Nyangatjatjara College

Newsletter for Term 1 2010 is now available

As a reward for high attendance last year five students from Imanpa had a school excursion to Sydney.  This was a completely new experience for the students and none of them had ever left Central Australia.  Below is an account of their trip written by Ashley, Chantelle, Freena, Janice and Linda.

We had a fun time time in Sydney. We were staying in a 3-bedroom apartment on the 65^th floor in the city. We went to the beach, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Zoo, Art Museum and Powerhouse Museum, China Town, Bondi Shopping Centre and Dale’s House.

We used many transport like the monorail (it was high off the ground and it was fast), train, bus, ferry, taxi, elevator, escalator and aeroplane. It was the first time for many of us to travel on these things. We could see the ocean, trees, mountains and farming areas from the plane.

The lights from the hotel at night freaked us out and we said ‘wow’.

Staying together meant we had a washing machine, shower, and could eat toegther.

When we got to Sydney by plane, we caught the taxi to the hotel. It cost $75, which we thought was too much. After we got to the hotel we went out for dinner at China Town. The food wasn’t very good. After that we went to the hotel, got our swimming clothes and we went to the pool and spa bath.

On Wednesday Raegina and Dale cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast, but there wasn’t enough bacon. Raegina and the kids bought the ingredients, but we didn’t buy enough. We packed our bags with water, sandwich, fruit box, muesli bar and apple.

On the way to the bus, we saw a man dancing on the street for money. He was a busker. Dale and Raegina stopped and got some lollies and the kids watched the dancing man.

We caught the bus to Circular Quay and saw the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. There was a lot of water. Chantelle asked if the water was fresh and deep and if people would swim in it. There was a music dude playing aboriginal music, didgeridoo on the Quay and he gave us some CDs.

We caught the ferry to the zoo after the art museum with Emily our guide. We were pretty tired and bored at the zoo, but the elephants doing the tricks, giraffes eating the carrots and the gorillas were cool. We went home exhausted, and had a sleep.

Chris (Belinda’s friend) and Susan (volunteer from Yulara) came 2 hours from Wollongong to see us for dinner. We had ham and pineapple pizza, garlic bread and coke. It was better than the dinner at China Town.

On Thursday morning we had bacon and eggs again. We left late and went to the powerhouse museum on the monorail loop two times. Freena hung onto the rail hard. Chantelle liked the chocolate machine and Linda liked the trains and planes. We saw lots of different inventions.

We went for lunch in the food plaza in the city, Raegina gave us money and bought our own lunch from MacDonald’s and KFC. We had a short nap at the hotel, then went shopping at a big plaza. It was a big plaza with 5 levels and 2 buildings.

Then we went to the beach. Chantelle sat in the sand and Linda, Ashley, Janice, Freena and Raegina went swimming. It was really cold. Freena almost drowned. We had to be careful about diving in the ocean. This was the best part of the trip. When we went back after dinner, we saw that the water had risen, but were not sure why, or what stops it from going over the town.

We met Dale’s housemate, Delores who was a bit rama. They had heaps of toys and messy rooms. It was good to see someone’s house and play games for a while.

We are now sitting at Alice Springs airport, bored and tired. We hope to go to Melbourne next year to see the AFL mobs we know about and the footy oval they play on.

New staff in 2010

In 2010 we welcome several new members to Nyangatjatjara College

Jenny Ryder – Deputy Principal

Jack Savenye – Teacher Imanpa Campus

Rachael Muller – Teacher Imanpa Campus

Julia Joseph – Teacher Mutitjulu Campus

Daniel Gerich – Teacher Kaltukatjara Campus

Nathan Franks – Community Liaison Officer

David Hannan – Business and HR Manager

Mr Bernie Boller presents Nyangatjatjara College with its first interactive whiteboard.

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Fellas from Mutitjulu, Docker River and Imanpa enjoy an afternoon of AFL at the Yulara oval.

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Aug 22, 2009

On Aug 21, the College organised a music festival to celebrate the week’s work with Shane Howard and Peter Hudson. The festival was held at the College campus at Yulara and was well supported by community and agencies as well as the Mutitjulu Primary students attending. The celebrations started with a performance by local Mutitjulu singer Anita Randall supported by Jeanette Wormald (guitar and backing vocals), Shane Howard (guitar) and Peter Hudson (drums). Shane and Peter then performed as a duo performaing many of the songs penned by Shane. The crowd particularly enjoyed Shane singing “Solid Rock”. The Mutitjulu Band performed a number of songs at the end of the performances. They provided great music for the crowd.

The Festival was well supported by a range of agencies including the General Business Manager, the Mutitjulu Police, Anangu Jobs, The Health Clinic, AnanguWaai Tours, Voyages Resort, Mutitjulu Primary School, McDonnell Shire and Parks. A number of the Directors attended as well. The Staff at the College manned the very popular sausage sizzle with over 200 sausages being served!

At the beginning of Semester Two, 2009, an upgrade of the music room and facilities was undertaken. This included a revamping of the current demountable, and the purchase of new equipment. The equipment included guitars, and other incidental equipment that will enable the students to perform as individuals or as a band. This upgrade was lead by the visiting musician-in-residence, Jeanette who was provided by Song Room. The room was ready for use for Term 3.

The Imanpa campus will be connected to broadband under the Broadband Guarantee initiative. This will provide the students and teachers with a much quicker and more reliable internet connection. The administration area of the Yulara campus will receive an upgrade and connection to a common server. Funds for this were provided by the NAC.

There is extensive capital works being undertaken at the Yulara campus in semester two, 2009. Funds for these works have been funded through the Block Grant Authority. They include the construction of an oval, shade cloth area over the basketball court, refurbishment of the house parent cottages, and construction of a viewing area of the basketball area that will provide a multipurpose area for future ceremonies and activites as well as sports events. A number of fire pits will be constructed on the site as well – one in the house parent complex and one for the boarding residences. The NAC has employed a project manager, Brad Martin, to oversee these projects. Brad has extensive experience working in the region and with the College.

FACSIA has provided the Yulara campus with 5 demountables that must be used for housing. This includes 3 single units and one donger for 4 people, and a laundry and storeroom. A further donger was provided for the Imanpa campus that will be used as a computer/art room. The connection of the donger was at the cost of the NAC but all other costs were met by FACSIA including the provision of all furniture for the Yulara dongers. The dongers will help to meet the increasing demand on the campus for short term accommodation by visitors and service providers. FACSIA provided the demountables as part of the relocation of facilities from Woomera.