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Week 2 in Term 3 has always been dedicated to NAIDOC Week at the College. This year the theme “Heal Country” helped us share the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across P-12.
Junior Campus
Activities included a large jigsaw puzzle put together in the Library on the theme with contributions from each class. Our staff conducted in-class lessons on the resources from 'Our Land, Our Stories' with the schedule filling up very quickly. We also shared videos and other online resources to teachers which they could use during the week. The dedicated assembly on Wednesday was hosted by a large group of our students and the Senior boys dance group performed.
Ryan Campus
Every Homeroom from Year 5-12 were given a native pot plant that they have had to nurture until the end of this term when we will then have 56 plants to use around the yarning and garden spaces around the campus. The Kahoot quiz was a big success and winners were awarded prizes.
Wednesday’s assembly was live streamed and we hope you had a chance to view it. It was a great showcase of our Year 11 students who hosted and lead most parts of it. Starting with a Welcome to Country from our Traditional Owners, message from our Principal and Guest Speaker Jim Gaston who educated us on sea country and the work he does as a Gudjuda Ranger. Our great highlight was having our very own Aboriginal boys dance group created and taught by Les Tanna, with our two Teacher Aides, Bacho and Brenton participating. The Strait Savage Dance Company introduced us to Torres Strait Islander music and dance. With this being their inaugural performance as a newly formed group, we were honoured to host them at our assembly.
We finished the week with a Kup Murri lunch on Friday 23rd July, at our yarning space catered by Aunty Carol Mooka and family. This brought together our junior and senior students (so many siblings) for a relaxed time with face and rock painting activities keeping everyone delighted!
We have been told it was one of the best NAIDOC celebrations so far...so how can we raise the bar further?!
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This was our very first Year 7 & 8 cultural camp which saw 16 students travel with staff to Magnetic Island (Apex Camps). They listened to Elders, went up to Hawkings Point lookout, fishing and beach games with a campfire to finish off the first day. On day two, we had an Indigenous artist workshop that created a special NAIDOC themed canvas. The students had a great time and their only request was to make this a longer camp!!
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L-R : Tenason Stark, Tenacious Gallego, Jorja James, Anushka Tanna
Last Wednesday, our Year 12 students QATSIF (Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation) scholars attended a special Graduation Ceremony at JCU. Over the last two years, these deadly students have been recipients of QATSIF scholarships which provide financial support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Year 11 & 12 to complete their QCE. Anushka Tanna was the co-host of the event and is to be complimented on doing a spectacular job.
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NQ Constitutional Convention
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Our team was made up of:
L-R: Mya Williams-Orcher, Brianna Cassady, Lexi Laidlow (speaker), Kilah Gaston
The North Queensland Constitutional Convention was held on Thursday 15th July at JCU Townsville. This Convention brings high school students to educate them on the Australian Constitution and the process of democracy. The team consists of 4 students from Years 10 & 11 and prepare and present a speech on a given topic. Our speaker placed in the top three which means we are a delegate to the National Constitutional Convention in March 2022. Congratulations to the team! By the way this is our seventh year in a row that we have qualified as a delegate.
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On Thursday 22nd of July, five of our students, Payten McGrath Yr 7 (Observer), Claire Tindall Yr 9, Emily Clark Yr 9, Lorianna Weier Yr 8 and Jahmayka-Rose Henaway Yr 8, attended the North Queensland Regional Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aspirations Program Student Challenge (ATSIAP). The ATSIAP Challenge consists of Four categories: Quiz, Commercial, Long Term Problem Solving and Oral Persuasive Speech. The team did very well with them placing: First place in the Oral Persuasive speech, First Runner up in Long Term Problem Solving, First Runner up in Commercial, First Runner up in Quiz and so took out the overall trophy. We are very proud of their efforts as they did an excellent job representing our college, bringing home five trophies!
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Queensland Schools Constitutional Convention
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Anushka Tanna in Year 12 was a delegate to this virtual event which took place in March 2021 and was invited to present her thoughts at the Queensland Schools Constitutional Convention on Friday 30th July. This was an online event that saw her share her reflection on the following questions: Should the Constitution have a new preamble that would recognise our history, our aspirations and the many peoples and groups that make up our nation?'
It was a great opportunity for her and we are very glad she was able to participate at this state level.
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Graduation Liturgy
and
Awards Presentation
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The annual event to recognise our Year 12 students was on Thursday 2nd September. 11 of the 14 graduating students attended a very special liturgy and awards presentation organised by Townsville Catholic Education at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Schools across the diocese are invited to attend and this year our college was nominated for two awards and we won both.
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The Bishop Michael Putney Scholarship for Year 12 Student of the year awarded to: Anushka Tanna
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School Recognition Award: Ryan Catholic College
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Shalom College Reading Program
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This term has seen some crazy reading mornings with sometimes up to 25 children coming in to read with our students in the half hour that we are at Shalom on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Our students continue to be wonderful role models and buddies for these students as well as being there to assist them with the tricky words and sounds as they practice their reading. Some of the children they are working with have very little opportunity to read outside their classrooms and this added support in their journey towards literacy (something that many of us take for granted) is so valuable. Seeing the progress the kids are making as they move up in their reading levels and the pride they have in their accomplishments is a wonderful reward.
