We are very proud to announce that Linuwel School’s Reconciliation Action Plan has been reviewed, finalised and published on the Narragunnawali platform. This establishes that as a community, we care about the nature of our relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and of our relationship to Country. The school sees it as an important step in the process of Reconciliation. The publishing of the school’s RAP is the starting point for embedding the notion that such work needs the integrity of belief in order for it to be truly authentic. And it must be authentic if it is to achieve its goals. By developing and implementing a RAP the school has demonstrated that we recognise the hardships that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples suffered in the past and who continue to suffer in a variety of contexts today. In the creation of our RAP, the school acknowledges that the gap exists and asserts that the gap needs to be bridged, not just in education but in many areas of Australian life.
Of particular importance to the school is that our RAP provides the foundations to create and sustain cultural safety in our school both as a workplace and place of learning. Linuwel School RAP supports cultural inclusivity and a safe working and educational environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Cultural safety refers to an environment which is safe for all people, where there is no place for challenge or denial of cultural identity. The school’s RAP demonstrates to all that we are striving to create an environment that constantly validates shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and shared experience. Our school RAP confirms we are seeking to be a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples learn together with dignity through respectful and reflective relationships. The most important aspect of cultural safety however, is that it is a process and achieving it requires an acceptance and respect of cultural and individual difference by all. Having a RAP, demonstrates that Linuwel School has a deep respect for the Wonnarua culture and we hope to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and employees with a feeling of acknowledgement, belonging and acceptance. We truly aspire as a community to work towards making barriers crumble whilst bridging the gap becomes the priority.
In accordance with our RAP deliverables, Linuwel School has been strengthening relationships with our local Aboriginal community along with communities in the Northern Territory and the Torres Strait Islands. The RAP has really brought a sense of commitment and with the continued commitment to the RAP in the future, the deliverables will be embedded. We hope that the RAP road the school is currently paving will endure into the future.
Linuwel School’s Reconciliation Action Plan Vision Statement
Our Vision is to create a place of learning where all people can develop an appreciation and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures as they continue to have a rich and vibrant influence on the world today. Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and perspectives within Steiner education will inform the future generations about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures and the part we all play working and walking together towards reconciliation.
By learning in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, listening to stories, walking on Country and immersing ourselves we will nurture Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures within our school, to send children into the world who will influence and advocate for true reconciliation.