Gilgandra High School

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Gilgandra High School is an inclusive, culturally diverse school with 189 students, of whom 41% identify as Aboriginal. Gilgandra has connections to Wiradjuri, Gamilaroi and Wailwan Country and is often described as a meeting place, where these three nations have traditionally gathered. The school has a strong tradition of academic, cultural, and sporting excellence. It has three trade-training centres, a self-sustaining aquaponics unit, relationships with tertiary institutions and Wiradjuri language; providing an inclusive curriculum, ensuring student interests, academic levels and goals are supported.   

 

The Story of CNS at Gilgandra High School

Gilgandra High School joined CNS in 2021, starting with five teachers and a Cultural Mentor / AEO. By 2024, 19 staff had taken part in CNS professional learning program, with 10 remaining as current staff. Gilgandra High School has a strong Indigenous language program, which has grown over the last four years. Wiradjuri language and Aboriginal culture is taught by teacher and cultural mentor Aunty Diane McNaboe and Aboriginal Education Officer and cultural mentor Aunty Kimm Naden. Students in Year 7 learn to speak, read and write in Wiradjuri, as well as learning the cultural ways language is used and understood. 

Aunty Di has spoken of the positive impact that the languages classes have had on her students.


The students at Gilgandra here seem to really enjoy it. They are very good at looking after one another, helping one another in class. That makes a big difference, because that's an Aboriginal perspective: that you look after your friends like family. So, we set them up like a family class so that they recognise this is a family group that they're in… Don't knock one another, support one another and try to help your neighbour achieve. That’s sharing the cultural perspective as you're teaching. 

So, if you see something within the language, that has a cultural identity or meaning behind it or interpretation, it's being able to pass that onto the students so that they know and understand the full meaning of it.

Aunty Di

Learning on Country was also acknowledged as deeply important and moving for the teachers involved with CNS, as each cohort of teachers throughout the year were given the opportunity to ask questions about culture and history of the Cultural Mentors and Community members involved in this strategy. This was especially important for new teachers ,to build relationships with the Cultural Mentors and establish connections with the Community, with the hope of maintaining and building on these in the future. 

Gilgandra High School has shown interest in continuing its work with CNS into phase 2 of the program in an ongoing capacity through the Leadership Hub that was established during phase 1 of the program.