Indigenous culture has been the focus of learning this term for the year 9 students at Kildare College, Holden Hill. This learning culminated recently in a day of hands on workshops to give the students a taste of Indigenous culture and traditions The day was part of the year 9 history topic, Making a Nation, which looks at colonisation and European settlement of Australia.
It was an opportunity for students to understand what life was
like for our Indigenous people and the impact colonisation had on them. Elders from across South Australia came to Kildare College to lead workshops for our students. Students participated in a variety of workshops, including dot painting, bark painting, dreaming stories, stolen generation gallery, bush tucker, medicine using traditional plants and traditional damper making.
A BBQ lunch was shared and enjoyed along with a performance by the Tea Tree Gully Winds Elders Choir. Father John O’Doherty OMI blessed the candles that our Indigenous artist painted for the Kildare community. The day culminated with a healing ceremony where the College was presented with a plant for the Kildare Indigenous Wirra Garden.
Reception students who join a 2024 mid-year intake at a Diocesan Catholic school will get free tuition in Terms 3 and 4.
