Students Reflect on Reconciliation
- May 28, 2020
The theme for this year’s Reconciliation Week is ‘In This Together’.
Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their histories, cultures, and futures. https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/
What Reconciliation Means to Me
We asked some of our students to tell us what reconciliation means to them.
When we hold onto hurt, pain, resentment and anger, it harms us more than it harms the offender. Reconciliation and forgiveness free us from the past and help us look with hope to the future. Being sorry for our wrongs moves us along the path of healing. Amanda Nguyen, Year 9
Reconciliation week is the formal recognition of the continuing movement to create a fair and equal society for all Australians to live in. During this week we recognise our formal apology to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As a multicultural society we are encouraged to stand together as one and embrace our shared Australian culture and identity. In the current uncertain times of COVID- 19, we are especially encouraged to support each other and stand together as one unified nation. Eireann Robertson, Year 11
Reconciliation is restoring relationships. It means acceptance, equality, integrity and unity. Cassandra Lewis, Year 8
Reconciliation to me is acknowledging that you have done wrong and working hard to make amends. Kevin Rudd’s Sorry Day speech was the first real government acknowledgment of the wrong that occurred and the effects of the Stolen Generation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We as a country are saying sorry, and showing support and compassion to those affected by the Stolen Generation, as well as admiring the courage, strength and hope these families displayed. Grace Westerhout, Year 8
As the blaze of the days morph into the dark night sky, the grief and pain on which the land came to know, we continue and forever will reconcile with the first nation of this land until we are united as one. Eloise Davis, Year 12
For the pain
Which brought no gain
For the dragging of the children
Out of their homes
For the world we stole
We should have known
The anguish we caused
Will always remain
So we’ll try to heal
That deep pain
Within.
Sorry.
Anika Zammit, Year 8
Two of our Indigenous students wrote the following poems.
- Featured
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.