Australia's First People Education
Creator Spirit, challenge us to open our eyes to see the world from another lens.Though change has occurred, the story and spirit of theBoon Wurrung people will always be written in this land.We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung.
The National Catholic Education Commission’s Vision for Reconciliation:
That all involved in Catholic education will act upon the words of The Australian Bishops, Pope John Paul II and The Vision of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.
Firmly opt for solidarity between all of Australia’s inhabitants by individually and communally responding to a call to conversion based on hope, promise and love, and to reconciliation with people of every race living in our country.
We promote a culturally inclusive and collaborative program to enhance educational outcomes for Aboriginal students and to create a welcoming school environment.
Our program acknowledges Aboriginal views and promotes greater understanding and respect for Aboriginal people, cultures, history and languages.
The FIRE Carrier Program(Friends Igniting Reconciliation through Education)The dream of the FIRE Carrier program is to promote respect, fairness and inclusion for Aboriginal people. The FIRE Carrier promotes, enculturation and reconciliation in Catholic and Independent primary and secondary, Victorian schools.
Our Fire Carriers
Our Covenant
Wominjeka! We live, work and play on the sacred land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge and respect their spiritual connections, culture and beliefs. We aim to work together to heal the wounds of wrongdoings from the past and to deepen our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in our school.
We recognise that as a Catholic school community, we have a responsibility to acknowledge the misdeeds done by those in the past against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is our responsibility to promote forgiveness and reconciliation and to provide for equality and hope in a future that honours every culture that has contributed to our Australia.
Our Acknowledgement of Country
Today, as always, we would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the (traditional) owners of the land on which we stand. Our loving and wise Creator, in His goodness, gave this land to the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. We remember that it is upon their land that we carry on our own stories.
As we share our own prayers, stories and songs, as we learn to live and work together, may we also pay our deep respect to all our elders, those past and those present, who are with us today. Let us also acknowledge the deep wisdom, knowledge and spirituality that is forever embedded within the Aboriginal custodians of this Country.
The Message Stick
Our story, our connection
“You are part of Australia and Australia is part of you.
And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the
Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have made your
contribution to her life and until that contribution has been
joyfully received by others”.
(Pope John Paul II, Message to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, Alice Springs, 1986)
When the people who wrote the bible told the story of creation, they spoke of life coming forth because God spoke. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have sung their songs and walked their paths, they have remained connected to this country for tens of thousands of years.
Through their deep spiritual connection to the earth, they have forged a life bond that can never be broken for they will always hear the voice of the earth calling them home.
For us, following their paths and hearing their stories is like when we walk in the footsteps of God by listening to the stories from the Gospels.
How do we do this?
Spiritually
Culturally
Through Reconciliation and Justice
