Kingaroy students celebrate NAIDOC week with yarning circle
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THE Burnett region has a proud history with Indigenous culture, from Olympic gold medallists to renowned artists and respected elders, the region is rich with stories, talent and history from First Australians.
For NAIDOC week, the South Burnett Times will shine a light on the Indigenous people, culture and traditions that make this region special.
The South Burnett Times team respects and honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present, and future.
We acknowledge the stories, traditions, and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land, the traditional land of the Wakka Wakka people.
STUDENTS and staff at Kingaroy State High School are putting the finishing touches on a project that aims to celebrate Aboriginal culture within the school.
The Yarning Circle is an area of the school designed as a place for both the school and the community to tell stories, relax and shine a light on the Indigenous culture within the school.
The project has been in the works for the past two months.
The School’s community education councillor Toni Phillips-Petersen said the space is about bringing students together for a yarn.
“I created the yarning circle with the students as a place where all my Indigenous kids can come together and have discussions about things happening at the school and about how they are doing at school in a space they feel comfortable and safe in,” Ms Phillips-Peterson said.
“The response from the community has been nothing but praise, from when we started to what it’s looking like now is just great to see.
“Kids have been coming down on their lunch breaks to help shovel crusher dust and get out big stumps, so it’s really become a project the students have pretty much done themselves.
“We had our NAIDOC day last week, which was all about sharing our culture as well as educating kids and staff.”
The yarning circle features several sandstone blocks, countless plants, painted rocks and upon completion will have a timber benchtop resting on one of the big tree stumps.
Year 11 student Jayden Barnes is an Indigenous leader at the school and he said the project is something students can call their own.