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Burara Mentoring Program
Cultural Camp
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On the last two days of this term some of our Year 10-12 students will be heading off to Cairns for this year’s Burara Mentoring Program Cultural Camp. Georgia and Pria have been working hard to pack as much as possible into this awesome three days of cultural activities, mentoring, and connection building.
Look out for some photos next term...
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Our first Yarning circle for the term was held on Friday 6th August, which saw our Year 9 & 10 students come together to reflect on the year so far and share yarns on three things they were grateful for. Our Year 7 & 11 students gathered together on Friday 13th August and our Year 8 & 12 students came along on Friday 20th August. Our Year 5 & 6 students finished off our Yarning Circle's for the term on Friday 10th September.
We love that they have been bringing a friend along to share their culture.
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Cultural Connectedness Series
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On Thursday 5th August, our young men (Years 7-11) had the opportunity to participate in a cultural mentoring session with Floyd Gillin. These sessions have been initiated to support our young men to talk about mental health as it is important they are supported from a cultural perspective. This is our third session and we have scheduled one more in Term 4. It was very well attended especially as the students did give up their first break as part of this session. |
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On the Pupil Free Day on Friday 3rd September, some of our deadly young men participated in a cultural excursion to Pallarenda to do some bushwalking, yarning, boomerang throwing and spear fishing along with our traditional owner representatives Les Tanna and Floyd Gillin. It was great to see our young men spend a relaxing day learning and experiencing culture.
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Tutoring and Homework Club
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Tutoring and Homework Club will be resuming in Week 2 of Term 4. If you would like to sign up for these sessions for Term 4, please use the form at the following link.
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The Indigenous Education and Support team would like to congratulate Ella De Daunton on being appointed College Captain for 2022. Ella has been a strong advocate among our students at the College, regularly participating and leading cultural activities and always being willing to support NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week, and other College events. Ella is also one of our student representatives on the Indigenous Education Advisory Committee and we all look forward to seeing her shine in her new leadership role next year.
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Huge congratulations are due to six of our Indigenous students who have been honoured with College Leadership positions for 2022. We are all so proud of them and can’t wait to see what they will use these opportunities to accomplish next year. They officially start their role in Week 5 of Term 4.
College Captain: Ella De Daunton
Community Captain: Lexi Laidlow
Sports Captains: Brianna Cassady & Sam Hanson
Connolly Captain: Eila Koskela
McGuire Vice Captain: Jasper Caddies
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At last week’s Sports Awards Assembly, Jorja James was acknowledged as the sports superstar she is, taking home six solo awards and one team award:
Year 12 Girls Volleyball Most Valuable Player
QISSN Most Valuable Player
NQ Representative - Netball
QISSN Award
Spirit of Ryan Sport Award
Senior Sportswoman of the Year
Spirit of Ryan Sport Team Award - QISSN Team
Jorja was also featured in an article in the Townsville Bulletin last Wednesday about her participation in the Indigenous Diamonds Pathway program spearheaded by Sharon Finnan-White.
Sharon Finnan-White has developed a pathway for Indigenous netball players
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In Week 5, Year 8 Science classes were fortunate enough to have Les Tanna visit the college to share traditional Indigenous firemaking techniques with them as part of their unit on energy. All students had the opportunity to have a go at the fire sticks.
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Stronger Smarter Leadership Program
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Eight Ryan Catholic College staff members from P-12 were fortunate to attend the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program held at Charters Towers and Abergowrie where staff learn to develop a positive sense of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity in schools and enact high expectation relationships with the community. Phase two of the program will occur in Term 4 at The Ville.
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NATSICC Community Service Awards
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Karl McKenzie, Chair of our College Indigenous Education Advisory Committee was nominated for a NATSICC (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council) Service to Community Award by our College Acting Principal Ross Horner and he won - in the the Category of Elder. Our Principal, Candi presented the award to him at our Committee meeting and there was another acknowledgement at our Ryan Day celebrations. Well deserved Karl and thank you for all the work that you do!
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Work Experience
Two of our Year 11 students (Macauley Veivers and Zed Walduck) participated in a hands-on work experience in Week 2 of the last school holidays with Waanyi Shamrock United Civil. They were very fortunate to work on a site in Roseneath watching and learning civil construction skills like concreting, spotting etc. They had to be on site by 6.30am for most of the days. Macauley said: "I learnt alot of new skills and used my initiative to get tasks done." Zed: "I got to experience work life and networking on a job site with an understanding of different tasks."
Work skills are surely something we aspire that all our senior students get to experience before they finish Grade 12.
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The Junior Campus has been incredibly busy this term! We celebrated NAIDOC Week and the theme 'Heal Country' early in the term with a NAIDOC assembly featuring the Deadly Ryan dancers. There were lots of activities in the library, classes engaging with some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories about connection to country and even some Aboriginal games being played in PE with Leonie. What a great week it was!
