Iona Presentation College recognised the culture and traditions of its Indigenous students last week with lunchtime celebrations to recognise NAIDOC Week.
Deputy Principal Pastoral Care Debra Powell said Iona has 18 Indigenous students, the vast majority of whom are boarders.
“These girls have come to us from various locations, including Kununurra, Broome and Beagle Bay in the Kimberley, to Carnarvon in the Gascoyne, Boulder in the Goldfields and Goomalling in the Wheatbelt.
“We recognise that the transition for them to school in the metropolitan area can be challenging.
“By celebrating NAIDOC Week, we [were] helping the girls showcase snippets of their culture to our other 900 or so students.”
Ms Powell said the girls were very excited and worked hard to ensure the series of events went ahead smoothly.
The college hosted a number of lunchtime events during the week beginning July 1.
These included friendship bracelet making and storytelling; Indigenous dancers from Wesley College and bush tucker cooking, including samples of damper, kangaroo sausages, and dugong; short movies from Black Screen, an initiative of the National Film and Sound Archive promoting Indigenous film culture; and an address from Miss NAIDOC 2013 at the college Assembly.