Assistant Principal - Mission and Wellbeing

NAIDOC celebrations at St Paul’s
The St Paul’s community embraced a wonderful NAIDOC celebration during the first week of Term 3. The College met together for a beautiful ceremony supporting many aspects of the Dunghutti culture within the Macleay Valley, which included an outline of the meaning of NAIDOC and the 2024 National NAIDOC theme - Keep the fire burning! Blak, Loud and Proud. The fire represents the enduring strength and vitality of Indigenous cultures, passed down through generations despite the challenges faced. The Blak, Loud and Proud encapsulates the unapologetic celebration of Indigenous identity standing proud in heritage and asserting a place in the modern world.

St Paul’s were privileged to be Welcomed to Country by Aunty Vicky Taylor and then listened to Aunty Vicky’s address where she spoke about her beautiful culture and the importance of NAIDOC in modern Australia. The ceremony continued with the Reconciliation prayer, the presentation of the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags then concluding with a beautiful prayer for Aboriginal people.

NAIDOC celebrations continued throughout the day with a range of Indigenous activities including: Indigenous Sports, Aboriginal Art painting on tiles and leaves, creating magnetic animal art, wellbeing drumming, Aboriginal cooking, Dunghutti Trivia and a First Nations survival video narrated by the Uncles from Kinchela Boys Home. These activities showcased the beauty and meaning of many aspects of the Dunghutti culture which is greatly respected and supported by our St Paul’s community.

Many thanks to our Aborginal leadership team of Mrs Linda Pogson, Mr Dre Barker and Mr Adam Clay, to Aunty Vicky Wilson for her inspiring words and to Headspace Kempsey, Burran Dalai Aboriginal Corporation, Dhina Durriti Aboriginal Corporation and our wonderful St Paul's staff, Mr Scotty Edwards, Mrs Tess Meehan, Ms Helen Bush and Ms Laura Von Holdt for their stirling efforts.