1 June 2017

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2017

The theme for #NRW2017 is ‘Let’s Take the Next Steps’.

National Reconciliation Week runs every year from 27 May – 3 June. These dates mark two milestones in Australia’s reconciliation journey: The 1967 referendum and the historic Mabo decision, respectively.

This year I spoke at our assembly about the importance of my reconciliation journey and growing up in regional Australia.

Reconciliation Week - Why May 27 and June 3?

May 27 marks the anniversary of the referendum when Australians voted to remove clauses in the Australian Constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

June 3 marks the historic Mabo decision in which the High Court of Australia recognised native title — the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights over their lands did survive British colonisation.

This year is very significant in the reconciliation journey of Australia.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Referendum.

In 1967 two very important things happened a month apart - on May 27 the referendum occurred and on June 24 I was born!

We are both 50 this year!!!!

Reconciliation has always played a very large role in my life. I was raised in rural Australia in Leigh Creek, Broken Hill and a few places in between. My dad was a builder and a shearer and we were fairly itinerant - we moved a lot!

Today I want to talk to you about three significant times in my life.

The first one is 1974

I was in Year 2 at a little Catholic College in regional NSW – I was seven.

A girl called Helen was my best friend. We did everything together at school, we were inseparable…. Until we had to go home!

I wasn’t allowed to play at Helen’s house and she wasn’t allowed to play at mine.

Helen lived in an orphanage, not because her parents were dead but because she had been removed from her home where she had lived with her family outside of the town.

Helen is Aboriginal; Helen is a part of the Stolen Generation. We left this town about 9 months later and I have no idea what happened to Helen.

It was also at this time that the Racial Discrimination Act was passed and enacted on June 11 1975

- This Act ensures that Australians of all backgrounds are treated equally and receive the same opportunities.

Let’s jump forward a few years to 1980!

I am 13 and now in Year 8 at a small Area School in SA. In Year 8 I had a best friend and her name was Leslie.

Leslie and I both lived in the same small town. We got up to all sorts of mischief at school and after school.

Like most of you I went to school on a bus every day and so did Leslie, but on that bus we weren’t allowed to sit together. After school we would play in the streets of our town.

But we could not play at her house and she could not play at mine!

The town is divided by a railway line and she lived on one side and I lived on the other!

Our parents weren’t horrible people; they had actually grown up together and would talk and laugh in the street. It was just an accepted part of life that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people didn’t mix!

I didn’t like this!!

When I was in Year 9 I was sent to board in Adelaide and soon got involved in the politics and protest of the 1980s.

It was the time of protest about a huge range of things – women’s rights, equal opportunity, Land Rights, deaths in custody, nuclear weapons and uranium mining, to name a few. This time in my life is characterised by Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly – two huge Australian artists with a political message.

The third significant time is 1992 and I am 25 years old

This is the year that The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation has its first meeting in Canberra and the High Court of Australia hands down the MABO decision – recognising that Australia was indeed occupied land when the British arrived in 1788.

This is also the year I started teaching – 25 years ago. It was the beginning of the period in Australia’s education journey when teaching Aboriginal cultural awareness was first mandated.

The 1990s also signifies a period of consolidation in Australia’s Reconciliation history – the most important part of it for me however links back to Helen, my best friend from Year 2 because this is the time I really began to understand and make the connections of what it meant to be a young Aboriginal child growing up in Australia.

What it must have been like for Helen to be taken from her parents and raised by strangers, to never have been allowed to have friends over, to not know her heritage.

What it must have been like for Leslie to not be able to sit with whoever she wanted on the school bus, to not be allowed into the houses of people who lived in the same town as her, to be labelled different!

This year National Reconciliation Week marks the 19th National Sorry Day in Australia, the 50th Anniversary of the referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo Decision.

All momentous moments in Australia’s history and in my lifetime.

Why have I told you this – I believe that we all need to contribute to the change we want to see in the world – never think it is too big or too hard. Stand tall for what you believe and fight for the rights of others to be heard. Leslie and Helen both taught me this and I hope that as a teacher I have been able to teach many others their message too.

