Singleton Public School NAIDOC 2015 celebrations

Singleton Public School held a day of celebration to commemorate NAIDOC Week on Thursday 24 July 2015. Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participated in a wide range of cultural activities.

The day began with a formal assembly and a warm Welcome to Wonnarua Nation delivered by Uncle Warren Taggart. Other special guests included Aunty Shirly Beale, Aunty Alma Franks, Aunty Denise Hedges (Wonnarua artist), Sonia Sharpe (DoE Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer), Adam Drylie (Aboriginal dancer and cultural teacher) and Sharon Bailey (Coordinator Ka Wul Centre Singleton High School). The assembly was also attended by students, staff, families and community members.
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Performances were held for the celebrations which included an Aboriginal dance by Banda-Ra, Singleton High School’s Aboriginal Dance Group, accompanied by SPS Aboriginal Cultural Group; a performance by the Glee Club, singing the songs ‘Yellow Bird’ and ‘Ngarra Burra Ferra’ from The Sapphires movie; and class 2L’s performance of ‘Solid Rock’.

The event concluded with a cake-cutting by Aboriginal guests and shared amongst all students.

Guests participated in mural making, and enjoyed viewing and acting out Dreamtime stories. Attendees also sketched maps of the sacred grounds on which our school stands. There were story and craft activities conducted by Aunty Shirly, and boomerang and spear throwing with Adam Drylie.

A NAIDOC artwork competition was also held, with the winners being chosen by Aunty Denise, Aunty Alma, Aunty Shirly and Uncle Warren.

Each student was gifted with a wristband in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, and a week after the event many students are still wearing their wristbands.

This year was our biggest celebration ever and the school hall was packed to the brim for the official assembly. It was the first time our cultural group have painted up and danced in public and the students involved were thrilled with the event. Our celebration was also featured in The Singleton Times. Read the article here.

A collection of photos from the celebrations


Story and photos contributed by Julie Sullivan from Singleton Public School. Published in 2015.