Two students at St Pius X School at Windsor Gardens were behind a move to see the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Australian flags fly side by side at their school.
They were inspired after working with Martin Pascoe in the Cultural Artist Residence Program. Martin is an Aboriginal documentary film maker and, in teaching the kids about film making, he showed them his film "Symbol of Strength" about the creation of the Aboriginal flag.
You can view the 5 minute film on SBS - it’s a great resource for anyone looking for a basic introduction to the meaning and history behind the flag.
The children were so moved they wrote a letter to local politician, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Federal Member for Sturt, asking for his help.
“We are proud of the boys as they saw a need and utilised their leadership qualities to plan and complete the project with absolute determination,” says Principal, Greg Parker.
The school installed new flagpoles. Minister Pyne attended a ceremony at St. Pius X in early September and presented the students with three flags. Martin Pascoe also attended and addressed the students.
“The boys are now organising a fundraiser to purchase flags that represent all the other countries reflected in our community,” adds Greg.
You can read the letter that the students wrote to Minister Pyne below:
28th May 2018
Dear Mr Pyne,
Our names are Ryan Simpson and William McCulloch, and we are Year 6 students at St Pius X School, in Windsor Gardens, South Australia. We both began at St Pius X in Reception in 2012 and are very proud of our school and community. We are also proud Australians who respect the importance of Aboriginal heritage.
This term we are very lucky to have an artist in residence named Martin Pascoe. Martin is an Aboriginal man who is working with students from our school to explore Australian and Aboriginal culture and teach us the skills we need to make our own documentary films.
In our first lesson, Martin showed his own documentary on the Aboriginal flag, that he made for SBS Television. He asked the students if our school flies the Australian and Aboriginal flag. He talked about lots of places where the flags fly proudly side-by-side to celebrate our Nation.
Unfortunately, St Pius X has not flown a flag since we were in Year 1, 2013, as our Australian flag was damaged and never replaced. After listening to Martin, we were inspired and felt it was important to have an Australian and Aboriginal flag flown at our school.
At the moment, we only have one flag pole, but we would like our school to erect a second pole so that we can fly the Australian and Aboriginal flags side-by-side. We are writing to you to ask for your help in supplying us with an Australian and Aboriginal flag and a second flag pole.
We are sure that you, like us, understand the significance of these flags and how important it is for younger Australians to respect and have pride in our Nation.
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and it would be great to hear from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Ryan Simpson and William McCulloch.
Increasing numbers of students in Catholic schools are choosing a vocational education and training (VET) pathway.
