Tiwi College News Term Two, 2012
Inside this issue ...
Athletics Tiwi College Library officially open Carnival By Cecillena Mungatopi In the Library there are heaps of brand new On Thursday 3rd May we had the opening Football books. It all looked amazing at the opening. More ceremony for the new library which was built last matches shelves and desks have arrived since then and year. The Primary School kids sang the Australian against Xavier more laptops will be coming soon. anthem. We had visitors from Darwin and
Canberra, as well as around Tiwi. Mr Smithy Class news What I like about the Library is the brand new spoke about how important books and books, and the computer rooms. The library Family Group computers are to literacy and learning. Poli cian room is just the right place to hang out, because Home Warren Snowden MP officially opened the it looks amazing and there are lots of books to library. reports read at lunch me or borrow and take home.
Interviews Adam (from Taste It, Do It, Live It) and some Tiwi I hope the visitors come back again someday to with Tiwi College students cooked up dishes like fresh visit our school and see the library when it is barramundi rolls and buffalo burgers with na ve staff completely finished and students are borrowing herbs and spices. A small group of students lots of books. Student helped to serve food to guests. achievements Special Inspiration from Kyle and Red Dust activities By Aggie Puruntatameri going to Canberra for a leadership camp. Then The Growing the two young Aboriginal boys travelling with One of our most inspiring groups of visitors this Red Dust spoke to us about life at their boarding Young term was Kyle Vander Kuyp and the Red Dust school in NSW, especially the good and also Women’s Role Models. Kyle used to be a champion hurdler difficult sides of leaving home to get a be er Program and he represented Australia in the Olympics and educa on. Commonwealth
Games. Now he goes Kyle spoke to us at to schools in the the assembly about community to when he was a li le support Aboriginal Tiwi College boy he was so shy Pickertaramoor children and inspire that he wouldn’t talk Melville Island them to build their to anyone. He had an NORTHERN TERRITORY confidence. He works Aboriginal mum who a lot with a program Ph: (08) 8970 9024 gave him up for a Fax: (08) 8970 9025 called AIME adop on at the age of 5 weeks old. He knew that (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience). his background was Aboriginal but he didn’t Postal address: LMB 127 know the details. When Kyle was a li le boy, Kyle and his group were at Tiwi College for 2 Winnellie, NT, 0822 Maurice Rioli visited his school and told him days . When they came to our Senior Girls’ class, “don’t feel ashamed about your Aboriginal Principal: Ian Smith Kyle talked about his experiences and also about background.” A er Maurice spoke to Kyle, Kyle [email protected] public speaking. Two of our girls presented didn’t worry about anything or anyone, he felt so speeches. They talked about their experience of proud of his Aboriginal background.
From the Principal Attendance is the key to success Awuna, Our Family Group Homes have been I have been very pleased with the working very well as a team. Currently opera ons of Tiwi College this their main a er-school program is the semester. Our family community development of a garden for each should feel confident that their house, with the plan that each children are in good hands during the student will look a er his or her own week. We are the students’ family plot and grow vegetables. They will be away from home. We are the Picka able to take these home at the end of Family. each week to family in the communi- es. Throughout the semester we have undergone a review of our curriculum, We will have a counsellor a ending with an aim to improving the way we teach and what we the college as part of our well-being program next teach. Much tes ng takes place to check if students are semester. She will provide great guidance to our resident improving. There is a clear pa ern in every class: the counsellor, Mr Solo. Our aim is to help our students cope be er the a endance, the greater the chance of improv- with any issues they might have and be able to enjoy life ing. and a end school with a posi ve frame of mind.
We ask that you help your children improve by helping Next term we begin our rela onship with AFLNT, with a them get organised. They need to have their bag packed Development Manager located at Pickertaramoor, and be at the shop wai ng for pick- overseeing the boys’ program and ups every Monday – every week. the girls’ football development. Next term I would love to report AFLNT will provide incen ve-based that we have more students who trips for students with excellent have a 100% a endance rate. a endance and behaviour. Let’s see all students here week 1 – and We now have a VET Coordinator on every week a er that! campus: Phil Collier. Phil spent his first weeks on campus planning Should any families wish to enroll next year’s VET courses, as part of a their children at Tiwi College, please three year plan for Tiwi College see any of our board members and students to be in the best possible they can provide names to Brian & posi on to succeed in the Tiwi workforce. Jennifer Clancy.
