Swan Valley Anglican Community School

SWAN VALLEY ANGLICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

GET UP! STAND UP! SHOW UP!

Swan Valley Anglican Community School enthusiastically embraced NAIDOC Week and this year’s theme of Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! was an opportunity to celebrate and proudly support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their culture.

Kindy and Pre-Kindy students collaborated to produce an interpretation of the Aboriginal flag by using each student’s individual handprint to represent the school’s connection to Indigenous people. Local Aboriginal Elder Vaughn McGuire showed students how to draw symbols on rocks, explaining the meaning behind each image. He described the six Noongar seasons and how Aboriginal people connect with Country. Primary students were mesmerised when Lilly Gogos sang in Noongar language and told stories about her childhood. They were intrigued to learn that Lilly had translated the well-known Australian song “I Am, You Are, We Are Australian” into Noongar language for a QANTAS commercial.

Early Years students and staff participated in a dance and didgeridoo performance and enjoyed the opportunity to get up and learn some Aboriginal dance moves. The Yirra Yaakin Theatre Group performed “Bilya Kaatijin” (Fresh Water Knowledge) for Primary students, while Binar Futures took Year 9 students on a journey about the land, animals, cultural practices and Dreamtime using dance, storytelling and music. Former WA Liberal Leader Zak Kirkup spoke to Secondary students about his father’s Yamatji heritage and his desire to try and decrease the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. After discovering the reasons why damper is an important food for Aboriginal people, Kindy and PrePrimary students had the opportunity to make some for themselves to enjoy with quandong jam. Year 6 students learned about ancient bush foods and medicines, bush tools and Dreamtime Stories. Secondary students enthusiastically cooked Wattleseed pancakes for lunch. To conclude the week, Student Leaders from Years 2, 6 and 12 joined together for a cultural expedition through Kings Park. They were fascinated to discover how Aboriginal people use different plants for light, cooking and medicine. This generated many conversations amongst the students. One Year 12 Prefect was moved to say, “It is amazing how we are tourists in our own country. We should be listening more carefully to Aboriginal people about how to preserve our land and not be so wasteful.”