A poem about Reconciliation has won Keely, a Year
4
student a prestigious Prime Minister’s Naidoc Medal.
She was one of only 20 students in both secondary
and primary schools
presented with a medal across
Queensland. Keely received the award, for
her winning
entry in the poetry section of the competition, formerly
known as
the Naidoc Week School Initiatives Competition.
Keely said she wrote the
poem after learning about
Aboriginal history and culture in class.
“My
poem was about the need for reconciliation which
meant that we learn about
cultural values and then we
respect each and every person and treat them like we
would be like to be treated,” she said.
“We were also lucky to have
visitors from the
Ngutana-Lui Centre who came to our Year 4 class to
teach us
about Aboriginal culture.
“It was exciting to learn about Boomerang
throwing,
dancing and didgeridoo playing, we also learnt about
gathering and
cooking food as well as dot painting.”
Keely received her medal at a special assembly last
Friday attended by Dylan Williams, Executive Director
of NAIDOC
Week Initiatives and Clinton Braddick,
Executive Coordinator of NAIDOC Week
Initiatives.
Mr Williams said the ultimate aim of the nationwide
competition was to provide younger children with
a greater understanding of
friendship and cultural
diversity. He said the judging panel chose
Keely’s
poem because it had a lot of meaning and for such a
young child they
thought it was truly inspirational.
Keely’s poem will be displayed
alongside other
winning entries in Parliament House, Canberra.
Well done, Keely! We are all very proud of you!
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