10 Apr 2014
In the last week of March, sixteen Year 6 student leaders participated in the bi-annual excursion to our sister school in Menindee. This city/country alliance continues to strengthen as it enters its fifth year of operation. LEPS has in the past year, played an integral role in successfully assisting other North Shore schools set partnerships up in both the Sunraysia and Broken Hill area. Our students experienced the vast, remote state of NSW, travelling the 1007km to Menindee via rail. The MCS school community provided us with indigenous elders to lead cooking and fishing lessons. A tour of TableGrape revealed to the students where 90% of the grapes in East Lindfield come from, canoeing, visiting one of LEPS annual fundraising recipients, 'The Royal Flying Doctor' and socialising with the Menindee students were also highlights of the visit.
One new initiative incorporated into this year's program was LEPS, Beaumont Road PS, Hunters Hill PS and Narraweena PS combining to participate with their regional sister schools at the Mungo Youth Project. This unique educational project targets both indigenous and non-indigenous Yr 5 -12 students and is held at Lake Mungo in the remote World Heritage Willandra Lakes Region of south-western NSW.
The 200, NSW and Victorian students who attended the project, camped and studied on the lunette dune that in 1968 revealed bones that led to the famous discovery of 'Mungo Man'. The conference featured the renowned geologist Jim Bowler who made that discovery and triggered the subsequent research that has produced evidence of over 50,000 years of continuous habitation in the region. Archaeologists, elders from the Paakantji, Ngiyampaa and Mutthi Mutthi traditional tribal groups, pastoralists, National Parks and Wildlife and teachers and student leaders all collaborated to provide expert workshops and field study trips. All students and teachers were exposed to a life long learning experience, with tribal elders, scientists and land holders all combining to impart their knowledge of one of Australia's most significant stories of humanity and its connection between land and people.
Ms Watkins and Ms Yarwood (Menindee CS) need to be commended on the joint student presentation of 'Language and Identity' that they coordinated. The model of 'Kids teaching Kids' in marquee workshops was a powerful, learning tool at Mungo. The topics of bio-diversity, mega fauna and indigenous rites of passage were other authentic and relevant learning experiences offered. The ability for schools right across the globe to participate in these presentations via video conference technology was quite an amazing technological achievement.