Year 9

Farewell Lucienne Willis

Lucienne Willis will sadly be leaving our Yr 9 Pastoral team to undertake an exciting new role as the Assistant Year Advisor for next year’s Yr 7 (Class of 2025). I would like to extend my gratitude on behalf of the Yr 9 Pastoral team and Yr 9 cohort to thank Lucienne for all her hard work and commitment to her 9MG Tutor Group. We wish Lucienne the best of luck with her new role.

Monday Pizza Lunch

Next Monday 30 December at lunchtime, Yr 9 students will be receiving a free pizza lunch to celebrate making it through such a chaotic and unpredictable year. The pizza lunch will also allow our Yr 9 students to come together as a Year Group and connect and reflect on the year that’s been.

Toys ‘N’ Tucker

Toys ‘n’ Tucker is an initiative run by Anglicare Sydney who provides non-perishable food and new children’s toys for those families who unfortunately go without at Christmas. It would be great to see all of Yr 9 bring in a non-perishable food item and/or new toys for children over the next week, before the conclusion of school.

Yr 9 Midawarr Camp

The Midawarr Camp exceeded all expectations and it was clear that students found a strong connection to Country.

On behalf of Yr 9, a big thank you to the following people who made the Midawarr camp such a success:

Janusz Hooker, Justin Porter, Emily Alexander and the Culture College team for taking the time to educate our Yr 9’s to truly feel connected to Country.
The Yolngu mentors who connected with our Yr 9 students via Zoom each day – Eunice, Troy, Ali, Japardy, Bernadette, Bruce, Nelita, Robyn, Ruth, Sharmane, Jalinda and Michael.
The Guwarra and Koomurri people for all their incredible, immersive activities which connected our Yr 9’s to Country.
Ms Marita Jansons for her support throughout the Camp and the creative direction given for this afternoons ‘give back’ performances.
All the Yr 9 Tutors who immersed themselves last week with their Yr 9 Tutor Groups.
Mr Darren Kuilenberg and Ms Katharine Boase for all their assistance with the Yr 9 ‘Give Back’ performances.
Ms Rachael Riley and Mr Jon Gray for all their tireless assistance with organising the Midawarr Camp and getting it off the ground.
Mr Stephen Webber and Mr Sean Corcoran for their endless support of the Midawarr Camp.
Ms Eleanor Martin for all her hard work and dedication behind the scenes to get last week underway, particularly with last Friday afternoon’s ‘Give Back’ performances.

Students ‘Give Back’ to the Yolngu people in North-Eastern Arnhem Land

On Friday afternoon, Yr 9 were involved with a ‘Give Back’ performance to the Yolngu people which was broadcasted directly to north-eastern Arnhem Land. The quality of the performances was exceptional and I would like to thank the following students for their involvement with these performances:

Phoebe Barnett, Ellyce Evans-Beard, Poppy Justice, Elena Parker and Jacob Rieser for their incredibly moving performance of the Redlands School song. The first verse was sung in Yolngu language which was technically very difficult to sing.
Sam Chubb, Jack Lazzarotto, Mitch Turner and Oscar Whatmough for their performance Doxy composed by Sonny Rollins.
Koko Sawa who did a moving performance on the Merimbula performing the Cricket Sang and Set the Sun, composed by Blake Tyson.
Bronte Backhouse and Avalon Thomas for their entertaining and engaging dance to Seize the Day from Newsies: The Broadway Musical.
Sabrina Blascoe for her engaging performance on the violin of Concerto in C Major, composed by Joseph Schubert.
Dan Close, Lucy Horton, Sarah Kumpulainen and Finn Woodward for their genuine Midawarr reflections, which were read between each of the ‘Give Back’ performances. Their reflections can be read below.

Sarah Kumpelainen

Wow. I don’t think that words can describe how much of a blessing this experience has been to the Yr 9 cohort. I’m sure that many of us feel incredibly privileged to have gained so much more insight into Indigenous culture, identity and knowledge.

Personally, I have really enjoyed learning about how Indigenous people view Country in such an interconnected way. A way in which everything links together and supports each other to create harmony or this notion of perfect balance. I originally thought Country was just a word that means ‘place’ but now I understand that it is far more than that. We’ve learnt that Country is all about relationships – profound spiritual connections with the land, our ancestors, family, community and livelihoods that Indigenous people have had since time began. I’m inspired by the level of respect Indigenous people have for all these aspects of life and the way that they continue to love Country.

This experience has encouraged me to believe that genuine reconciliation can happen in Australia if we establish a firm foundation of understanding others, exchanging valuable knowledge with each other and making sure Indigenous voices continue to be heard.

