You sound like a group with strong sense of purpose and some very clear ideas about identity and culture. I agree with you that knowing about our culture helps us to know where we are headed and also creates our current identity.

Good on you for your messages for a good life! As you say, having goals and respecting our elders are really important things. If we treat each other with respect, it goes such a long way. This is called the Golden Rule – “Treat others the way you want to be treated.”

Thanks for sharing your ideas!

Lizzie Chase
Rap Coordinator

These are our cultural messages for living a good life:-
1. To always show respect to elders, have goals.
2. Be an excellent example to others.
3. Be proud and strong of our culture.
4. Treat people well – do not judge people.
5. Teach respect, self – confidence and motivation.

delroy7r2

Wow, you have 25% of your school population that is Aboriginal – that is so cool. Thanks for all the Dubbo facts, which I didn’t know – it’s a great intro to your town. I had no idea that your Zoo is having a $35 million upgrade – I went there some years ago and really liked it. Now I know it’s being revamped, I’ll head out there again!

Thank you for your acknowledgement of country and for letting us know the names of your local Elders. We hope you have a great time doing this rap – welcome aboard, 7R2.

Lizzie Chase
Rap Coordinator

There are 8 Aboriginal students and 20 non-Aboriginal students in our class. We have over 500 students enrolled from Years 7-9. 25% of the school’s population is Aboriginal and 75% is non-Aboriginal.

Dubbo is a town situated in the heart of New South Wales. It is a 5 hour drive to Sydney, 4 hours from Newcastle, and a 10 hour drive from Melbourne and Brisbane. The population of Dubbo is 39,200 and still growing. It covers over 3,426 km2. It has the best zoo in the central west and is currently undergoing a 35 million dollar revamp.

“We would like to acknowledge the Wiradjuri people who are the traditional custodians of the Dubbo region on which we stand. We would like to pay respect to the Elders of our region who are Uncle Ray Peckham, Uncle John Hill, Aunty Bub Towney and Mrs Unita Lake.”

Great to hear from you!! It’s a pleasure to meet some really cool kids – thanks for telling us about Uncle John Hill and Bub Towney. We have some Towneys living in Sydney – now I know they are Wiradjuri people. Hope you enjoy the rap and I look forward to hearing your ideas about identity.

Welcome,

Lizzie Chase
Rap Coordinator

We’re 7R3 at Dubbo College-Delroy Campus. We are located in East Street, West Dubbo, across the road from the hockey nets in Pioneer Park.

We might not be the smartest but we are the coolest! We are part of 3 campuses; they are South, Delroy (junior campuses – 7 to 9) and Senior 10 to 12. Our school is the shape of an ‘X’ in its design and we have 500 students at our campus.

On Fridays we leave school early at 2:35 pm. On important occasions we invite Aboriginial Elders, Uncle John Hill and Bub Towney, to do the Welcome to Country. We live in Wiradjuri Land.

Our Acknowledgement to the country is:
“We are respectful and acknowledge the Wiradjuri people, past and present who are the original custodians of our Land.”

7R3 at Dubbo College-Delroy Campus

Thanks for telling us about Elders. We learned that they weren’t called Elders – they were known as the wise ones. Thanks for telling us. Kaitlyn, Makayla and Jack

Welcome to Biraban PS – how cool that your school is named after the main leader of the Awabakal tribe! I’m impressed that you are working hard on the environment, making gardens.

Welcome also to Richmond HS – good day to Amy, McKayler, Heath, Kyle, Kirra-Lee, Stacey, Cassie, Annalise, Naomie and Tora – I really liked Patrick Mau’s ‘My Blood My People’ too – at our school [Bidwill Campus] the kids played it over and over because it’s so funky.

Looking forward to hearing from you again and sharing your stories about identity.

Lizzie Chase
Rap Coordinator

Thanks for explaining the difference between deaf and hearing impaired – great to have you with us Parviz, Chris, Blake, Robbie, Josiah, Ali, Sizar, Jake and Frank!!!

Ask Maureen and Daphne any questions you would like to about Aboriginal culture – they would love to hear from you.

Regards, Lizzie Chase
Rap Coordinator

This is the Stage 2 and Stage 3 boys of SCHC at Penrith PS answering your question.

Deaf people are not able to hear. They might be able to feel very loud sounds.

Some deaf children can hear because they have a cochlear implant.

Hearing-impaired people can hear only some sounds, some music and some voices.

From Parviz, Chris, Blake, Robbie, Josiah, Ali, Sizar, Jake and Frank,
SCHC, Penrith PS