SPCC Gilibaa aims to bridge the gap by offering a culturally supportive environment where Aboriginal students can learn both academic subjects and their heritage, including the Gathang language. With small class sizes and intensive programs in literacy and numeracy, SPCC Gilibaa emphasises cultural identity and aims for its students to continue thriving in their education beyond primary school.
The classroom programs are systemic and intensive, with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy, delivered in a culturally supportive and enriching environment. Our goal is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to reach high school having achieved personal success, maximising their opportunities both in high school and beyond. Our hope is that every student who graduates from SPCC Gilibaa in Year 6 will continue their secondary education at St Philip’s Christian College Port Stephens.
In order to promote strong academic growth, class sizes are small, between 12 and 16, and are taught by a fulltime teacher and a teacher’s aide.
In addition to promoting numeracy and literacy, the classroom programs emphasise cultural identity and understanding. The Worimi community and its organisations actively participate in teaching Aboriginal practices, history, language, and culture. This partnership gives all St Philip’s students the opportunity to understand and celebrate the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to our society. A strong cultural foundation is built through immersion in culture, focusing on the Four Pillars of Culture Land, Language, Story, and People. The curriculum incorporates Gathang, the language of the Worimi people, into everyday classroom use, with designated language sessions to introduce new concepts. Learning Gathang systematically lines up with components of English grammar as students learn how to build language sentences.
Director of Aboriginal Education, Mr Jonathan Lilley, believes this deep immersion into Aboriginal culture within the classroom is a key to the success of the program.
‘One of the examples of immersion of culture into curriculum came during a Geography lesson, mapping, which is achieved through the ‘Going on a bear hunt’ song. Worimi people have a story where our kids find honey through watching the native bee, we sing (in Gathang language) that story and dance that story. We spoke less of bears and more of bees! The students found a beehive and tasted the honey. Geography outcome achieved through local culture, perfect!’
SPCC Gilibaa K-2 Teacher, Mrs Rebecca Ferguson, has been excited to see the progress in the students and the indications of success of the program after such a short period of time.
‘It is incredible to see the students becoming bi-lingual; the other day a Year 2 girl was reading a story about catching fish. Without being asked she scanned the word ‘fish’ in her head but instead of saying fish aloud, she used the Gathang word ‘makurr’, Mrs Ferguson explained.