Next semester we will have our Senior Boys par cipate in I wish to thank all staff for their hard and conscien ous Cer ficate II Sport & Recrea on and rotate through work this semester. It has been very challenging in many Carpentry, Hor culture and Manufacturing as well. Our ways as our staffing was not complete un l Term Two. In Senior Girls will complete Cert I in Business Management. spite of this, staff have consistently been professional in All senior students will par cipate in short courses such as their approach and have always had the best interests of First Aid to help prepare them for the workforce. the young Tiwi in their hearts. I would like to express my gra tude to them on behalf of the whole school communi- Adam Clark from Morris will con nue his tui on in ty. Catering, with an emphasis on assessment in Cer ficate II in Hospital- I hope all families have a wonderful ity (Kitchen Opera ons) next semes- Bush Holiday in country. I and my ter. This will involve students being staff look forward to seeing all invited to a end the Ma lda-Zircon students again in Term Three (pick-up: mine at Lethbridge Bay & mines in Wednesday 25th July). Western Australia to prepare meals for the workers there as part of their Mana, training. This is an exci ng program to look forward to! Ian Smith page 2 Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Strong relationships in our community Half way through the year and so much Museum in Nguiu and Jilamara Art has occurred within the school Gallery in Milikapi ; community. field work with CDU, CSIRO and the Tiwi Rangers; We con nue to have growing interest in the Senior Young Men’s Auskick the college from many organisa ons and Program in Garden Point ; and schools around Australia. We have had two of our Senior Young Women, visitors from Red Dust, CDU, CSIRO, TLC, Caitlyn Moreen and Cassie Black, TITEB, Smith Family, Mission Australia, selected to a end the Na onal Aspiring The HaydenWay Project, Zircon Mines, Leaders’ Summit in Canberra on The Fishing Lodge and many more. Our strong rela onship scholarships from the Smith Family; with Scotch College con nues: this term our academic staff A group of boys travelling to Queensland to play worked with Scotch College staff on an educa onal football at Narrangba, a trip which culminated in program for the Middle School Boys. We have also Kenny Puruntatameri and Adam Tipungwu being developed a rela onship with St. Pats in Brisbane, which selected for scholarships to a end St. Patrick’s has developed from football trips into football scholarships College. for two of our boys. It is great to see teachers and students engage in posi ve We have had a produc ve term academically. Student interac ons both in and out of the classroom. Staff have a endance has been high due to students making a choice modelled a high level of professionalism in their planning, to come to school and learn. Teachers have worked on development and prac ce. Semester One has been a busy developing innova ve programs in and produc ve one in which staff have Literacy and Numeracy as well as other worked hard to implement current subjects such as History, Geography, curriculum and programs whilst looking Science and The Arts. The school vision ahead to future changes and aspiring to has also focused on providing career- improve the school even more. centred skills and pathways through VET subjects. Staff con nue to promote The students have faced challenges in posi ve student outcomes through a being away from home, living in a combina on of rigorous teaching, care structured environment and coping with and respect for their students, and role- the academic content each day. modelling posi ve behaviour. However, they have made excellent choices in having a go and a ending each week. Even Students’ learning does not just take place within the though they are away from home they s ll have a strong classroom. This term has seen students par cipate in many sense of their culture, which they share with visitors and different ac vi es. These include: school staff, par cularly in the Family Group Homes. Senior Young Women comple ng one week’s work experience in Darwin; I am proud to have colleagues working together for these Our GYW’s Program taking girls to the State AFL Tiwi kids to put them on a path which will lead them to a selec on trials, which led to 4 of our girls being bright future. I look forward to next semester and more selected for the NT team; exci ng challenges for us all. the Scotch - Tiwi College Skype Program; students going on academic excursions to the Sila Pati Tiwi College Athletics Carnival By Ailsa MacFie tears in others as the long, hot day drew to a close.
On June 14 Tiwi College held the second Athle cs Car- The day ended with a narrow margin between the nival in the school’s history. Students were grouped teams in first and second place. Well done to the Yel- into three teams—Red, Yellow and Blue—and they low team for their victory. Students quickly vowed to quickly bonded as teams and barracked loudly for their perform even be er next carnival—and to be be er teammates. stocked with face paint and streamers at next year’s
event. The event certainly brought out a strong feeling Students worked their way around a variety of track of school spirit and school pride amongst staff and stu- and field events, including 800m, 400m, 100m, relay, dents alike. We hope to regroup in these teams for high jump, long jump, shotput and discus, compe ng other types of compe ons throughout the year. against other students in their age-group. The relay races were par cularly popular with spectators. The All staff worked hard to make the event a success, teachers’ relay was hotly contested but the result was from those managing and organising teams to those skewed when a number of compe tors (including the running each event. Par cular thanks go to Ben Kelly Vice-Principal) appeared to engage in chea ng and foul for organising the whole event and ensuring everything play! Another exci ng event was the under-6s race, ran so smoothly. which brought out compe ve ins ncts in some and
Athletics carnival results First place: Yellow Team – 571 points Captains : Kenny Puruntatameri, Alex Guy Second place: Red Team – 566 points Captains: Clancy Puruntatameri, Cecillena Mungatopi Third place: Blue Team – 398 points Captains: Stephen Stassi, Cassie Black
page 4 Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Tiwi College Athletics Carnival Term 2, 2012
Age group champions
Primary Ethan Ullungura Rosemary Wooley ed with Tyson Tippuamantameri
U13 Patrick Puruntatameri Shauna Apua mi
U15 Alex Kan lla Bobe e Minniecon
U17 Clancy Puruntatameri Cecillena Mungatopi
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page 5 Primary School
A day in the life of the Primary School class By Stephanie Redgment The teachers are the ones who have to keep up with the students’ pace! At 8:30am the siren sounds for the start of school. By
9am all the primary students have arrived. A er A er lunch come many different ac vi es. The formally saying good morning, we are ready to start students love Art with Miss Annie and Sport with Mr our day. Ben. On special occasions the
students are lucky enough to First up is Literacy. The have guest speakers pop into students love to read their new the classroom or skype us from Honey Ant Readers and to write afar. Tennis and Music lessons about going hun ng with their are a new addi on to the families. They write in their a ernoon rou ne. books and draw amazing pictures. Then they use the By 3pm it’s me to pack up and computers to create a slick make the classroom dy and document. Some mes the clean. By quarter past three the students have a visit from the students are ready to head senior students so they can home. The students take their read together. home readers with them for some extra reading in the
evening. It’s been a good day full of learning and fun Next is Mathema cs, also known as Numeracy. The for all. students are keen to move through pages of work.
