From the Principal
Last week was National Reconciliation Week which is “a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia”.
Across all sections of our School there were numerous activities and events held in recognition of National Reconciliation Week. In Redlands House, Prep School and Junior School there was a focus on learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through literature and art. In the Secondary School, First Nations art from the Redlands Art Collection was displayed in Redlands Hall, and during Tuesday’s assembly, Visual Arts teacher, Ms Godsell, spoke of the significance of these works while also sharing her experience working at Borroloola School which is located on Yanyuwa country and home to the Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Marra and Gudanji people.
Last week I had the privilege of accompanying Secondary School History teacher, Ms Riley, and 20 Redlands parents on a cultural immersion trip to Yolngu Country in Northeast Arnhem Land run by Culture College, a not for profit Aboriginal Corporation established by Redlander, Janusz Hooker, with the aim of tailoring unique educational opportunities for students, teachers and professionals to learn together with First Nations Australians through cultural immersive educational opportunities.
Since 2017 Redlands has been partnering with Culture College to provide these cultural immersion learning opportunities for our students in Yolngu country of Northeast Arnhem Land, through both weeklong trips to homeland communities and more recently, our Midawarr Program, where a whole Year Group spends a week learning and partaking in activities at the Gulkula site, home of the annual Garma Festival (Australia’s largest Indigenous gathering and a four day celebration of Yolngu life and culture). With the move of the Midawarr Program from Year 9 to Year 10 in 2025, this year we had the opportunity to invite parents to share in this special experience.
It is hard to capture the profound impact of this cultural immersion into a few words and sentences. However, I think I can speak of all of us on this recent trip that the generosity, openness and humility of our First Nations hosts and teachers was overwhelming. We were asked to come to Yolngu country with open minds, open hearts and open souls. And we left with minds full of knowledge, hearts full of love and souls full of hope.
If National Reconciliation Week is intended to be “a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia”, then I believe those of us who were fortunate enough to spend this time on Yolngu country last week (and those students and staff who have travelled there previously) have taken a significant step on this journey.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Photo Caption: A very special week in Yolngu Country in Northeast Arnhem Land with Redlands parents on a cultural immersion trip.