INCLUSION is second nature at Swan Hill Specialist School, and its achievements have been recognised by the Victorian Government.
The school is one of three finalists in this year’s Victorian Education Excellence Awards in the Outstanding Koorie Education category.
Principal Jodi Walters told The Guardian it’s a very exciting time for the school, which has worked to acknowledge and represent local Wemba Wemba culture.
“It feels a bit of an acknowledgement for the work that has been done by so many people here – all of this work is a total effort from every single staff member here at the school to encourage not only our Indigenous students, but every student,” Ms Walters said.
“We work around inclusion all the time, so for us it was quite an easy jump to look at the cultural inclusion of these young people and to give opportunities to them to be proud of who they are and where they come from and their culture.”
There are many visual representations and acknowledgements of Koorie culture and perspectives at the school, including a mural on the front fence created by staff and students depicting the school’s journey, Indigenous designs on the school uniform, changing the school’s values and implementing Indigenous-based programs.
“It just started off simply as we wanted our young people to know and understand that they were Koorie and what that meant and that that is a source of pride,” Ms Walters said.
“We have 20 per cent Indigenous students at our school, and that’s roughly what it always is.”
Ms Walters and the School Inclusion team will travel to Melbourne for the awards ceremony on October 27.
“Winning would be really nice, but it won’t change anything that we’ve done because we do it so that our kids are safe – physically safe, emotionally safe and culturally safe,” Ms Walters said.
“I think when we talk about all that is in the press at the moment around specialist schools and their place in the world, this is just showing you that specialist schools can bat out there with the big guys just the same.
“My dream is that we are not looked at as a specialist school, it’s that we are a school, the same as everybody else, with a talent and ability to teach children with special needs.”