page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Middle School Young Women Term 2, 2012 Here are some of the History – Jessica Stassi highlights from the In History with Ms Ailsa we have been learning about Middle School Young Aboriginal history and the First Fleet. We learnt by Women’s class in Term watching a history DVD called “My Place” and doing wri ng Two. about the story. The Senior Girls did Powerpoint infor- ma on shows with voice recordings so we could read and Amazing things we listen about history. We are now trying to write a song for discovered – Annie the Primary kids so we can teach them history. At the start Puruntatameri of Term Two we learnt about World War Two for Anzac Day. In Term Two we found We wrote a diary for a li le girl who got bombed in Darwin. out about World War Two. Many coun es Geography – Jessica Stassi were involved. We In Term Two we have been learning about geography. We found out that The chose a country and found out informa on of the country. Great Wall of China We looked at the popula on, flags, language, what they eat was built to keep other and what their culture is. We thought about which country people out of China. We discovered that Aboriginal people we would love to have been here for 40,000 years or more. We felt proud visit. about that. We learnt that Eddie Mabo was the first Aboriginal man to go to the High Court to fight for his land Art – Shenaida Bush and rights. We made Japanese windsocks which are Literacy – Arthurina Moreen and Ailsa MacFie now hanging outside In Literacy class we work in groups with students of a similar the library. We also ability. This means we can learn at our own pace and level. went to Jilamara Art We do lots of Centre at Milikapi . ac vi es involving We went inside to reading, wri ng, have a look then Miss Annie said “can you girls draw the spelling, speaking statue”. In class we also made lino-cut prin ng and painted aloud, listening, cricket bats. We have also done drawings using perspec ve using computers, lines. working individually and working with Behaviour and A tude – Aggie Puruntatameri others. Some The Middle School Girls are good at taking good care of students are school property. We are also good at keeping our drawers reading from graded readers as they con nue to work on and belongings neat and dy. A few mes this term we their phonics and decoding skills. Other students are were disrespec ul to our teachers. But we don’t want all reading novels. Some students wrote argumenta ve essays teachers to think that we are silly so that’s why the Middle on different topics. All students worked on poetry and School Girls would like to be good and listen to the teachers. descrip ve wri ng about the senses. We are happy to go back home and see our family.
Numeracy – Annie Puruntatameri Goals for Term Three – Arthurina Moreen In Term Two in Maths we learnt about volume, perimeter, Next term we want to show more respect. We want to be shape, measurement, weight, height and length. We polite in every lesson. We want to act like role models for measured the classroom and the Melville room building Primary students and our friends. We want to get to class with Miss G. on me.
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Middle School Young Men
By Josh Mackenzie homework to produce a variety of different pieces. The highlight in this class was students pain ng mini cricket It has been busy term in the Middle School Young Men’s bats which will be presented to Mathew Hayden and the classroom. We lost a wonderful servant to our class other corporate visitors at the HaydenWay Cricket Day Dennis Henry and gained another gem, Aus n Wo- later in the year. naeamirri. I would like to thanks Den Den for his contribu on to the class and welcome Aussie. Amongst all the hard work and the busyness of the term
the highlight for the students was a visit to the school by In Literacy the students have taken their reading to the Kyle Vander Kuyp. He came to the school through the next level. Every day the students get out their books and Red Dust Role Models program with some students and start reading. They engage in new words and vocabulary staff from St Greg’s in NSW. This school has a very good each day and as a teacher this is very exci ng. Indigenous scholarship program and our students were
privileged to meet two fine young men who a end. They In Mathema cs with Mr Ben the students have focused shared their experiences of moving away to boarding on three main areas: Number, Sta s cs and Measure- school and it was a very valuable experience for our class. ment.
All in all it has been a very special term for the Middle In Sport the students have been playing hockey on the School Young Men. Thank you to everyone involved. basketball court. The students were also privileged enough to be taught soccer skills by some very talented Have a great bush holiday, Irish gap students who were visi ng the school with Red
Dust. Mr Josh
In Art the students have been working with Anne during
page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Senior Young Women Term 2, 2012 History – Ella Wonaeamirri This term in our class we’ve been learning about Tiwi history, Aboriginal history and the first white people who came to Australia. We’ve watched the documentary about the first Aboriginal Australians and the first white Australians who arrived in 1788. We went to the museum over at Bathurst to look at some of the Tiwi history.
Geography I only have room for a few of the Senior Girls’ many In Geography we are learning about different places and achievements from Term Two. Firstly, I am so impressed giving informa on about the currency name, popula on, at how their confidence in themselves has grown. Nearly countries around our country and its capital city. all students have given formal presenta ons to the class this term. This would not have happened in Term One. Drama – Caitlyn Moreen Secondly, the students have worked very hard on their In our drama class we have done some fun ac vi es, warm History/Literacy projects. Not only is their increased ups and also role plays. We are building a character and knowledge about Aboriginal and Australian history our aim over this term and next term is to make a empowering for them, but they have also passed on performance about how life on the Tiwi islands has valuable ideas to the younger students. Finally, many changed across Australian history. ar cles in this newsle er (and the previous edi on) were wri en by these young women. They should feel very VET Business and IT proud of their wri ng and ideas. This term we started Cer ficate One in Business. We have Ms Ailsa been working hard as always. We have been learning how to type fast. Our first topic was careers and how to get Literacy – Alex Guy informa on about a job. In Literacy we have wri en a lot about our different history topics. We have been increasing our vocabularies by Behaviour & A tude – Cassie Black prac cing spelling rules, and new words in sentences. We In class this semester we have been very respec ul have also done more speaking in front of the class. towards both Ms Ailsa and Ms Tic Tac. We have a joke with them but we also work really hard. We have improved a lot Numeracy – Bobe e Minniecon in listening and working extra hard without breaks. The This term in Maths we have been learning about data, most important thing is that we’ve been much more graphs and also measurement. We measured the confident about speaking aloud and up in front of the class. perimeter of the Melville Room. We also calculated how many students a end Tiwi College then we put that Our Goals – Cecillena Mungatopi and Caitlyn Moreen informa on into graphs. Our goals for next term are sharing ideas and joining in the class ac vi es more o en. Also we will try not to laugh at Music others when they make a mistake, especially if they are up This term at Tiwi College we have been doing Music classes the front speaking. Our goals are to do more homework so with Miss Tic Tac and Ms Ailsa. We made characters and we get be er quicker. We should do extra reading at night talked about how drug affect culture. Then we wrote all and on the weekend. We also want to be on me or early the music and the words ourselves. We are entering a to class. compe on next term.
