“We’re on Kaurna land, not French land”

Run by local Kaurna Elder Uncle Tamaru alongside principal Adam Blakely and teacher Matt Cattanach, the program, which only began in 2021 (the same year Adam started as principal), is already growing from strength to strength.

The school had been teaching French as its 50-minute a week language class, but the previous principal found it didn’t seem to be hitting the mark with students. This coincided with a real interest in the development of their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which included cultural awareness training from Uncle Tamaru who was already known for his work teaching Kaurna in local kindergartens.

A key goal of the RAP was to have Kaurna authentically embedded as an integral part of daily life not just in the classroom, but right across the life of the school. Another of the main drivers for the program was a deep link to the natural environment, given Upper Sturt Primary’s picturesque setting in the heritage bushland of the Adelaide Hills.

“The kids are able to access the beautiful physical environment of the heritage bush of our site for so much of their learning. They not only learn about Country, they learn in it; outdoors, and who better to do that with than the Kaurna people, with their deep, rich knowledge both culturally and language-wise,” said Adam.

“When French was the language being taught prior to me coming, it wasn’t really connecting with the kids; there wasn’t an application of it or a context for it, but with Kaurna there’s a real context to it, and it’s starting to infiltrate right across the school. The kids have agency over what they are learning; they can connect their understanding of the environment, sustainability and the natural world to both current Kaurna culture and to historical Kaurna culture of over 60,000 years.”

Kaurna is starting to visibly trickle across every part of Upper Sturt Primary now, with morning Welcome Circles, a Reconciliation Garden growing local native plants, bush tucker and bush medicine where each student adopted a plant to care for, regular Acknowledgments of Country and activities such as making Kaurna shields, and an active parent group who are committed to supporting the advancement of the school’s RAP.

Uncle Tamaru says he is inspired by the students’ appetite for learning, and just how quickly they have taken to the language and the culture that comes with it.

“When parents found out that I was going to come and teach Kaurna language at the school, they sent all their kids here, so the reception class was just packed with students keen to learn,” he said.

“Matt and I came up with a curriculum and we shared it with Adam and agreed that we would go in that direction. You look at these STEM Programs? Well, my culture’s been doing that for 60,000 years! We pretty much had those reception kids teaching Matt Kaurna because their hunger for knowledge and language is just amazing. Now they greet me in language, they ask me questions in language, and we’re finding that they’re taking it back to their siblings at home too.”

Now into its third year, the program has evolved from focusing on just the older style of German-influenced Kaurna to including the newer, more modern English style.

“We had some really interesting arguments – conversations – about what direction we wanted to take,” said Uncle Tamaru.

“I need to be mindful that my language is changing, so now we’re doing terms 1 and 2 in the older German-style, which is a wind language, and terms 3 and 4 in the more modern English-style language. The difference is in the pronunciation, and it’s actually really good for the kids, because they are picking the differences now, and it’s all about stimulating conversations; should it happen, why does it need to evolve? The kids are really loving it, they’re embracing it.”

Matt agrees the transition has been smooth and made an immediate impact right across the school, not just in the classroom, and is really helping towards their reconciliation goals.

“The kids just love Uncle; they love him coming out. They’re learning about this language and this culture, and here is somebody who embodies it, right in front of them,” he said.

“These kids already have their love of Country, their love of the natural world. Then discovering a cultural and historic dimension to that; they just can’t get enough. It’s that combination of the handson things that they’re participating in here; the Reconciliation Garden, the Welcome Circles. Then they’re hearing the tiati, the truth from Uncle. He’s sharing real, heartfelt stories with them and he’s not afraid of wearing his heart on his sleeve and showing emotion.

“There’s cause for sadness and regret for things that have happened in the past that are not good; that are downright terrible, and yet the kids still have that sense of hope and positivity because of everything else that we’re doing. That gets them really passionate to learn more but also to want to make a difference and walk on a reconciliation journey. When we talk about reconciliation, they understand it; they have practical examples of things that we’re doing here at the school that they can speak to, that give them a real hope and an optimism for the future.”

That is the wish that Uncle Tamaru has for this generation from the work being done now.

“When these children have the right to be a governor, a premier, a lawyer; when something about Aboriginal people crosses their bench, they’re not going to put it in the too hard basket – they’re actually going to deal with it because they will say ‘I know this culture, I know the people. I know Uncle, he’s pretty cool – he rides a Harley! Let’s work with them’.”

The way Upper Sturt Primary has embraced Aboriginal culture wholly through the program does not stop at the school gates. Students are now becoming educators themselves by taking home lists of Kaurna words and phrases to stick on their fridges; clippings of plants from the Reconciliation Garden for their backyards, and allencompassing concepts like Ngaitalya (respect) to their families.

“My fondest memory is one Christmas a Mum at the school came up and hugged me and said ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’ and I said ‘what have I done?’,” reflects Uncle Tamaru.

“She was a single Mum, and she was at her wit’s end because her young boy was hitting his sisters and being mean, and through meeting me here, he now goes over to the stove and picks his sisters’ food up and brings it over to them instead, because he’s got Ngaitalya, respect. Matt and Adam and I had conversations about how we wanted these kids to learn Ngaitalya early on in the program: respect for each other; respect for Mother Earth, and respect for their families. And now you can see the results of that; these are the things we’re achieving here.”

Jessica Jones has two boys at Upper Sturt Primary, one of whom knew Uncle Tamaru from his time in a nearby kindergarten, and has found that the program has initiated a deepening of understanding for their whole family as they have found ways to create continuity between the school learnings and the home environment.

“Uncle Tamaru is very skilled at weaving stories and presenting the truth in an age-appropriate way that doesn’t alienate children. He’s giving us a path forward; an open doorway for these students to go to him with open hearts and honest questions. He’s very generous with them and has become such a significant part of the Upper Sturt family. I’m awed that my boys get to have this experience and know that it will be a visible part of their life forevermore. It’s not going to be this hidden, misunderstood almost myth that you hear about as a child, that’s edited so heavily. These children have now got truth, they’ve got connection to Kaurna people, to the culture. They’ve got an experience of that culture that is visible to them, and they are a part of it. I’m really optimistic about what this means for the future of reconciliation and for the preservation of Kaurna culture and language,” Jessica said.

“I’ve got goosebumps just talking about it, because it’s just meant so much to my whole family and I’m extremely grateful to have it as a core part of what the school has to offer. Just the way they have adopted it and embraced it and continue to weave it into everything that they’re offering is really, really special.

“I feel like this is just the beginning of the journey. There’s a sense of excitement that something really big is growing from this; it’s encompassing not just the school, but everything around in the local community that is linked to the school.”

And what is the school’s advice to other schools who want to start embedding Aboriginal culture?

“Probably simply to start talking to local Aboriginal community members,” said Adam.

“Engaging with the local Kaurna community, or whatever Aboriginal community whose land you are on would be the first step; that’s a crucial one, nonnegotiable. We certainly didn’t want to be doing things on behalf of the Kaurna people, or being inappropriate in any way. We wanted to ensure there is a genuine, respectful relationship. From there you can be guided and directed by them, in partnership.”

“This is about creating the kind of future that we want to see,” adds Uncle Tamaru.