 
The Indigenous students have also been putting in some hard work throughout this term. There have been a number of students attending after school Homework Club and are completing their weekly homework tasks. Well done students for the hard work!
 
In Week 9 Year 3 and 4 Indigenous students participated in the Gangali Group. The Gangali Group (pronounced gang-gah-lee) involves Indigenous students in Years 3 and 4 and gives them an introduction to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and positive promotion of Indigenous identity amongst the group. By participating in this program the students can gain confidence and self-esteem, which will have a positive impact on their engagement and educational outcomes. The word Gangali comes from the local Biriguba language group and it means ‘be proud’. This name was chosen because we want to instill a sense of pride and confidence in our students and we want our students to be proud of their culture and themselves. Some of our Year 3 & 4 students took part in some bonding activities as well as setting some rules and expectations for the group which are now in place when the group continues on in Term 4. We look forward to seeing more great work on the Junior Campus in Term 4, until then happy holidays!
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Check in’s, Check in’s, Check in’s!
Term 3 for Emerging Leaders has been all about our final check in with students.
Our check in’s are almost complete and it is just amazing to meet with our students and see that our online engagement trackers on our Google Classroom are filling up with some amazing achievements and happenings.
Spring Fair
Spring Fair was on Friday 10th September where we had our "Win a Frog" stall. Our helper’s roster was fully filled out with our wonderful Emerging Leaders who helped to run the fun and engaging game to win chocolate frogs! The students did a great job manning the stall and a lot of fun was had by all!
Thank you to the following students who volunteered their time:
Piper Zahner, Brianna Cassidy, Ayana Jackson-Lifu, Aaliyah Coleman, Kelyse James, Taitym Robinson, Chloe Logan, Samuel Hanson, Tayla Laffin, Vienna Faulkner, Tenacious Gallego & Dakota Gallego.
Term 4 Engagement opportunity- Deadly Choices
During Term 4 we are inviting the Deadly Choices team back to RCC to work with some of our Indigenous students. We will be running the “Good Quick Tukka” program for 5 weeks. This program will focus on food choices and healthy eating and the students will also have the opportunity to follow recipes and do some cooking. They will walk away from the program with some excellent skills to take home to the kitchen.
Students in Years 7-10 are welcome to see Kate in the Indigenous Support office for a note if the would like to take part. The sessions will be Thursday afternoons from 3:15-4:15pm during Week’s 3-7. Please see Kirby for more details.
Emerging Leaders Acquittal process
The Acquittal process to determine each student’s incentive level (Bronze, Silver or Gold) will take place in the first few weeks of Term 4! Students are reminded to make sure that they have fully updated their online engagement trackers located on the Google Classroom. During the acquittal process, the Emerging Leaders team look at Attendance, Academic Improvement as well as Engagement. If students are successful in achieving an incentive level, they will be notified via the awards ceremony that will take place at some point during the term.
Indigenous Homeroom "Minute to Win it" games
Recently during our Indigenous Homerooms on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, our Homeroom leaders and Kirby have been running some fun "Minute to Win it" games. These games are quick little games that use minimal equipment but get the students active and add an element of competition for the students within the last few minutes of Homeroom time. The students have really been enjoying this as you can see from the photos below:
 
Kirby Smith
HPE Teacher
Emerging Leaders Program
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To celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD), the Indigenous Literacy Foundation is hosting a free virtual celebration for all Australians going live from 9am Wednesday 1 September. Through storytelling, ILD provides a window into the richness, diversity and multilingual world of First Nations peoples with a selection of short, two minute, inspiring video stories by First Nations storytellers (of all ages) from across the country.
This year's theme is Celebrating Stories and Language. You will be able to pick and choose from a suite of diverse and inspiring two minute video stories from First Nations people including Australia's favourite pop star Jessica Mauboy, talented author and performer Gregg Dreise, and celebrated photographer Wayne Quilliam. There will also be stories from Stick Mob (a group of four young graphic novelists), children in remote communities, and a selection of pay-to-experience, high-quality workshops made by leading artists, authors and creatives.
Check out all these wonderful stories and videos at the Indigenous Literacy Day website: ild.org.au
Voices of the Future
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IEAC Meeting - Monday 18th October - 5:30-7pm
Year 12 Workshop & Farewell - Tuesday 16th November - 9am - 2pm
Graduation Liturgy - Wednesday 17th November
Yarning Circles
Friday 15th October - Years 8 & 12
Friday 29th October - Years 7 & 11
Friday 5th November - Years 9 & 10
Friday 19th November - Years 5 & 6
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Days to wear your Indigenous Shirts in
Term 4 2021
Tuesday 12th October - First Sea of Hands - Canberra Native Title
Thursday 28th October - Battle of Pinjarra
Monday 29th November - Anniversary of Pope John Paul II's address to Aboriginal People in Alice Springs
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Have a safe and deadly holiday from the Indigenous Education Team!
For any queries, please contact us at indigenous@ryan.catholic.edu.au
From Pria, Kirby, Georgia, Amy, Michelle, Bacho, Shannon, Alesha, Brenton and Kate.
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