Wandana is a Sydney-based company specialising in Aboriginal education. With a vision to have two million students inspired by Aboriginal culture across Australia by 2030, Wandana helps students to learn and explore through a variety of non-tokenistic activities such as song and dance, history, storytelling and art.

In the morning, each school assembly begins with an Acknowledgement to Country followed by a reconciliation prayer. Traditional ochre paint is then offered to all students, teachers and parents before a Smoking Ceremony where the school community are encouraged to place one gum leaf into the smoking Coolomon.

Throughout the day, each year group spends time with the Wandana program and has the chance to experience a didgeridoo performance, hear the creation story of the instrument and learn how the instrument is crafted and about its history and customs regarding its use.

Students learn about the traditional tools and weapons used by Aboriginal people and even get to see and hold a few for themselves as they hear about how each is made and used in daily life.

Students are also given a brief overview of local Aboriginal history and learn about symbols used in art that will help to create their school story painting.

Each school story painting is unique and represents the schools’ history, core values, motifs/symbols, connection to community and student body and the finished product is unveiled during an afternoon school assembly.

St Patrick's Primary School, Swansea

The St Patrick's school painting is a modern, contemporary Aboriginal painting that pays homage to the local Awabakal Aboriginal people and the rich history of the school community. 

At the centre of the painting are red, concentric circles, which are the traditional Aboriginal symbol for a meeting place and also represent the school. They are coloured red to depict the deep connection to the land for Aboriginal people.

The white dots around the meeting place are the local Aboriginal people of the past and the yellow U shapes surrounding the school are the local Aboriginal people, parents and teachers. The brightly coloured areas represent the local topography. 

At the top of the painting are the waterways of Lake Macquarie, as the local Awabakal people were keen fishermen. Along the edges of the waterways, we see the Aboriginal middens, which acted as compost areas for used food materials.

The purple and pink shapes within the Lake Macquarie waters represent the local Awabakal Women spirit figures, which protected the local area and waterways. They are currently seen as petrified stone within the Lake.

The Catholic Cross can be seen flowing through the local school community and represents the faith and spirituality of the entire community and its people.

The handprint of the school principal represents the love, care and guidance over the entire school community. 

“The highlight of our cultural immersion day was the unveiling of the school painting, which every student had a role in creating,” said Peter Green, Principal at St Patrick’s.

“The painting, which will be displayed in a prominent place in our school hall, will serve as a reminder of the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the land on which our school stands. 

“Our thanks to Brian, Eve and Isaac from Wandana and to Graham Morgan (father of two of our students), for a rich immersion into traditional Aboriginal culture.” 

St John Vianney Primary School, Morisset 

The St John Vianney school painting displays a similar design but features orange, concentric circles, with orange representing trust.

The painting also features kangaroo tracks in the local area and the Catholic Cross can be seen flowing through the local school community and represents the faith and spirituality of the entire community and its people. 

St Paul’s Primary School, Gateshead

The St Paul’s school painting is a modern, contemporary Aboriginal painting that pays homage to the local Awabakal Aboriginal people and the rich history of the school community. 

The painting features fire sticks, which were used by the local Awabakal Aboriginal people to clear the land as well as for hunting. The brightly coloured areas represent the local topography.  

St Mary’s Primary School, Warners Bay

The St Mary’s school painting is a modern, contemporary Aboriginal painting that pays homage to the local Awabakal Aboriginal people and the rich history of the school community. 

To the left of the painting are the waterways of Lake Macquarie as the local Awabakal people were keen fishermen. Along the edges of the waterways are the Aboriginal middens, which acted as compost areas for used food materials. The brightly coloured bands along the waterways represent the Aboriginal communities who lived along these areas.

The handprint of the school principal represents the love, care and guidance over the entire school community and the 2M by 2030 on the painting represents the Wandana vision to inspire two million students throughout Australia by year 2030. 

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