Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2023

MS ABBY HILLS HISTORY TEACHER

BGGS’ Reconciliation

A CTION PL A N

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FORMALISING OUR COMMITMENT

Uralla Club members champion days of significance for Indigenous Peoples throughout the year including Close the Gap Day, National Sorry Day and NAIDOC Week. The School also hosts a Diversity Forum and supports the Queensland Children’s Hospital Indigenous Liaison Centre with a clothing drive each year. Other initiatives instigated by Uralla Club members include attending local exhibitions of First Nations artists and Bangarra Dance performances, organising film and documentary viewing sessions, participating in yarning circles, creating a ‘Sorry Book’, and murals and installations to educate the School community about contemporary issues affecting First Nations peoples. Girls Grammar has explored select works of First Nations artist, Gordon Bennett, held in the School’s art collection, and has also collaborated with Sport through a Connect to Country Fun Run. Many of these earlier programs and events were made possible thanks to a generous donation made by the BGGS Mothers Group in 2014.

An important first step on our reconciliation journey was the establishment of the Uralla Club in 2014. The name, Uralla, from the dialect of the Anaiwan people, means ‘ceremonial meeting place on a hill’. This group, inaugurated by students committed to social justice initiatives and supported by like-minded staff, sought to learn more about First Nations knowledge, arts, cultures, achievements and to promote awareness of issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The club’s original student body laid a strong foundation for sharing, learning and action, and this has been consistently, and enthusiastically, embraced ever since. Subsequent students have built on the goals and actions of their predecessors and continue to demonstrate a determination to broaden the scope of their activities and expand the depth of awareness among the wider School community.

‘RECONCILIATION DOES NOT WORK TO A STRICT TIMELINE LIKE OTHER PROJECTS. IT SUCCEEDS OR FAILS IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF ALL AUSTRALIANS’ – DR EVELYN SCOTT A O

T his powerful message from the great Indigenous Australian activist, educator and social justice campaigner, Dr Evelyn Scott AO , reminds us that reconciliation is not a linear course reliant on others to implement; it requires each of us to understand and appreciate its significance and act upon it. At Girls Grammar, we not only have the desire, but understand we have an obligation as well, to foster a culture and environment that values and supports diversity and draws on it as a rich and powerful resource for enhancing learning for all. We seek to encourage inclusivity through trust, respect, and understanding, and know a commitment to reconciliation is an inherent part of this responsibility.

CAPTIONS 1 THE BGGS RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN 2 PRINCIPAL, MS EULER WELSH, WITH CULTURAL EDUCATOR, MR MARLON RILEY WHO SPOKE TO STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL’S ASSEMBLY AND THEN HELD A SMOKING CEREMONY ON THE POOL LAWN TO MARK BGGS’ COMMITMENT TO THE ACTIONS OUTLINED IN THE RAP, WITH ALUMNAE AND PAST URALLA CLUB CAPTAINS, ELLA SINCLAIR (2022), ALLY BALL (2018) AND OLIVIA DALTON (2018)

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GAZETTE • ISSUE 1, 2023 ISSUE 1, 2023

BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL