Connecting to culture

Students at St Paul's Anglican Grammar School Drouin campus were recently visited by Kurnai elders Aunty Cheryl Drayton and Aunty Linda Mullett for a smoking ceremony and dedication of their Foundation Year mural.

Standing together, students and staff participated in the ceremony, showing their respect for the land and its peoples, while building a deeper understanding of and connection to local Indigenous culture and community.
Following the ceremony, Aunty Cheryl joined teachers and students for the official unveiling of the Foundation Year mural, which hangs at the entry to the Early Learning Centre, welcoming families and the community to the Drouin campus.
The mural was a community collaboration led by pre-prep teacher Kylie Simioni and depicts the early learning centre acknowledgement of country. It features green representing the land, blue representing the water and native plants in the middle, including blue irises, black wattle and ficifolia, the flowering gums of Drouin.
The project was completed last year with many hands contributing to this piece of St Paul's Drouin campus history, strengthening connections across the school and wider community.
Foundation students, families, staff, school executives and board members, and local Indigenous elders all contributed to the mural by placing tiles into the mosaic.