NAIDOC Week 2020

NAIDOC Week is usually held every year from the first Sunday of July. This year it is being celebrated in November. Holy Cross College marked NAIDOC Week with a wide range of activities.

It is during NAIDOC Week that Australians celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC celebrations are held right across the country, not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but for all Australians.

This year’s theme for NAIDOC Week is, “Always Was, Always Will Be” and invites all Australians to embrace the history of the country. It acknowledges that hundreds of nations and cultures cover this continent.

The College began NAIDOC week with a Liturgy, Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony. We were extremely fortunate to haveVaughan McGuire attend the Liturgy, share in some local Aboriginal history, and then conduct theSmoking Ceremony. Smoking Ceremonies are an ancient custom among Aboriginal Australians in which native plants are burnt to produce smoke and acknowledge the ancestors and pay respect to the land, waters and sea of country. The smoke is believed to have healing and cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits from the people and the land and make a pathway for a brighter future.

Over the course of the week, Year Three to Six students were involved in traditional Indigenous games. The Secondary School students also got involved and had a lot of fun too! The Kindy, Pre-Primary and Years One and Two students got to participate in Indigenous storytelling with Isobel Bevis (from Catholic Education Western Australia). During extended HTG students from Kindy to Year Twelve participated in a keynote, a Kahoot quiz and joined in an Acknowledgement of Country activity. Other lunch activities included music in the Undercover Area, NAIDOC art and craft where students got to draw a message onto a stick, colouring competition for the Kindy to Year Six students as well as the College Café serving an Indigenous menu throughout the week.

Well done to all students and staff who helped out and joined in the NAIDOC Week of celebrations at Holy Cross College. A special mention to Mr Wesley Sibosado, Aboriginal Teacher Assistant, who made all of this week possible.

Mrs Christina Davini

Assistant Deputy Principal, Inter-relationships