Record number of schools involved in PALS!
With more than 165 schools participating in a PALS project this year, 2009 has attracted the greatest number of schools involved in the program since it began. Support from our stakeholders – the Department of Indigenous Affairs, BHP Billiton, the Department of Education and Training, the Catholic Education Office and the Association of Independent Schools Western Australia – and especially all our schools made it possible to set a PALS record for 2009. Thank you for promoting the program so extensively across the State!
New to PALS? To find out more, click here.
The projects this year have been very diverse, with bush tucker gardens, pen pals, murals, storytelling, dance workshops, drumming workshops, immersion projects, excursions, attendance programs and so much more. The judging of the PALS Awards promises to be a very difficult task this year!
NAIDOC Week 2009
The theme for 2009’s NAIDOC Week is Honouring our Elders, Nurturing our Youth. This theme encourages our communities to acknowledge the status of our Elders as leaders and role models for our youth.
There are many events being held during the week, commencing with the official opening ceremony on Sunday 5 July at Wellington Square in East Perth. The event will officially open NAIDOC Week celebrations in Perth with a flag raising ceremony and Welcome to Country, as well as promote the NAIDOC Perth Award winners and provide cultural and fun children’s activities. PALS will be at the opening ceremony, so come and see us at the PALS stall for some great giveaways! For events in your area, visit the NAIDOC Perth site.
Some of our PALS schools received a grant for their NAIDOC Week celebrations.
St Michael’s School will celebrate NAIDOC Week today with a morning mass, including Noongar prayer. Noongar Elder Marie Taylor will provide a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, and the school will invite local football players to meet the students and attend the festivities. Students will have a full day watching an Aboriginal puppetry show, learning to make damper, boomerang throwing, food tasting, dance and art.
With the help of Indigenous Communities Education Appeal (ICEA), students from Christ Church Grammar School will celebrate NAIDOC Week at Beagle Bay, learning about culture and creating a DVD of their experiences to share with the rest of the school.
The Indigenous students at Challis Primary School will host NAIDOC Week activities for the rest of the school, and all classes will be involved in Indigenous music, art and cooking.
Edale Aboriginal Kindergarten will share their NAIDOC day of celebrations with parents and children from the multicultural kindy next door, with dance, didgeridoo and bush craft and culminating in a shared multicultural feast.
Embleton Primary School will be inviting local Elders to the school to tell stories and play traditional games, and students at Woodbridge Primary School will participate in weapons and tool making, spear and boomerang throwing and storytelling and dance workshops.
Flinders Park, Spencer Park and Mt Lockyer Primary Schools will celebrate NAIDOC Week together, taking the students to visit significant Aboriginal sites in the area and exploring Dreamtime stories and making masks.
It’s not too late to celebrate NAIDOC Week at your school. Some ideas of what you can do at your school can be found at the NAIDOC website.
To order NAIDOC posters for your school, visit the NAIDOC website.
National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) – the history
NAIDOC started officially in 1975, but its roots go much further back.
Usually celebrated annually in the first full week of July, the festival has a long history, stemming back to a human rights movement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people in the 1920s.
Leading up to the 1920s, Aboriginal Rights groups had boycotted Australia Day in protest against the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. By the 1920s, Indigenous people recognised that the media was largely ignorant of this effort, and the movement needed to be active to make progress.
The Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA) was formed in 1924 and the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) in 1932, but their efforts were largely ignored and due to police harassment the AAPA was forced to abandon its work in 1927.
On Australia Day in 1938, protestors marched through the streets of Sydney as a prelude to a congress that was attended by about 1000 people. This was one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world and was known as the Day of Mourning. It also set the stage for later counter-movements on Australia Day, which have since become more widely known as Invasion Day or Survival Day.
A week later, a deputation from the congress presented the Prime Minister with a proposed national policy for Aboriginal people. At the time the Federal government did not hold constitutional powers in relation to Aboriginal people so the policy was rejected.
After the Day of Mourning, there was a growing feeling that it should be a regular event.
In 1939, William Cooper wrote to the National Missionary Council of Australia to seek its support in promoting an annual event.
From 1940 until 1955, the Sunday before Australia Day was the Day of Mourning, then known as Aborigines Day. The council believed the day should become more than a protest day but also a celebration of Indigenous culture, so in 1955 the day was shifted to the first Sunday in July.
