27 Jul 2023
Plumpton High School held its biennial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Conference a key component of Plumpton High School’s National NAIDOC Week learning that focussed on the theme of ‘For Our Elders’ in 2023. Plumpton students and staff were honoured learn from and hear great wisdom from three significant Elders present at the conference - Uncle Wes Marne, Uncle Greg Simms, and Uncle Charlie Mundine.
We were privileged to have Natalie Foster the National High School Program Manager from the Aurora Education Foundation attend and contribute to the day and our Director Jason Miezis. Our Indigenous AFL Academies Coordinator Matthew Keevil provided incredible assistance on the day another great mentor to our students. Students were also provided several cultural learning activities lead by Gadhungal Marring including dance, boomerang throwing, weaving and fire making.
The conference assists our students to thrive building on the high-level accomplishments of alumni Aboriginal students from Plumpton High School who have been successful School Captains, School Vice-Captains, House Captains, Student Executive Council members, Early Entry to Universities - now pursuing careers in Law, Education, Engineering, Social Work, Trades, employment, and many other pursuits. Irrespective of whether their strengths lie in the academic realm, leadership, sporting or the creative and performing arts there is a pathway to excel across this diverse landscape.
On behalf of Plumpton High School and personally I would like to express sincere thanks and congratulations to Karlene and Tamika Rex for incredible work they have undertaken supported by our Intercultural Understanding Team members Noni Gladden, Tina Linaris, Arahia Nolan, Tim Symes and Deb Nash to provide our students an amazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Conference. A big thank you also to Kathryn Rieksen for her baking expertise and Les and Jason for setting up and cooking the bbq for lunch.
Tim Lloyd, Principal