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Senior Young Men By Ben Kelly and the Senior Young Men VET workplace skills This term has been very exci ng for the Senior Young Wednesday Men at Tiwi College. We have had the privilege of a ernoons we learning some wonderful new skills and par cipa ng in have been work- a range of new VET courses. Here are some of the ing on workplace highlights from the term. skills though
some introduc- Level One coaching and umpiring course with AFL tory VET cours- As part of our VET Sport and Recrea on course we did es. These are Hor culture, Manufacturing and Con- a Level 1 coaching and umpiring course with AFLNT. struc on. In these courses we have learnt valuable Kevin and Adam who ran the course flew in and taught workplace skills. These skills will help us become work us all the skills we need to run Auskick for the kids in ready before we finish school. the communi es.
As part of our VET Cert I in Conserva on and Land Management sport and recrea- We have done field trips with teachers from CDU to on course we learn about the will be running different jobs you Auskick in the can do in CLM three main com- and what they muni es on the involve. Island.
On a closing note Auskick – Garden Point we would like to Our first assignment was Garden Point Primary School. wish Kenny and On Thursday a ernoons our class would put on our Adam all the best uniforms and drive from Pickertaramoor to the com- for next semester munity to take the kids for Auskick. When we got to with their schooling at St. Patrick’s in Brisbane and the community we would wait at the oval for the kids their football with the Brisbane Lions Academy. to finish school. When the kids got to our clinic they were very excited. We took them through drills and ac vi es and they seemed to have a lot of fun. Tiwi and CDU partnership Charles Darwin University (CDU) is working with the college to run VETis Cer ficate I in Conserva on and Land Management. Lecturers Adrian Hendry and Michael Hicks have visited and run field trips to show students some of the employment opportu- ni es that are available on the Islands to students with an inter- est in Land and Resource Management.
The CDU staff are focusing on prac cal, hands-on experiences for the students. This has involved field trips to weed infesta- on sites with the Tiwi Land Rangers, to the Ma lda Zircon sand mine site, and to the Planta on Management Partners’ Yapillika Forestry Base. On each field trip the students have met with supervisors and management staff and have been shown the day-to-day opera ons and safety management of the workplaces.
The course will con nue in Terms Three and Four and will also include work experience placements.
This is an edited version of a CDU report. page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Learning outside the classroom Term 2, 2012 dishes were served at HaydenWay Garden the Thursday night com- munity dinner. News A major focus this term By Jason Ryan has also been cleaning Term Two has been an exci ng up the old greenhouse and ac on-packed period within towards the back of the the garden. Since last newsle er, College. The green- the school has seen the establish- house hasn’t had any ment of a VET program which in- work done to it for several years so as you could imag- volves senior students taking a ine it has become overgrown with weeds and trees. more hands-on approach to The greenhouse will become the nursery for all plants learning skills that do not neces- in the garden. Recently we have been having problems sarily revolve around a classroom with chooks, ducks and bandicoots ea ng small plants. environment. So far the Senior The greenhouse will allow the students to plant seeds, Boys have taken on this course watch them grow and then transplant them down into and all of these students have excelled in some area or the garden when they are of an size to survive the on- another. slaught from the animals.
The VET Course in the garden has been shaped around Term Two has been a fantas c building block for the the use of machinery in accordance with OH&S prac c- students star ng to take ownership over what the jobs es. It also incorporates the iden fica on of plants and in the garden. Over the last 9 weeks, 3 students have weeds, which then enables the students to eliminate become increasingly interested in the garden. They weeds to increase crops yields. All measures we have have been doing extra work and coming down in currently done are visual, which is an area the students breaks, which is a pleasure to see. A special thanks to seem to be able to adapt extremely well to. all the teachers for suppor ng Earlier in the term we had a visit from the Stephanie the classes. We Alexander Founda on which specialises in kitchen gar- hope we can con- dens and runs a very successful gardens in schools pro- nue to build on gram. They came in for 2 days and prepared food from what we have to the garden including 4 ducks which were killed and make something prepared from scratch. These ducks plus many other extremely spe- cial.
VET Workplace Skills In hor culture, run by Mr Jason and Mr Anthony, boys were given set tasks to carry out and instruc on in the utilising staff talents various areas of the school farm, including the plants and prepara on as well as the tools and equipment VET started as a structured subject area for the Senior involved in the area. Boys during Second Term. Boys were engaged in three different learning areas. Manufacturing, with Mr. Phil Collier, was an introduc on to some of the Construc on, run by Mr Phil Harmer, is tools and techniques used on the work based on carrying out work around the site and in the machine shop, with an school and learning construc on skills emphasis on safety and the correct tool including plan reading, leveling proce- and machine strategies, plus materials dures, OH&S, measuring techniques and joining procedures. and instruc on skills.
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Art Art at Tiwi College By Anne McMaster
Art at Tiwi College con nues to enrich the stu- dents’ weekly curriculum. Some students take Art during the school day as a specialised sub- ject. Others complete Art ac vi es during homework me as an extra-curricular ac vity.
Middle Young Women planned and designed some Japanese wind socks for the veranda of the new library. They learnt about another cul- ture, and how to paint on tex les. They also prac sed pain ng on boards and using a visual diary to document ideas and thoughts. At the end of Term Two Anne took the girls for an ex- cursion to the new Jilamara Art Gallery and Mu- seum.
The Primary students are working on pieces to be included in a book about life at the school. Excursions and Trips
page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Taste It, Do It, Live It Term 2, 2012
The highly successful ‘Taste It, Do It, Live It’ program con nued throughout Term Two. Selected students took part in catering ac- vi es such as cooking for and wai ng on guests at the Library Opening and hospitali- ty-scale catering at the mine kitchen. The Middle School Young Men’s and Women’s classes learnt break-making skills from Ad- am and ‘bush muesli bars’ from The Out- back Chef, Jude Mayall. Both recipes u - lised na ve ingredients. Even bigger ac vi- es are planned for Term Three, so watch this space!