In 1957, major Aboriginal organisations, the State and Commonwealth governments and a number of church groups all supported the formation of NADOC – the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee. At the same time, the second Sunday in July became a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and their heritage.
In 1974, the NADOC Committee for the first time was composed of entirely Aboriginal members. The following year, it was decided that the event should last for a week, from the first to second Sundays in July.
In 1984, NADOC asked that National Aborigines Day be made a national public holiday, to help celebrate and recognise the rich cultural history that makes Australia unique. While this has not happened, the call was echoed by other groups, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
In 1991, with a growing awareness of the distinct cultural histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NADOC became known as the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, NAIDOC. This new name has become the name by which the whole week is now called, and is more than just one day.
During the mid-1990s through to 2005, ATSIC took over the management of NAIDOC. During this time, ATSIC assisted in funding and coordinating NAIDOC events throughout Australia.
After ATSIC was disbanded in July 2005, a caretaker National NAIDOC Committee was appointed. That committee and the NAIDOC Secretariat sets the theme and host city for NAIDOC each year, hosts the website www.naidoc.org, distributes media releases and organises the national NAIDOC Awards, poster competition, ball and awards ceremony.
In 2006, community members in Perth formed a NAIDOC Committee to promote and assist in the coordination of the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC in Perth.
Spotlight on projects
Approximately 17 per cent of students at Brookman Primary School are Indigenous. It is a multicultural school where Noongar is the LOTE language.
To celebrate NAIDOC, the school organised a parent-meeting to plan the festivities. The school ran a poster competition and held a school assembly to precede NAIDOC celebrations.
On 30 June the kindergarten hosted students from Moorditj School for a day of cultural activities. Students shared a morning tea and had their faces painted, and made new friends while participating in activities such as bracelet making. The Moorditj kindy kids were invited to a whole school lunch later in the day where the students watched a dance performance.
Parents and the local community were invited to attend and share in the celebrations at the school.
Nominate an outstanding teacher
Nominations are open for the 2009 WA Education Awards. The awards seek to acknowledge the valuable contribution of passionate and dedicated teachers, principals and school support staff that help provide world class education to the children of Western Australia. The awards also showcase achievements of schools that have improved learning opportunities for students, involved the local community and shaped the future of public schooling in our State.
In fact, one of our PALS schools was a winner of the WA Science School of the Year in 2008. Westminster Primary School used science as a focus to boost engagement in the classroom to win a cash prize of $15,000.
Nominations close on Friday 14 August and winners will be announced on 7 December 2009. Visit the WA Education Awards website for more details and to download a nomination kit. All our PALS teachers are outstanding and deserving of a nomination!
Resource Centre
Tracing the history of citizenship has been inextricably linked with government policy and practice as well as Aboriginal activism.
Today NAIDOC celebrations are held around Australia in July by all Australians to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To access more details about the history of NAIDOC, a timeline, information about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and many other resources, visit the Australian Government Culture Portal.
Funding and other opportunities
As well as receiving the PALS grant of $750, schools are encouraged to apply for additional funding to finance their projects.
Australia’s Open Garden Scheme
Australia's Open Garden Scheme is a non-profit organisation that began in Victoria in 1987 with the aim of promoting the knowledge and pleasure of gardens and gardening across Australia.
Grants of $5,000 are available for projects such as bush tucker gardens that are of lasting benefit to the community, involve the community and have an educational or historical relevance to the community. For schools applying for grants, direct evidence of student participation in the planning and implementation of the project is an advantage.
Applications close on Thursday 23 July. For more information, visit the Open Garden Scheme website.
Vibe Alive Festival
Vibe Alive is a two-day education and performance festival that promotes the completion of a full education, leading a healthy and drug-free lifestyle and encourages tolerance and teamwork. The festival incorporates education, sport, performance and art in a high-energy youth-friendly setting. Participants also have the opportunity to meet inspiring role models, learn about healthy living and career options and boost literacy and numeracy skills. Vibe Alive is about celebrating Indigenous cultures and being proud.
Vibe Alive is coming to Kalgoorlie on 12 and 13 August, and the Community Festivals for Education Engagement grants program can get you there! Assistance is available to help Indigenous students to participate and carers/teachers/parents to attend. Priority will be given to supporting secondary students, particularly those from remote communities.
To find out more and to download an application form, visit the Community Festivals for Education Engagement 2009 website.
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