June saw us host our Education & Well-being Days for our scholars attending each of our 23 partner schools.
Each day began with an Acknowledgement of Country by one of our students, followed by the group being split into juniors and seniors to ensure the topics discussed in our sessions were relevant to their age group. Students rotated through 4 engaging and interactive sessions facilitated by Spartan First; and our Student & Families Support Team.
Thank you too Janelle Campbell-Cooke, Sean and Des Headland from Spartan First for facilitating our first session, exploring the topic of social and emotional well-being and providing our students with the opportunity to learn, listen and engage. Spartan First is an Indigenous occupational health provider based in Perth whose mission is to empower Indigenous communities. The framework for social and emotional well-being recognises the importance of culture, land, spirituality, family and community as central to the well-being of Aboriginal people, as well as how the policies and events from the past influence our wellness. Through sessions like this, we are equipping our scholars with the knowledge and strategies about how to care for their body, mind, and spirit as well as ensure that students can reach out for support if needed. The team from Spartan First, in partnership with MADALAH also provided our students during this event with the opportunity to have a Health Assessment if they wanted to.
Our second session was conducted by the MADALAH Student & Families Student Support Team which explored the topic of Career Pathways. One of the Career Pathways activities challenged the students to think about employability and what employers look for when recruiting. Students broke into groups and were invited to create outfits from a selection of clothes and discuss amongst themselves what was and wasn’t professional. The session also explored resume writing, comparing resume examples and asking students to comment on what they felt was the most suitable. For the senior group, this session was particularly important as many of the students are already thinking about their future career plans and aspirations. The MADALAH team shared the potential pathways students could take whether this be employment, further study at TAFE, university or a trade/apprenticeship. The students were also interested in how we could support them through this process in our Year 13 Program.
For our third session, all students came together as one group to yarn with MADALAH staff in a collaborative session about ‘walking in two worlds’. MADALAH staff explained who they are, what their role is at MADALAH and what support they can provide to each scholar throughout their education journey. They then went on to talk about their own experiences and how they personally learned to successfully walk in two worlds. As part of this session, students were also given contact information so they can reach out to an appropriate member of the MADALAH Student Support Team at any time. Students then split into small groups and answered a series of questions, including, what has worked well this year in school, what worked well with MADALAH and what kind of support do you want/need from MADALAH.
Our final session ended on a high note with a fun game that saw students take part in the MADALAH games which featured the game Buroinjin; a traditional Aboriginal game from the Kabi Kabi people of South Queensland. Buroinjin is a game that has characteristics similar to AFL, rugby, and basketball. The game is played on a square field which is around the same size as a soccer pitch. Players must throw the ball to each other, running in any direction to avoid being touched. They can also run as far as they want. In scoring a point, teams must bring the ball over their score line and if they are touched by an opposing player they must stop and throw the ball straight up in the air; each team will compete for possession. This was a fantastic way to end each day and our students enjoyed their time using teamwork to work together to score points!
We were so proud of all our students from each of our partner schools for their engagement and energy!
