Bellarine primary school leading the pack

QUEENSCLIFF Primary School is setting a trend as one of very few primary schools in the area that have made Indigenous studies part of their core curriculum.

Kelly Caldwell led the charge to have Indigenous studies recognised as a core subject alongside maths, physical education and art.

Ms Caldwell is a visual arts teacher, a specialist leader and the Australian Indigenous studies teacher.

She said she used parts of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Curricular Project developed by Marcia Langton as inspiration for her own lessons.

“She (Marcia) was imploring schools to include Indigenous studies as core learning nation wide, so I have used some of that to plan the unit,” she said.
Ms Caldwell also utilises local history to teach the children.

“The way I structure the learning to start by looking at what the Wadawurrung region was like prior to settlement, what happened during settlement and then what’s happened after and the impact that is has had,” she said.

“We look at vocabulary and special and sacred sights that are significant to Wadawurrung people.”

Ms Caldwell said pupils were “absolutely adoring” the lessons and the course had quality support from the department of education.

Nate, a prep student at the school, shared insights he had learned from the studies.

“We learn to respect the land and to be good to it, and the land will be good to us,” he said.

Grade One student, Anouk, enjoyed the class and was eager to share the cultural traditions she had learned about.

“Sometimes when a Wadawurrung baby was born, they would be wrapped in a possum skin. As the child grows up they are given more possum skins. When the person dies, they are wrapped in the possum skins when they are buried,” she said.

Anouk also shared her thoughts on the stolen generations.

“When the white people came they told the people that they weren’t good mums and they took their kids away and they were put into orphanages, which isn’t very fair. We need to remember it because we need to know not to do it when we get older.”