Thank you to the Yolngu people for welcoming us into your Country and your lives. Thank you for providing us with a glimpse into just how rich and beautiful Indigenous culture is and being so willing to answer all of our questions. In particular, I would like to thank Eunice for her warmth and kindness to McDouall Green (the Miyapunu group) and the wisdom she shared with us. Thank you to the Indigenous people who joined us on campus, your stories have opened and strengthened our hearts and minds. Thank you to the leaders from Culture College for making this process of engaging with an unfamiliar yet precious culture much easier to comprehend and to remember. And last but not least…thank you to all the teachers for your consistent effort in organising everything behind the scenes so that each student could get the most out of these last four days.

Lucy Horton – Baḏarratjun

For the topic of my spoken word, I needed something universal.
Something so broadly felt; unbounded by language nor lineage –
If you will, a traversal
Straight through this culture of divide we’ve made:
“us vs them”, “left vs right”, “balanda vs Yolngu”
I needed something that affects us all, be it in different degrees and different ways.

Baḏarratjun

This is a word from a small place with an ancient history.
But it’s a feeling we’ve all felt before; a twinge of pain in an injured spot.
It’s this twinge we feel when someone asks: “What’s wrong?”
Within ourselves, within our community, within the systems of the world.
Some say it’s a mere mechanism of the brain:
Pain receptors and parietal lobes, but
By that, you would refrain
From saying it’s a visceral kind of strain.
Something that exposes, something that constrains.
But maybe something that unifies.

I can not begin to understand the pain of your past – and of your present.
With humility and respect, I say that I
Am a stranger to this conversation
A conversation that lasts longer than a single generation
One that spans further than our nation
A conversation that’s taller than our CBD spires,
And broader than the desert of middle Australia.

I’ve heard so many people ask what’s the answer to pain?
I think the problem lies in our tendency to contain
So how do we satisfy this yearning, how do we soothe that graze?
We learn, we listen, we yarn, we reconnect that fission
That twinge of pain can’t be solved, but it can be shared.
And that’s our mission.

Finn Woodward

Coming into this week I was very aware of the dark history that our two cultures shared. I was scared that because I am of European descent, I would insult or be rude to the Yolngu people by trying to learn their way of life and I was definitely not expecting the welcoming attitude that the Yolngu people showed us.

From a white person’s perspective, I have always assumed that Indigenous people would harbour a lot of resentment towards white Australians due to the horrific actions that we committed in the past, but this experience has taught me how entirely wrong I was.

During this week, the Yolngu people have embraced my peers and me, and have taught us all that Australians who were born on this land immediately have a sacred connection to it. I have learnt that we are all a part of one culture, and regardless of the colour of one’s skin, we all share the same mother, Mother Earth. This week has been extremely helpful in revealing this concept to me and has challenged me, and I am sure my peers, to think more critically about how we as a people in Australia interact with one another and this country, and how our generation can listen, learn, and understand, allowing us to truly achieve the meaning of reconciliation.

I would like to acknowledge the Yolngu People’s generosity in giving us this time and for sharing their wisdom. It will stay with me.

Dan Close

Ngarra yaku Dan. I am a dhuwa in the Miyapunu group. I write this reflection moved and deeply changed by this week’s activities and learning. It all started in the undercroft in what seems like 1000 years ago: Tuesday. After arriving at school, we all argued about which colour t-shirt was the best. Words like ‘yours are so much better than mine’, ‘bull’s eye’ and ‘I swear this is a medium!’ floated around, all of us blissfully ignorant about the valuable, fun and immersive experience we were about to have. Us then are completely different people to us now. Gurruthu is kinship in Yolngu Matha. This family-like connection that indigenous people have with each other and Country stuck out to me above everything else. In Western culture, we have a tendency to forget about our fellow man and woman and prioritise ourselves above other human beings. The message that the Yolngu people, shout out to Eunice, gave us was that all people are actually human beings and we should treat each other like family. My group, Miyapunu, talked about this in-depth. We were asked, ‘what does family mean to you?’. As we went around the circle, we all came to realise the importance of a mutual, unconditional love for each other that transcends our own differences. This was extremely impactful to all of us, and we all became closer as a result of this knowledge. Kinship and love is an extremely valuable message, especially in a year like 2020. So thank you to our Yolngu wawa and yapa, brothers and sisters for letting us into your Country and sharing your invaluable knowledge. ‘I know everything’, says Eunice. We have barely scratched the surface, however, we are still deeply changed. Thank you for this mangmak adventure. Thank you for sharing your culture. Thank you.

Mr Nicholas Walker
Acting Yr 9 Advisor
nwalker@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133