It was a very special event attended by the whole school and special guests from the Aboriginal community.

The National NAIDOC theme for this year is: Serving Country: Centenary and Beyond.

This year’s theme was chosen to honour all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have fought in defence of country, from the warriors in the frontier wars to the warriors who served with honour and pride in Australia’s military conflicts and engagements across the world.

At Lithgow High, the school community is proud to recognise the role that Aboriginal and Islander men and women have played in shaping Australia’s identity and to reflect on their sacrifice.

Three indigenous students — school captain Ben Cox, Jasmine McKenzie in Year 7 and Kate Francis in Year 8 — superbly presented this year’s theme with a powerpoint highlighting the challenges faced and the sacrifices made by our indigenous servicemen throughout Australia’s history.

Of special note were the sacrifices that many had made for their country even though for most of our combat history Australia’s first peoples were not classed as citizens and had no rights at all.

We were proud to have Aunty Helen Riley from Mingaan Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation give the Acknowledgement to Country at the commencement of the assembly.

Mr Bob Sutor gave a very entertaining performance on his didgeridoo, accompanied by students playing clap sticks.

The clap sticks had been made and donated by Uncle Owen Smith.

Special trophies were awarded to students who had participated in cultural events.

The Indigenous Games Trophy was awarded to this year’s Indigenous Games winning team, the Kangaroos.

Our NAIDOC debating team won the Bathurst Debating Challenge for the third year in a row and were presented with their trophy by Bob Sutor.

The manager of Lithgow Coles Amanda Smith also attended and very generously provided the principal Ann Caro with a cheque for $1000 to be used for the Gawaymbanha Ngurambang Bush Tucker and Sustainability Garden.

We are excited that we will be able to begin the sustainability component of our garden by constructing compost bays and purchasing green waste buckets for the canteen and food technology rooms.

By collecting green waste, we will be able to begin our green waste recycling system and use fresh food scraps from the school to fertilise our garden beds.

The total of donations received so far has exceeded $9000.

Invitation to the community

Come and be a part of our garden project!

Are you interested in learning about Aboriginal culture?

Would you like to be part of our bush regeneration project?

Would you like to learn about bush tucker?

Would you like to help plant our garden?

Or, do you have special skills and knowledge in sustainability, Aboriginal culture, construction, art or gardening?

Come and share your knowledge with Lithgow High School students and other community members.