Gloucester High School celebrated NAIDOC in style this year by holding a week's worth of activities in the last week of school before the July holidays.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kicking off on Monday (July 1), students, teachers and staff joined together out front of the school for a flag raising ceremony, on Tuesday (July 2), students went on a cultural art excursion to Taree, and every morning students learned a little more about NAIDOC during roll call.
One of the big events of the week took place on Thursday, July 4 when the students took part in an assembly, followed by a friendly game of volleyball between students and teachers.
The assembly was run by a group of Indigenous students and the relieving teacher librarian, Lara Field. First, Welcome to Country was said by the Department of Education's Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer, Steve Brereton in his native Biripri language, Gathang. Then each student spoke about the history behind NAIDOC Week and what this year's theme, Voice Treaty Truth Let's work together, means to Australia's Indigenous peoples. Ms Field spoke of what it was like for her as a high school student, not knowing much about her Aboriginal cultural and how much things have changed to make it more inclusive for students in school.
As the students left the school hall, they took parting in a smoking ceremony designed to cleanse away all the bad spirits.
After a quick lunch break, it was planned for the students to take on the teachers and local police in a friendly footy game, however, due to wet weather and the police being called away in the line of duty, a game of volleyball was played under cover in the school's quad.
The week finished off with a fun-filled Friday (July 5) involving boomerangs, mural painting and Indigenous games.
