National NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with this year’s theme being ‘For Our Elders’. Here at Kildare College, we have chosen to celebrate NAIDOC Week in a few ways.
On Monday our Indigenous students participated in a workshop where they learnt to make lemon myrtle damper and weave, with Nikki Carabetta-Baugh a Yamatji and Malak-Malak Aboriginal woman who is also well respected in the Kaurna community.
On Wednesday, one of our Year 9 students Alyssa Naseby, competed in the finals for the OUR SAAY public speaking competition at the Adelaide Town Hall hosted by the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. Alyssa placed second in her category. Congratulations Alyssa.
We sold Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander themed donuts from Vili’s on Thursday with 50c from each sale going towards the Tjindu Foundation. We had a great amount of support from students with almost 200 donuts being sold.
In light of ‘The Voice’, Kildare Ministries, our governing body, has released a letter to the community.
Please click here to view the letter from the Trustees of Kildare Ministries.
The following words were shared by a student in our Nunga Group at our recent Reconciliation Liturgy: ‘In the spirit of Reconciliation, we ask you to reflect on your own actions and words and understand how these can impact others around you. We ask you to show empathy and compassion for the past of Indigenous Peoples. We ask you to show respect and be inclusive of all cultures in your present moments. And we ask you to be courageous and act as leaders for future generations by hearing the voices of others, thinking about how you can influence change and taking action to help those in need.’
To complement the excellent learning our students undertake in their academic studies, at Kildare College we value providing students with the opportunity to engage with broader themes and issues pertinent to them as emerging young women. Our Girls’ Achieve Program (GAP) allows all students the opportunity for peer bonding and support with a focus on building confidence, wellbeing and a sense of belonging. There have been many activities captured in GAP in Semester One, each with a different purpose catered for each year level.
If you would like to hear about the students’ experiences in GAP so far this year, please click here.
Through the initiative of the Student Captains Pastoral Care Group, a Pyjama Day was held where students came to school dressed a little differently and, who knows, it may have made the morning routine a bit quicker!
Students were asked to make a donation to support the St Vinnies Women’s Crisis Centre, in the form of a new beanie, scarf, gloves or socks for women or children.
The Women’s Crisis Centre is a unique service providing emergency accommodation specifically tailored to women and their children in crisis and provides a range of services including in-house access to Vinnies programs, a children’s play area with some child minding, all meals, recreation area and laundry and kitchen facilities for guests’ use.
Thank you to our families who responded overwhelmingly to the call to help support some people in our community in need.