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Growing Young Women’s Program our young NT team ready for their state matches in Highlights of the GYW Adelaide. We had some great scratch matches thrown in there and I’m fairly sure a Program women’s Tiwi Bombers team is in the making here at Tiwi By Natasha Bennett College! The girls certainly Term Two started with a blast proved that in their excellent for the Growing Young Wom- performance against the Xa- en’s Program. The end of the vier College girls’ team in our second week saw 4 girls — end-of-term match held at Ella Wonaeamiri, Jessica Stas- Tiwi College. We hope to si, Edmena Kan lla and Juli- have more games against e e Puruntatameri — off to Xavier in the future. Darwin for the NT AFL tryouts, which were a huge success for An aspect of the points sys- the girls: all four were select- tem that has been outstand- ed! ing this term is homework. All of the girls, Middle and Senior, have shown up each week consistently, and In the following week our senior girls heading over to with enthusiasm, to complete more schoolwork. A big Darwin for work experience. All the girls did a great thanks to Ms Ailsa and Miss Sandy for dedica ng their job, and I think I can safely say they had a fantas c evenings to ensuring the best results for our girls. me as well. Overall, a fantas c term by the girls. I’m looking for- We were back to business from week 4 onwards with ward to Term Three, when we will have even more ex- our training, focusing on football this term to help get ci ng ac vi es and fun to par cipate in.
experience. All of the girls were Work dressed and ready to be picked up, nervous of course. Picking experience them up at the end of the day, I was interested to see how they By Natasha Bennett handled their first day. I was On Sunday 29th April, the Senior pleasantly surprised by the smiles Girls headed to Darwin for their on all of their faces. They had first block of work experience this made it through and were keen year. Thanks to The Smith Family for the next day to begin. for organising this program. Part of the experience was to also board in pairs with a host family while in Dar- Visi ng them throughout the week I saw the girls work- win. The girls were understandably shy to start with, ing well, and was proud when they all made it through but by the end of the trip, they seemed to the end of the week with great very a ached to the families which was reports from the managers. This was great to see. a very worthwhile and important experience for the Senior Girls, and The week-long experience began with one we will hope to con nue each a training workshop to prepare the stu- year. dents with numerous skills needed for the workplace. The main focus was on Here are some reports from the communica on and confidence. Tues- girls’ perspec ve, on what they day was the first day of official work learnt and how they enjoyed it. page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Growing Young Women’s Program Term 2, 2012 Alex Guy and Bobette town I would like to go and visit Minniecon them. If not I would ask them if they could come to the Tiwi Is- We worked at Kmart in Casuarina lands (Milikapi ) to visit Maggie in Darwin. Our boss was called and I. May however there were many people who work in different are- Our host family was really nice as. We worked eight hours a day. and kind to us. We really enjoyed Our colleagues were really nice to staying with them. Each day we work with, especially May as she would go and take the boys to do was really helpful. We liked every- their sports training. They would thing but the best bit was when we were pu ng out go to soccer training for one hour and then a er that the makeup items plus we got to try on different they would go and do basketball training at the DBA makeup. The most important thing we learnt was com- centre. A er work each day we munica ng with different peo- would go and play kick with the ple and how a business is run. boys or we would play basket- ball with them. On Thursday Our host family was nice. The night we went to Mindil Mar- parents had a lot of respect for kets with our host family. On us. They had two li le boys. Friday night we went shopping We had heaps of fun with and met up with the other girls them. Their names were Elisa at Casuarina Shopping Centre. and Xavier. Each day when we came home from work we I enjoyed the work experience would go swimming or just re- because it gave me confidence lax and watch TV. We enjoyed and allowed me to learn more about certain jobs. staying with our host families; we hope to go back and visit them. Cassie Black and Aggie Puruntatameri In the future we would love to go and work at Kmart because it was fun, enjoyable and interes ng to work We both stayed in Nightcliff with a couple name Jacin- with others as part of a team. ta and Daly who had two kids. They were nice, funny and liked to joke around. We really enjoyed staying Caitlyn Moreen and Maggie Kerinaiua with them. A difference we no ced between their life and ours is that they live far away from their family Maggie and I worked at McDonalds in Stuart Park. We and they don’t hunt for food in the bush like we do. worked with lots of different people. We worked for about 7 hours each day. Our work experience job in- We worked at Crocodylus Park. Each day we prepared volved cooking and cleaning. We pre y much liked food for the animals and fed them. We worked for 9 everything about our work experi- hours. We both like how we got to ence job. The best part of the job was feed the animals. However we hated when we were helping out with the how we had to clean up and stand in cooking. We also had to wear hats all the hot sun for hours. Our colleague, the me because it was part of the Tiffany, was very helpful and friendly. rules. The difficult part was how we had to pick all the fruit and vegetables out of Our host parents Brian and Debby 4 big wheelie bins and sort them out have three children called Chloe, into the fridges each morning. The Hamish and Ruben. They only had fruit and vegetables were for the ani- their two sons staying with them. mals. It was a good experience even Their daughter Chloe has her own though some parts were good and house. Chloe is staying with her boy- some parts were boring! friend. Next me when we go in to Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Student achievements Tiwi College girls win leadership scholarships By Cassie Black and Caitlyn Moreen
Cassie: In Term One, Ms Ailsa encouraged all the Senior Girls to apply for a scholarship offered by The Smith Family to go to the Na onal Aspiring Leaders’ Summit in Canberra. We had to explain our ideas about leader- ship and write about something we would do in our community to use our leadership skills if we got to go on the camp. Ms Ailsa and Ms Tash helped us check our spelling and wri ng, but all our ideas were our own ones.
In Term Two, Caitlyn and I found out that we had both been offered schol- arships. Only 30 were given out around all of Australia, so ge ng two at Tiwi College was really good. The scholarship covered our airfares, the cost of the camp and some warm clothes and equipment for going camping.
