NIGHTS OF THE NOTABLES
On Tuesday and Wednesday evening of last week, the Year 9 Humanities staff and
students presented two evenings jam packed with celebrations of their learning
through research and experience, staging the ‘Night of the Notables’ on two
consecutive evenings at the College. Students dressed for the night in the
costume of their ‘chosen’ person and presented a storyboard display of the life
and times of their selected notable person. The quality of the work on display
during both evenings was a clear indication of the effort and energy that both
staff and students had put into their research in preparation of their
presentations.
I would like to express my appreciation of the efforts of each of the students
and staff involved over both evenings and especially, to thank Mr Geoff
Shinkfield who took on the role of organizing this very successful celebration
of student achievement.
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK
The last week in May of this year was the week set aside as our National
Reconciliation Week. This national program was first commenced in 1996 as one
way in which the Australian community, with its rich and diverse cultural mix,
is able to actively support the reconciliation process. This takes on added
importance with the parliamentary speech by Prime Minister Rudd last year, in
which he issued a national apology to our aboriginal community, for wrongs of
past generations of Australians that negatively impacted upon our indigenous
community.
It is significant that this week has been chosen this year, as there are two
most important dates in the history of Aboriginal reconciliation. The first of
these dates , 27 May, marks the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum which gave
the Commonwealth Parliament the power to make laws relating to Aboriginal
people. This Referendum marked the first positive legal recognition of
Aboriginal people in Australia’s history. The second of these significant dates,
3 June, is the anniversary of the 1992 Landmark High Court case referred to as
the Mabo Judgement. It was this judgement which first recognised at law, the
native title rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This time provides each Australian an opportunity to better understand the
lasting, traumatic impact this clash of cultures has had on Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is the open acknowledgement of these events
in our shared history that forms a strong basis for the beginnings of a shared
understanding of each other and, therefore, is an important step in the healing
process.
Australia has a relatively short, but very proud tradition
on the world stage as an advocate of world peace, human rights and democratic
traditions. It is a reasonably widely held view that on the way to developing
these proud traditions, Australia and Australians also made errors of judgement
and mistakes, often with the best of intentions, but mistakes none-the-less.
It is time in our history that we now matured as a nation. It is time that we
recognised our past mistakes as a nation, said sorry for those errors of
judgements of past communities, and through education and better information and
knowledge, develop a better understanding of each other and our shared history
and therefore move on with the reconciliation process together as a nation.
As our Prime Minister said last year, now is that time.
Dave Finnerty
Principal
2009 School Terms
Term 1 Monday 2nd
February - Friday 3rd April
Term 2 Monday 20th April – Friday 26th June
Term 3 Monday 13th July – Friday 18th September
Term 4 Monday 5th October –
Friday 18th December
