the ASC had put together a RAP meant so much to me because it means that the next generations to come will be taught things that I have wanted to be taught throughout school. They will gain an understanding of this incredible culture that is so rich.

This next generation is all about change, I have heard elders talk about the hopes and dreams they have for the generations to come and what they are going to bring. Starting this education from an early age will help start this change and make our elders proud.

The ASC RAP can be viewed on the ASC website.

Images Main image: Faith Clowry with Professor Len Collard at the ASC RAP Launch 1. L-R Felicity House (Principal, Peter Carnely Anglican Community School), Faith Clowry (Year 12 student), Professor Len Collard (Noongar Elder), Jeremy Clowry (Year 8 student), The Most Reverend Kay Goldsworthy AO Archbishop of Perth and The Reverend Peter Laurence OAM.