Acknowledging the Journey
Part of our School’s commitment to the reconciliation process is sharing and displaying the Acknowledgment of Country within our School as a sign of respect to the Kaurna people.
For St Peter’s Girls’ School, this journey commenced in 2015 when the decision was made to introduce an Acknowledgment of Country. A brief statement in English was used at Assemblies and special events. Four years later, an extended version replaced the original statement, and in the following year, the RAP Ambassadors created the first video of this new Acknowledgement.
In 2022, our inaugural School Aunty, Rosemary Wanganeen, a Kaurna Elder, created a special Acknowledgement for International Women’s Day, which is now used annually.
The following year, driven by the RAP Ambassadors, the decision was made to combine Kaurna and English in a new statement as a further sign of respect for the Kaurna people. In consultation with Kaurna language expert Kira Bain, the words were modified to better capture authentic Kaurna words that correctly expressed the English translation. Once this was achieved, the ambassadors developed a proposal to have this Acknowledgment visually present in our School in the form of Kaurna Plaques.
By 2024, with the proposal accepted, Art students, Francine Stavrou, Lucy Mitchell and Linna Song were invited to design a black and white plaque using Frist Nations symbols. Workshopping with Indigenous artist Mya Damon and Caterina Pennestri, ELC Atelierista, the girls produced a design unique for Saints Girls that brought together each sector with iconic symbols representative of our School environment. This shield is now mounted at the entrances of the Chiverton Building and Early Learners’ Centre.
A new project commenced a year later in which the design for a larger, internal, coloured plaque began. Senior Art student, Anwen Fu, Jennifer Xu, Gia Wang, Kimberley Luk Lu, Coco Xu, Phoebe Liu and Laurel Li, selected Indigenous plants, birds and animals, producing individual designs that were placed on Gia Wang’s blue background which was representative of the local environment.
On Tuesday 16 June, a group of RAP Ambassadors and the design artist participated in the unveiling of this latest plaque in the ELC. This was truly an achievement worth celebrating.
Complementing this work has been the amazing contributions our Senior Dance students, under the guidance of Mrs Kate Burnett, have made. In 2023, the first Dance Acknowledgement was released and this year, a new extended version has been shared with the School community.
Lisa Hollis
RAP Coordinator
We were honoured to attend the unveiling ceremony of the Acknowledgement of Country plaque in the ELC. It was meaningful to see the artwork we contributed to become part of a display that recognises the Kaurna People and acknowledges the land our School is on. Through this project, we enjoyed creating illustrations of local plants and wildlife. We were excited to see our drawings included in the final plaque.
Kimberly Lu and Arwen Fu
Year 12 Students
