News on Youtube Sep 23 2018

- At Queanbeyan Public School

we recognise the Aboriginal people, for this is their Land.

- We never give up on our culture and we do lots of stuff

so we remember who we are.

- Our school is on the Ngunnawal people's Land

and we should memorise that forever and ever.

- The biggest thing that I love about Queanbeyan

is Aboriginal cultures and histories

are at the forefront of nearly every school.

To be an educator in this particular region is a real honour

and a real privilege.

- I don't remember learning anything about Aboriginal people

when I was at school.

We do need students to be given these opportunities

so when I was the deputy principal, I just brought forward

significant Aboriginal people into the school.

- The schools play a big part because if they educate

the students about reconciliation as they grow up we can all

walk together as one, as a unity.

- Our history is here, it's been here for thousands of years

and it needs to be shared with the wider community.

- We've had honest feedback from the community around.

If you only do the celebrations then you're not getting

deeply enough into it.

You aren't truly having the hard conversations about

the past and what has to happen to make the future better.

- It really is about making sure the teachers are confident.

They don't want to make a mistake.

They don't want to offend.

But the most important thing is that we see the truth

being told, and kids are enjoying it.

- Reconciliation is a platform that creates learning

and opportunity for teaching.

As a start for children to learn and grow

and to make partnerships

with our people.

- We liaise with Aunty Louise for assemblies

and for consultation on things.

We also have a great relationship with

the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG),

our Queanbeyan Local.

- We've been making a Reconciliation Action Plan

through Narragunnawali.

It was a really powerful thing to do. We stopped,

we thought about what we were doing in the areas

of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities.

We wrote a vision for the future,

and we planned our next actions.

- To win our Narragunnawali award was such a huge honour.

It was unbelievable to be nationally recognised.

It's people,

that's who makes a school what it is.

It comes down to who's implementing reconciliation

initiatives, which is everyone.

- When we won the award, a lot of parents came to me that

I'd never spoken about reconciliation with. They were

thrilled that we'd won it.

And they wanted to start speaking about

actions going forward.

- My hope for the future is to see our Aboriginal cultures

and reconciliation in the forefront of every school.

- For other principals in other schools: It's important

to take risks, because you can make mistakes along the way.

Know that you're there helping many people go forward.

- Reconciliation means to me,

remembering the past but now taking our next steps together.