Bowen State School NAIDOC 2020 July 13^th – 17^th

NAIDOC 2020 theme - Always Was, Always Will Be. - recognised and celebrated that First Nations people who have occupied and cared for this country for thousands of years. NAIDOC 2020 has been challenged with the COVID Pandemic but despite this, we were able to provide an entire week of activities for every student at the school. Check out the photos, everyone at the school was excited to get their pictures in our newsletter.

The week was extremely successful with the focus being on linking every student into learning and then engaging in experiencing what life was like for our first Australian children, what they did, what tools did they have, what foods did they eat, what games did they play?

These activities invited all students to embrace the ancient history of this country – a history which dates back thousands of generations. A through study of James Morrills’ documentation of living with the local tribes for over 17 years, gave the students insight into daily life over 100 years ago.

Students were able to do a tour of the Mural of James Morrill, have their faces painted in traditional face paint. Many thanks to the senior students who participated in the Master Class with Gareth Prior from Girudala. These students then took over the role of painting the entire schools students.

Providing visual displays and hands on Artefacts allowed the students to grasp what life was like 200 years ago. The Bowen Museum provided photographs of Artefacts that were made in the 18^th Century, this allowed for the theme of “Always was Always will be” This activity allowed students to compare the traditional ways of making hunting weapons from Artefacts from the museum to modern day replica’s. This activity was done in the Library where there were displays of Artefacts and a multitude of reading opportunities of Dreamtime Stories.

The school was supported by the Traditional Owners who work with Juru Enterprises to provide each student with the opportunity to plant a Native Medicine tree that is native to Juru Country

The exercise has given the students the opportunity to feel what it is to be part of “country”. The exercise gave ownership of planting and then the care of the trees and finally participating in planting these trees “on country” with each student’s name on them.

Students continued to show interest in their trees, the ownership that the students are experiencing has given them much insight into the intrinsic sense of what caring for country and of being a First Nation student.

North Queensland Bulk Ports, Project Manager Julie Kean, ended the week with a presentation on the Environmental work the organisation does to ensure that the environment continues to be sustainable. The Presentation gave our students insight into how important caring for country is to all Australians.

The final presentation was gifted to the Bowen State School to be used in curriculum studies for the entire school. Queensland Bulk Ports has also provided Polo Shirts with the Logo’s of Juru and NQBP. These will be given to the senior students who will participate in the planting of the Medicine trees “on country”.

The week was completed with a whole of school parade and winners of the NAIDOC competition, and the Quizz were presented with prizes by NQBP Julie Kean. Every students, teacher, and staff had the opportunity to sample several different dampers made for the occasion.

Feedback from Teachers, Parents and Students has been very positive and the school looks forward to planning next year’s NAIDOC celebrations.

I speak from my own perspective that this year was a great learning experience for all, we can only continue to build on what we have achieved this year, watch this space as we form a NAIDOC Committee let’s see how we can continue to shine.

Thanks to everyone for their support.