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A school that really matters
Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians. We all have a role to play, and in playing our part we collectively create spaces that value our First Nation’s peoples, their histories, cultures, and create a future to be proud of and celebrate, says Matt Watson.
National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June) is an opportunity for all Australians to contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The theme for 2021, ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action’ urges all Australians towards braver and more impactful action.
Across the entire College, students took action throughout Reconciliation Week in pastoral time activities, assemblies, events with guest speakers and even through student interviews. The Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School – Many Cultures, One Community is the embodiment of this year’s theme. A partnership based on mutual respect, trust and two-way learning, Yiramalay changes people’s lives, influences the decisions young people make about their future and is a vibrant, practical undertaking towards reconciliation. Students, teachers, staff and their families are moved by the experience.
They are enlightened by this opportunity to learn about Australia’s Indigenous history and culture alongside, from, and with members of our Indigenous communities from remote Northern and Central Australia. In this sense, it is truly a model worthy of emulation. The Studio School is a school with a vision, a school that really matters in a time when it couldn’t matter more.
At Yiramalay, the conditions, the environment, and the time exists for real relationships to form. There is time for genuine cross-cultural learning and the kind of understanding that is created by the amalgamation of knowledge, empathy and humanity. The ageless values of equality, care and love should be the guiding principles that nurture a society, guide its leaders, and nourish its people. They’re at the heart of this school and this partnership.
Matt Watson is Principal of the Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School