Strategies to support Indigenous students
At St Raphael’s we are committed to all students achieving to the best of their ability. We understand that for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students that it is important to learn about, nurture and value their cultural Identity in order to assist them in being successful learners.
At St Raphael’s we welcome and value our community connections and partnerships. We draw on these relationships to learn about our local Wiradjuri community and culture and invite our families and community into our school so that we can develop shared goals and plans for our students.
We monitor each students’ progress and provide additional learning support and enrichment if this is required. This allows children to build upon or extend their learning based on strengths and weaknesses.
Our school provides learning programs and support staff where needed and we work in partnership with families and carers to assist students with their learning needs. We work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, teachers and our Aboriginal Education Worker in developing Personalised Learning Plans for our indigenous students and regularly review these to ensure that our students are provided with every possible opportunity to achieve and feel supported in their schooling.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander significant dates acknowledged at St Raphaels
| NAIDOC week: | Curriculum/ KLA focus and community collaboration, cultural workshops with a local Wiradjuri focus, including art, dance and language, entering of National and State writing and art competitions k-12 |
| Reconciliation week: | Mass and school commitment to Reconciliation k-12 and wider community/parish, this includes an Acknowledgement of country and smoking ceremony from local community members. |
| Sorry Day: | Whole School liturgy |
| National apology anniversary: | Morning prayer and reflection K-12 |
| Harmony week: | a celebration of cultural diversity K-12 curriculum/KLA focus |
Throughout the year an Indigenous perspective is placed across curriculum, examples of this include SOR Aboriginal spirituality guest speakers, Dance elective guest instructors for Indigenous dance unit, PDHPE indigenous games and dance unit including instruction from our local community members. Year 3 Geography unit- cultural day including art discussion at Aboriginal bridge murals, connection to country talk at Galri Billa- Lachlan river and bush tucker experience.
Our annual Davidson High Japanese student visit also always incorporates a Wiradjuri cultural component that includes dance and art with the involvement of local Wiradjuri community members.