2014 School Magazine

THE URALLA CLUB ANNA MCARTHUR-DOWTY (11R) AND JOSEFINE GANKO (11R)

This has been a big year of events for the new Service group, The Uralla Club. From our Club’s first official meeting in Week 4 of Term I, we have come so far and gained the support from the wider School community. We are a club focused primarily on raising awareness about Indigenous issues, and occasionally on fundraising. In our meetings, we aim to not only organise events, but also to teach and educate our members on Indigenous culture and the need to close the gap between the lifestyles of our Australian people. Our first event this year was commemorating National Close the Gap Day, where we asked girls to place their hand prints as leaves on our tree mural, symbolising their place in closing the gap. Our major event for the year was Diversity Day on 7 May. We took the opportunity to celebrate not only Australia’s diversity, but also the First Nation’s People. We had a Q&A style forum, with various esteemed Indigenous community leaders, and student representatives, where we discussed important issues faced by Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians. In conjunction with this, we had a

flag competition, where students were asked to create their own flag to represent Australia’s diversity. We also served multicultural meals at the tuckshop, and had an afternoon tea with guest speakers to discuss their varied backgrounds. Due to a timing clash with our school holidays, we celebrated our own NAIDOC week. This consisted of a Utopia viewing, a library display and a meeting with Indigenous community members Aunty Denise Proud, Monique Proud and Marnee Shay. Finally, in August we visited QPAC to view Bangarra’s Dance Theatre’s Patyegarang . It was a very memorable and moving performance, key in demonstrating modern Indigenous culture. In the future, we are hoping to establish a Reconciliation Action Plan, where we will aim to set a goal for closing the gap within the School. This year has been a very successful start for The Uralla Club, and we are proud of the support and success we have achieved. Thank you to all members and those who have helped us out; the Club wouldn’t exist without your support. ■

HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOLS (HPS) MACKENZIE GEEVES (12M)

Health Promoting Schools (HPS) aims to promote healthy eating and living while encouraging girls to get involved in initiatives within the School and to participate in activities provided by the club. HPS has put on a number of fun events such as the pool lawn party, where students gave a gold coin donation to swim in the School pool or use skipping ropes, tennis balls and frisbees on the grass. Students could also purchase healthy snacks such as fruit and yoghurt cups from the HPS club members. It is through events like these, along with the healthy breakfast stalls, student versus teacher dodgeball games and the popular handball lunch times that HPS is able to inspire and encourage girls to participate in aerobic activity or munch on some healthy treats, as opposed to sitting down for an entire lunchtime, consuming unhealthy foods. All proceeds from fundraising activities go directly to the Australia Cervical Cancer Foundation, a charity that lies close to all young and old girls’ hearts due to its support for woman who are affected by cervical cancer and research into possible cures.

Our most recent initiative was a Service stall at BGGS Open Day. We sold low-fat Greek yoghurt cups with fresh strawberries and distributed brochures to advertise our club. The strawberry yoghurt cups were extremely popular and we hope to continue this tradition in the coming years. ■

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