Thirty First Nations students at Kangaroo Flat Primary School have participated in a project to share their cultural stories which has resulted in specially designed new school uniforms.
The students recently unveiled the new school uniforms which feature a design created by First Nations students in Grades four to six to the entire school at a special assembly involving dance, story-telling and performance.
City of Greater Bendigo Community Partnerships Manager Andie West said the My Story, Understanding My Culture project is an initiative of the City of Greater Bendigo, DUMAWUL (a Dja Dja Wurrung arts, education and tourism enterprise) and Kangaroo Flat Primary School with funding provided by VicHealth.
"This project aimed to empower young First Nations students from Kangaroo Flat Primary School to share their cultural stories in a way of their choosing," Ms West said.
"It was created to address several priorities identified by children living in City of Greater Bendigo during engagement for the City's Mir wimbul Council Plan (21-25) and Healthy Greater Bendigo (21-25) who said they wanted more opportunities to participate in culture and have an increased visibility of culture in the community.
"As part of the project the First Nations students were involved in several excursions and workshops where they explored and wrote their 'story' and created a design to showcase it on a school polo and hat, which will now become a permanent part of the school uniform.
"Most students reported that after participating in the project, they feel better about being themselves, feel more connected to culture, and feel safer to show and share their culture at school.
"The project demonstrates the City's commitment to reconciliation as set out in the Reconciliation Action Plan Barpangu to support the Traditional Owners and local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
"It's been a really great project with a fantastic outcome for the Kangaroo Flat Primary School community."
