Year 9

Arnhem Land Reflections

Last week, Mr Millham and I were privilaged to journey with Yr 9 as they experienced a truly profound and in many ways life-changing camp. Each student engaged in the program in their own unique way – they connected to the Yolngu land and culture through song, dance and powerful stories, immersed themselves in the ceremony of men’s and women’s business and wholly engaged with each other without technology. We trust that they have taken these experiences home, and taken opportunities to reflect with family about the impact of this camp, both now, and in the future. We look forward to the students sharing these experience with you at the Reintegration Evening next Tuesday 13th June at 5.30pm in Redlands Hall.

Student Reflections

Arkie Riches

Arnhem Land was a truly an eye opening and once in a lifetime experience. I really enjoyed one workshop we did with a lady called Tash. The way she spoke about and demonstrated what it’s like for the indigenous was amazing. She asked us to stand in a line and step forward if the sentence applied to us. Most of us ended up being between 5 and 10 steps from the start. Then, she told us to turn around because where we started was what applied to indigenous people. This took my breath away and made me understand how ignorant we are about first nations people in Australia. At the end of the week I was immersed in Yolngu culture after learning dances, taking part in healing and their practices in kinship. I’m so grateful for all that was shared with me throughout the week and will pass my learning on to others.

Holly Smith

When I first arrived in Arnhem Land, I was nervous about the week ahead. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the camp and the activities we would be doing. My nerves quickly vanished as we were greeted by the Yolngu people, who were so welcoming and open despite us being complete strangers. Over the course of the week, I was shown so many new perspectives and beliefs that really broadened my view on Indigenous culture and lifestyle. These insights were extremely valuable and inspired me to do some research on the Cammeraygal people, who are the traditional owners of the land that I live on. Overall, the camp provided us with many unique and memorable experiences that I definitely won’t forget anytime soon.

A Message from Mr Gray, Dean of Activities:

Arnhem Land Reintegration Evening

I’m sure you’ll agree Year 9 Camp to Arnhem Land was an incredible experience. Students will no doubt will have shared a lot about their experiences and there is a lot for them to process.

To assist with this, we’ll be holding our Reintegration Evening on Tuesday 13 June at 5.30pm in Redlands Hall. All Year 9 students are expected to attend and we also invite parents and carers to attend to find out more about what the students experienced in Arnhem Land. If students are returning from Sport training they may attend this event in sport uniform (otherwise full school uniform).

The purpose of the evening is to guide students to be able to use the knowledge and understanding they have gained, and for them to be able to share their experiences with parents, carers and other members of the school community.

We look forward to all Camp Groups contributing, through a series of reflections or by sharing their ‘giving back’ performances.

We will be joined by Emily, Troy and Randy (Yolngu man) from Culture College who will offer advice to students on how to make sense of what they experienced and give them some ways to implement the learnings in their lives back in Sydney. We are excited to share some further opportunities for students to connect with the Yolngu in the future.

We look forward to welcoming you to school next Tuesday evening for this important connection event.

Mrs Lucienne Willis
Yr 9 Advisor
lwillis@redlands.nsw.edu.au