Caitlyn and I flew from school to Darwin to Brisbane to Canberra and went to the Outward Bound base camp. Later on in the day the others arrived and they all just came up and started talking to us. The next day, Sunday, Caitlyn and I had to split into two different groups. My group went to the ropes first and I climbed right to the top. It was hard but I took the chal- lenge. A er that we had to go back to our base site and pack to get ready to go out in the bush for 3 days of camping! It was so ring to pack because there was so much stuff. We had to take it in a BIG camping pack.
Caitlyn: For part of our Leadership Summit, we went out camping at Numadgi Na onal Park. We camped for 2 nights and 3 days. The first day when we got to the camp sites we did a lot of hiking. The most challenging ac vity I did was when I abseiled down the big high rock. The ac vi es we did while we were on the camp were abseiling, going to Lego land, climbing the mountain and also doing heaps of hiking.
There were a lot of different teenagers who came from all around Australia. Before we went down to Canberra I thought I wouldn’t talk to any of the other teenagers. Then when we met each other we started to talk a lot and share bit about ourselves and where we come from. A er we got to know each other we became friends. The instructors at the Outward Bound base camp were very nice to us. They were also funny people. The other teenagers we met were very nice and were also friendly to us.
Cassie: When we came back from camping we had a li le rest then we got up early in the morning before breakfast to do some running. It was the best run but then again I wanted a sleep-in a er all that walking on the hike.
Then we had to plan our speech for 2 days un l the big day when we would “But perhaps the highlight of the whole day do our public speaking. A few of the topics that we all came up with for the was the presenta ons from two young public speaking project involved young people with their drug habits, petrol women who had travelled from Tiwi Islands -sniffing, teenage pregnancy and young kids going to school without having to par cipate. … Cassie and Caitlyn talked breakfast. These are not just happening in Indigenous communi es but in about their desire to make changes to their other towns around Australia as well. I was so nervous about ge ng up and communi es. … They were posi ve and confident and provide hope for the future talking in front of so many people who I didn’t really know. But once I got of those communi es.” up I got into it and wasn’t that nervous because I had support from all my — Wendy Field, Head of Policy and Pro‐ new friends and Caitlyn as well. grams, in a report to Smith Family staff
Overall, I had a great experience and if there was one thing I could do again and again I’d choose the camp! page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Student achievements Term 2, 2012 Tiwi Vipers footy trip Edited version of text provided by Greg McMahon Students from Narangba Valley High School’s Vipers AFL Academy recently played host to students from the Tiwi College as part of the school’s ongoing closing the gap ini a ve. In a rela onship that has con nued to flourished, students from both schools joined together forming the now famous ‘Tiwi Vipers’ combine side uni ng young indigenous and non indigenous teenagers. Consis ng of boys from years 8 to 11, the Tiwi Vipers toured South East Queensland with a mix of footy, adventure and chance to make new lifelong friends.
The Vipers started with a game against Nudgee College. It was neck a neck up to half me, un l Tiwi Viper coach and Collingwood match, plus had a game of their own under former Melbourne Demon Aus n Wonaeamirri threw lights against the Brisbane Lions Academy. Kenny Puruntatameri forward who promptly blasted home 5 majors to give the Tiwi Vipers an unassailable lead. Vipers Director Greg McMahon said, “the rela onship Aus n described Kenny’s performance akin to a jet con nues to grow from strength to strength, with las ng aeroplane taking off with his breathtaking speed and friendships that con nues to shape and improve a tudes accuracy. and percep ons towards a culture different to your own”. With the Tiwi College set to play host for the Narangba The team played against a number of different schools but students in August, Tiwi College’s Shane Tipuamantamerri they s ll had me to try surfing, a high ropes course and added, “we can’t wait to show the boys all the cultures, trip to climb Mount Beerburrum. They also par cipated in wildlife and football they have been hearing about all a live cross on ABC Radio, visited the Gabba for the Lions vs week”.
The girls were red, but fi ed in a quick visit to Girls U16 AFLNT Se- Casuarina shopping centre!
lection Camp A er more matches, plus skill-building and drill sessions, the grand final of the two top teams played By Natasha Bennett off. It was close, with both teams demonstra ng A er weeks of excitement, Thursday the 26th April impressive skills. Tiwi/Palmerston proved their saw 4 girls, Steph Mackenzie and myself head into dominance in the end, though, and won the grand Darwin for the AFL NT selec on camp. Ella, Jess, Gypsy final. We celebrated with a trip to the movies to see (Edmena) and Julie e had been given the chance to The Avengers. represent Tiwi College, and the Tiwi Islands, in this year’s tryouts. The final morning began with more skills and strate- gies and by early lunch it was me to announce the The girls were separated into teams within the schools teams. I was proud to sit there as they announced cluster, so Tiwi and Palmerston joined to make a team that all four girls from Tiwi which soon proved unbeatable. Awesome rucking College had successfully made skills from Gypsy gave our girls a flying start, and with the squad. From everyone at some pinpoint passing from Jess and Ella, Julie e Tiwi College, good luck for the finished off beau fully with the goals. A er the small Na onal compe on down in round robin, the Palmerston/Tiwi side proved too Adelaide in July! strong and were clear winners. This, of course, gave the selectors a chance to see how the girls could mix with new team mates and work with each other. The first day’s training concluded with a first aid lesson.
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Family Group Homes Family Group Home Co- ordinator’s Report By Solomone Radaniva Tuibua
I acknowledge the land of the Tiwi people, your honourable ancestors, the ex- is ng leaders and people of the Tiwi Islands. Ni sa bula vinaka! (Fijian gree ng) Welcome to my first ar cle as the FGH Coordinator at your beau ful school.
The provision of a home away from home for your children has been our first priority in our service as FGH parents at Tiwi College. All credit to the Tiwi people for such a great educa on boarding model.
