This year the Aboriginal Education Team’s goal is to support students and teachers with the understanding of Aboriginal culture and perspectives. The Aboriginal Education Team has facilitated anti-racism presentations to Year 7 and 8 classes and are looking at doing one for Year 9s in the next couple of weeks. Reconciliation SA will be hosting a full-day racism workshop for Year 10 and 11 students and staff later this year. 

The Aboriginal Education Team supports Aboriginal students in their studies and gives them the opportunity to start exploring their culture. Aboriginal students meet once a week to find out and research the language group they are from. This is in the hope that they can eventually make contact with their language group and start learning more about their culture.

The staff at Balaklava High School have engaged with learning Aboriginal culture and perspectives. The Aboriginal Education Team continue to work hard on the Aboriginal Learners Achievement Record (ALAR), similar to the school’s Site Improvement Plan (SIP), supporting staff in implementing Aboriginal perspectives in their day-to-day teaching. Our team have organised an Aboriginal Culture Day to take place in Term 3.

Balaklava High School is developing our own Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), this will drive the school in further developing reconciliation at our site. At the moment we have seven staff members on the committee (Neil Richards, Sonia Pringle, Luke Clark, Hudson Noack, Lucy Thiel, Jamie Banwell and Josh Jenner). We are open to new members, especially parent/caregivers and community members. If you would like to be part of this group, which meets 2-3 times a term after school, please contact Josh Jenner.

The Aboriginal Education Team would also like to thank the school community for their support in creating a more culturally responsive environment where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff, students and community can work and learn together.

Marni Pudni! (Go Well!)

Josh Jenner