Inaugural Boarders First Nations Cultural Camp
Our First Nations boarders cultural camp was hosted by Old Boy Jonothan Wright, former NRL player and owner of Dhinewan Mentoring. The Camp was a opportunity for the boys to not only engage and learn culture, but to also build their leadership skills as well as deepen their understanding of First Nations culture. The day included the boys connecting to Country, grounding themselves and helping them to build out further their understanding of what Country means to them.
The boys then built upon their knowledge of traditional artifacts and how they represent a connection to Country for the boys and how they manage to remain connected to Country whilst being away from home.
The end of the day allowed for the boys to learn dance, all performed in the Wiritjiribin Garden before our senior First nations leadership group thanked Jonothan and the team from Dhinewan Mentoring for their sharing of knowledge and the day’s activities.
Harmony Week First Nations Unity dance
As part of this years Harmony week celebrations our First Nations boys were given the opportunity to both learn more about the Unity dance through the Thursday night presentation of the documentary Araatika – Rise up. The boys who attended the nights presentation and built on their understanding of the dance and how it is aimed at uniting all Australians and is an offer for all Australians to participate in.
At the Harmony day assembly, a group of nearly 40 First Nations students then presented the dance for the gathering, as well as an open invitation for all who wish to learn more about the dance to join in partnership with the First Nations program and complete a workshop with them.
Junior school First Nations mentoring
The Junior school was visited for the first time by some of our First Nations mentors from year 7 this year. With the number of First Nations student across the Junior school tripling this year, our Year 7 Mentors begun the session with an introduction and sharing a little about themselves. It was great to see our Junior School students then share a little about themselves and some interesting facts about them where they are from also. Our Mentors then shared a reading to the group, with some of our older Junior school students stepping up and also taking turns at reading to the large group.