Kathleen Hoare
Principal

SKI TRIP PAYMENT REMINDER

Please be aware the following ski trip payments are due.

2nd Instalment Friday May 12th: $242.50 (overdue)
3rd Instalment Friday June 2nd: $242.50 (due tomorrow)
4th Instalment Friday June 23th: $232.50
Final Payment Friday July 28th: $232.50

Please make payments to Finance Officer Sue Foulis in the front office.

YEAR 9 SKI TRIP REMINDER

Parent / Student Information Evening

DATE: Wednesday 7th June
TIME: 7:00pm
LOCATION: Resource Centre / Front Office

All consent forms to be returned at this meeting.

It is important for all to attend.

Stephen Bosch – Year 9 Ski Trip Coordinator

Gladstone High School Canteen

YEAR 12 FOOD AND HOSPITALITY CAMP

On Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th of May the Year 12 Food and Hospitality students travelled to Adelaide for an action packed tour through Australia’s multicultural food scene.

Students started the Wednesday with a tour and cooking class at Regency TAFE which saw them learn a range of new techniques to create Mexican Chicken Tacos and Honey and Pistachio Donuts. From there they traveled into the city to talk to Lori Organ from the Adelaide City Council about their Mobile Food Van program and gather information that would assist them with a research task surrounding the popularity and legislation of this concept. Students enjoyed some free time in Rundle Mall before jumping onto Ecocaddy bikes to enjoy a multicultural food tour through the CBD. This was one of the highlights of the trip as students were able to explore the city from a different perspective.

On Thursday morning, students headed into the Adelaide Central Markets for breakfast. Students were given $10 each to source or make their own gourmet breakfast from the fresh and exciting produce available at their fingertips. After breakfast, students were taken on a tour of the markets which focused on the history and multicultural influences. They sampled a range of different produce from Crocodile and Camel to Ants and native Australian ingredients. Multicultural cooking was again on the agenda which saw students make Banh Mi (Vietnamese Rolls) and Spanish Churros in the market kitchen. Before students headed home, they observed and sampled product from Mobile Food Vans in Victoria Square to gain a further understanding of how they trade and their popularity.

This trip was a great experience for our students and has further educated them to the vast range of fresh and seasonal produce available at our fingertips and the influence multiculturalism is having on the Australian food scene.

AFL 9’S

The Year 8 and 9 students travelled to Jamestown to compete in AFL 9’s. It was a great experience for all  the students  who participated in the event. There were some highlights that included: many skilled goals, a few strong marks and powerful kicks. There were 4 teams that played in the event: 2 girl teams and 2 boy teams. A few injuries also occurred during the games. The Gladstone girls Division 1 team won the grand final against Jamestown and the Gladstone boys team finished in second place. Gladstone High School finished first overall. It was an amazing day and we can’t wait to compete again next year.

Year 8 Homegroup Josh Palmer 8B

LIGHT PAINTING

On the night of the 12th of May, the Stage 1 Creative Arts Students joined by Stage 1 & 2 Visual Arts students had a workshop on light painting photography and creating an orb of light. The Creative Arts students had been studying the work of Denis Smith and were developing a better understanding of how these photographic techniques are used. Students set up cameras on the school oval and used a variety of tools from arc light blades, lightsabers, sparklers and coloured light painting tools to create collaborative images. The energy of the group was outstanding and lead to the creation of some of the following images.

Michael Manson

BIGGEST MORNING TEA

The SSO staff at GHS hosted a “Biggest Morning Tea” on Thursday 25th May with the theme of “shearers smoko”, so catered and decorated accordingly. A total of $370.00 was raised for the cancer council. Thank you to everyone who supported this worthy cause.

AQUINAS COLLEGE – CATHOLIC RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE FOR TERTIARY STUDENTS

Students considering tertiary studies in 2018 who would like to reside at Aquinas College are encouraged to lodge an application online via our website below