With a focus on good and healthy rela onships, we make sure that your children are loved. At mes, ‘tough love’ is called for and you would understand that these measures were and would be taken for the safety and benefit of other children under our care.
We emphasise mutual and personal trust with your children, not forge ng that they are kids. Like a glass tumbler, trust is fragile and once broken it must be earned back. With the help of teaching staff we stayed focused in the imparta on of appropriate disciplinary measures, hoping that your children will be- come be er and trustworthy ci zens of your land.
We acknowledged good and posi ve achievements and accordingly celebrated their successes during the semester. We have had tears to shed at mes when uncalled-for issues were experienced from them. We hope that your children will one day realise that they were loved, trusted and respected. Understanding your children will con nue to be our aim as we forge ahead.
Being the longest-serving staff-member at Tiwi Col- lege, I observed that FGH parents, academic staff and ground staff rela onships developed really well dur- ing the semester; this has obviously rubbed off onto students, and their numbers and consistent a end- ance clearly prove this. Who would imagine the lead- er of a school always amongst his students and yarn- ing away like they were his own grandchildren? We have seen amazing change in the school community this semester. We hope that what we have been impar ng at our Tiwi College homes will ripple over and through your community, your homes and your hearts for a las ng existence.
As house parents, we have come to really enjoy our me at the college. It is challenging, yet we love it. Like our expecta on for your children, Tiwi College has also become a home away from home to us.
To the boarding students, we love you and our prayers go with you. Have a healthy and enjoyable bush holiday with your family and rela ves! We look forward to seeing you again next term. page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Family Group Homes Term 2, 2012 Family Group Home 1 By Meaghan Ravula
We have had an awesome me in our house this term! At the start of the term we had a special visitor to our house, Steve Wrigley (Meaghan’s Father). It was his first me here and he thor- oughly enjoyed every moment. We were very pleased to see some of our senior students step up and lead the younger boys when they were performing dances.
This term we have started our new gardening project and we have really en- joyed seeing the young men ge ng involved in that! We have also all enjoyed the arrival of our new pool table and have had a lot of compe ons on it already.
On a note that isn’t so posi ve, we had to crack down on some of the young men’s messiness this term. We came up with a rule that if there was a mess or dishes not washed, everyone would only have a cup of tea and bread for dinner instead of a cooked meal. This threat worked well and the dirty dishes problem was fixed!
As always, there have been ups and downs, but overall the young men that we look a er have grown in so many ways this term and we are happy to see them enjoying themselves in our Family Group Home.
From Pisa and Meaghan
Family Group Home 3 By Isoa Waiqaragata
One of the highlights of the term was being the first group to serve at Thursday night community dinner. This was a big responsibility for us, but the boys were able to overcome shyness and set they gave service with a smile. A funny incident was when the baby of our house, Peter Lynch, snuck up the line to get chicken drums cks because he figured there would be nothing le when it came to the servers’ turn to eat!
The boys have been hard at work with their gardens. Now, they have pumpkins growing on their plots and watermelons, too, soon to be followed by cucumbers and cabbages to take home when ready.
Most boys’ personal hygiene and grooming has improved greatly this term. They have also improved in terms of know- ing and following the school rou ne, and being conscious of me. We have had lots of fun and funny moments in the house this term, such as when some boys put on a sister-girl fash- ion parade which had us in tears with laughter!
Akanisi and I hope all our boys have a wonderful break and come back to school every week in Semester Two.
From Isoa and Akanisi
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Family Group Homes
Family Group Home 4 By Aliti Soqali
It is said that the only constant in life is change. Yes, we have noted change within our girls, who returned in Term Two with a desire to do well. This is great to see. They have built good rela onships with the other girls and have come to know each other be er a er the Term One interac ons. At first some of our new girls were homesick. This is understanda- ble, but it wasn't long before they felt right at home due to the efforts of their housemates.
This term the girls have had the opportunity to par- cipate in a variety of ac vi es: football training, pool games, table tennis, basketball, personal groom- ing and the Life Skills Program. We are proud of our students for learning new skills and, in the case of Edmena Kan lla and Julie e Puruntatameri, using their skills to represent their state. Well done, girls!
As we come to the end of this term, we would like to thank you all for the part you have played in making the term be er than the last. Yes, we have come far. There were hiccups along the way, but we were well supported by our team. We have enjoyed looking a er our girls. There is nothing more we want than to as- sist them in achieving well and developing their gi s and talents, whether they be person- al, academic, spiritual or social. We would also like to express our apprecia on of Pastor Solo for his words of encouragement and his daily support to students and parents.
Last but not least, thank you all for a great term and we wish all our students a safe and happy bush holiday with their families. We look forward to seeing you all in the coming term and con nuing to develop FGH4 as a welcoming place where each student is respected and encouraged to reach their full poten al. Come on girls, let’s turn a new page and make a difference in the coming term. I know you can do it!
See you next term, Aliti and Filipe Family Group Home 5 By Timoci Vea
The boys in Family Group Home 5 love to play footy and they train hard a er school. They love to play pool with the girls from FGH4 or play video games a er school. They are working hard in our vegetable garden and have plant- ed watermelons.
The students learn many things when they live in a family group home. The boys are learning to be responsible. They s ll need to improve in this more, but we are glad to say they are making progress. Some mes the boys can be very noisy. Some of the best moments from this term at our house have been when the boys went to bed ear- ly! We have had lots of fun and funny mes. A funny moment was when we all told stories and the boys were really scared. They went straight to sleep because it was dark outside!
We hope our boys have a safe and happy bush holiday. We hope they come back ready to learn more in Term Three, from Tim and Viola page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
Family Group Homes Term 2, 2012 Family Group Home 6 By Anthony Lyons
It’s been an exci ng Second Term with the arrival of our new baby boy Abel. The girls really enjoyed mee ng and spending me with the new mem- ber of Family Group Home Six. We have also welcomed new girls into our house for the term.
