Learning on Country: A Week in Galiwin’ku
Our Year 9 students recently returned from an unforgettable week at Shepherdson College on Elcho Island NT, where they immersed themselves in school and community life, and experienced Learning on Country alongside their Yolngu peers.
From learning Yolngu Matha and traditional hunting practices to making fishing spears, gathering maypal, finding wild honey and exploring rock pools and mangroves, the week offered countless opportunities to learn through experience and from the people and Country around them. Our students joined classes, helped prepare for the annual school fete, shared meals and stories, explored the island with local guides and spent time building friendships with Shepherdson students.
There were plenty of memorable moments along the way too, from spectacular sunsets and bush camp feasts to fishing adventures, hunting for oysters and mud crabs, exploring rock pools, gathering pandanus and taking part in a few cane toad hunts!
Most importantly, it was wonderful to see our students become increasingly connected within the Shepherdson College community. They embraced the challenges, asked questions, listened, learned and contributed along the way.
A huge thank you to the students, staff and community members who made this such a meaningful experience. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity, knowledge and friendship shared with us throughout the week.
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Marin Balluk people of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which Overnewton Anglican Community College stands. We respect the knowledge that will be forever embedded within the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country and remember the loss of cultures, languages and Lands they have endured. Like the Marin Balluk people, we at Overnewton want to respect the Land, the cultures and the heritages, and learn from those who have come before us in the passing on of knowledge and the teaching of life skills, as well as continue with wise stewardship of our buildings and grounds. We honour their custodianship of this Land and offer them our deep respect.