“How can we as a school and as a community stand with hands in pocket and wait for governments to act when the original people of our land continue to be the most disadvantaged people in our country?”
(Phillip Heath, on the occasion of the formal opening of Gawura, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, November 2007).
Gawura is a unique Primary School for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Sydney. Located at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in the Sydney CBD, Gawura provides places for 25 Indigenous students in a multi-stage classroom, focusing on literacy and numeracy acquisition in an environment that celebrates Indigenous cultures as a pre-eminent part of the learning environment. Close collaboration with parents and families is critical to the success of this program and to the continued engagement of the students.
Three specialist teachers deliver an intensive literacy and numeracy program to our Gawura students in a classroom environment that bubbles with enthusiasm and cultural pride. The use of targeted Individual Learning Plans combined with regular, rigorous assessment, empowers each student to achieve personal success. Students participate fully in all of the co-curricular offerings of St Andrew’s Cathedral School, including music tuition, art, drama, sport and outdoor education. Gawura students have also enthusiastically embraced instruction in Wiradjuri (an Aboriginal language) which is taught by the Aboriginal member of the teaching staff.
As students “graduate” from the Gawura Primary program, they are offered scholarships at St Andrew’s Cathedral School for their Secondary education. The Gawura students are well prepared for the transition to high school, as they are already familiar with the shared school facilities and have participated in many all-school activities with Middle and Senior School students.
The aim of the program is for our Gawura students to achieve educational outcomes equal to (or better than) their non-Indigenous peers. Our mission is to break the entrenched cycle of disadvantage experienced by Indigenous children by providing them the best opportunity for educational success, a choice of direction for the future and a foundation upon which they can build for the rest of their lives.
The education of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a matter of social justice in our land
Our trained volunteers offer a range of support including classroom tutoring, mentoring, work experience and fundraising.
Financial support for Gawura from private means is the primary source of funding for Gawura. Donations have come from many areas, mainly foundations, organisations, families and individuals who wish to make a significant contribution to the education of Australian Indigenous children. The funds that are raised go directly to the education of the students of Gawura from Kindergarten to Year 12, as all children are anticipated to join St Andrew’s Secondary School after the completion of Year 6. If you would like to support the Gawura Fund please click here.
Name:
Vicki Fraser
Phone:
02-9009-5466
Email:
VFraser@sacs.nsw.edu.au
Website:
http://www.gawura.nsw.edu.au
Location:
Sydney New South Wales