The girls have a had a busy term with sports training and life skills a er school. As a part of the Life Skills Program the girls have been par cipa ng in preparing a vegetable garden for our home. This term we have been focusing on soil and plot prepara on so when the girls return for Term Three we can start plan ng our vegetables. The girls are looking forward to growing their own vegetables and taking them home for their families in the community. It has been great to see the girls training hard for football this term. Just recently all the hard work paid off with their win over Xavier College.
We have had great term with the girls, with a majority of them returning each week for school. We have had a few birthdays this term and enjoyed celebra ng these with a party. The girls have had a posi ve a tude on the whole and have been will- ing to help when needed. We look forward to all the girls returning next term for another exci ng semester.
We wish all the girls the best for the bush holiday, from your one and only FGH6 family, Anthony, Stef, Kloe and Abel Interviews with… Tiwi staff Term 2, 2012 In the Term One Newsle er, girls from the Senior Young Women’s class interviewed the family group home parents. This term they have focused on the Indigenous staff at the college. (Unfortunately some were absent when these interviews took place.) They feel very proud of how many Tiwi staff work here, and would like the wider community to know more about these people.
Shane Tipuamantamerri (Tippa) By Alex Guy Shane Tipuamantamerri, known as Tippa, is one of the Tiwi staff at Tiwi College. He went to school at Garden Point Primary School and also Milikapi Primary School. When he was a teenager he went to Kormilda College. However, he got expelled so he went to St John’s College. His favourite subject at school was History. Before he came to Tiwi College he worked in Arnhem Land, on a pearl farm. He found out about this job from Karl Gunderson, who called him from Clontarf and asked him if he wanted the job here. Tippa believes it’s important to have Tiwi staff so kids can look up to Tiwi staff and learn from them. In the future Tippa want to have his own business and have students form Tiwi College working there.
Bianca Daniels By Bobette Minniecon Bianca went to primary school at Milikapi and Garden Point, and went to high school at St John’s and Kormilda Colleges. Her Favorite subjects at school were English, History and Ge- ography. Before she came to Tiwi College she was working as the Sport and Rec Officer at Milikapi . She started working at Tiwi College two years ago. Bianca found out about the job from her cousin. She works as the Primary School teaching assistant. She believes that it is
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Interviews with... Tiwi Staff important to have Tiwi staff so when the kids have any issues with staff and students, Tiwi people can be there to assist and sort everything out. What Bianca loves about Tiwi College is its peaceful feeling, that it has great people, and she can get away from humbug in the community. One of the challenges Bianca faces is trying to get kids to listen and to speak English in class. Bianca’s plans for the future are to get married and have kids.
Dianne Moore (Tic Tac) By Ella Wonaeamirri
Dianne Moore, also known as Tic Tac, went to Ludmilla Primary School and Kormilda Col- lege, both in Darwin. Her favourite subjects were English and Community Studies. She worked at Karama School as a tutor, mainly in a grade 3/4 class. She started working at Tiwi College 4 months ago. When she first heard about Tiwi College before the school was built, she wanted to work here. Tammy, Tippa and Smithy told her about this job.
Her job mainly involves working with the Senior Girls but also some mes with the Middle Girls as she always works in Ms Ailsa’s classes. She says it is good to have Tiwi staff at Tiwi College because they know the students’ culture and background, and hopefully it makes it easier for the students to come school. Three things that she loves are: firstly, she loves the loca on about the bush; secondly, she loves the mixture of the students; and the last one is that she loves the way it is easy for staff to get along with each other. The challenges are that we don’t have all of our stu- dents all week. Her plans for the future are that hopefully she will be working here for a long me, and to become a full teacher with her own class.
Joy Moreen By Vanessa Daniels
Joy went to school at Milikapi Primary School and Slade School in Warwick. Her favourite subject at school was Maths. She worked at Milikapi School before she came here at the start of 2011. She found out about the school from the Tiwi Land Council and the Tiwi Edu- ca on Board. Joy some mes works in the office doing paperwork. Another job is helping houseparents and ge ng the girls out of bed and ready for school, especially when Stefanee Lyons was away having her baby. She believes that it is good that we have lots of Tiwi people at this school. She enjoys being here with people who are friendly when she’s away from home. The challenges are ge ng to work on me every day and making kids come to school every week.
Austin Wonaeamirri (Aussie) By Maggie Kerinaiua
Aus n went to Milikapi , Garden Point and then went to high school at Kormilda College and St John’s College. His favor- ite subject was VET because he got to work and learn new things. He worked in Melbourne for 5 years, then to Xavier College Aus n started term2 at Tiwi College in term 2 Tippa and Smithy gave Aus n a call to let him know about the job. Aus n works with Middle School boys with Josh and footy with Tippa. He thinks it’s important to have Tiwi staff to sup- por ng the Tiwi kids. working and training and helping kids. The challenges are on being me making sure the kids are doing the right thing Aus n wants to be leader in the Land Council so he can lead his people.
Indigenous staff unavailable for the interviews: Laelia Dunn Mark Smith Kumsi Ullungura Gladys Puruntatameri page x Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012
a Term 2, 2012
Tiwi College vs Xavier On Friday 15th June, Tiwi College hosted Xavier College for two eagerly an cipated football matches. The Senior Young Women’s class spent the morning pain ng banners in blue and gold which festooned the Growing Young Women’s Building’s balcony.
The scores in the women’s match were close in the first half, with both teams playing strongly. However, Tiwi College pulled ahead in the second half and won by a very confident margin with a final score of 40-26.
The Tiwi College men’s team showed off their strong ball skills and team- work, which reflected their dedica on to training this year. The final score also reflected this: Tiwi College beat Xavier with a resounding 29-2 victory.
We are very pleased to be building a closer rela onship with Xavier Col- lege and look forward to more matches and ac vi es next term.
Tiwi College Newsletter: Term 2, 2012 page x Tiwi College Community 2012 Community College Tiwi