NAIDOC Week 2026
NAIDOC Week at JFSC was a wonderful celebration of culture, community, and learning.
Students, staff, and visitors gathered for our NAIDOC assembly, beginning with a Smoke Ceremony by Cultural Custodian Cyril Yarran
We were honoured to be welcomed by Uncle Barry McGuire, enjoyed incredible traditional dances by the Boordakan Birdiya Dance Group from Hampton Senior High School, and listened to Nyangumarta Woman Rose Murray as she shared the history and significance of art in NAIDOC celebrations.
During the week, students worked on a whole school artwork during recess. This beautiful artwork, celebrating 50 Years of Deadly, will hang in our Student Wellbeing Hub for students and staff to enjoy for years to come.
Students also enjoyed a range of lunchtime activities. Many took the opportunity to paint gumnuts for the gumnut banners that will be featured in our NAIDOC display. Students enjoyed face and hand painting, as well as creating yarn braids for their bags or hair in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
The annual NAIDOC Basketball game between Kiara College and John Forrest Secondary College was held on Thursday. This year, Kiara College's junior basketball team visited our school, while our senior team will travel to Kiara College next week. In the spirit of community and connection, our team presented Kiara College with a Marngrook as a gift. We look forward to continuing and strengthening this valued tradition.
On Friday, the smell of damper was in the air as staff dusted off their aprons and competed in the Deadly Damper competition. Teachers and support staff enjoyed sampling a variety of flavours complete with butter and jam! Although the dampers were not cooked in the traditional way, the activity brought everyone together, strengthening our sense of community and connection. Alex Strickland's delicious French Onion Damper, and James Venz's plain damper were the prize winners, but everyone who got to taste the delicious baked bread were the real winners.
At lunchtime there was the Teachers vs Students game of Marngrook, an indigenous game of kick and catch, before switching to AFL. It was a strong display of youth and athleticism from the students however, in the end, the teachers, boosted by the skills of former-AFL player Lewis Jetta were victorious!
A big thank you to our Student Support Officers and Student Councillors, for their hard work in organising, setting up, and supervising the NAIDOC Week activities. Your support has helped make the week a huge success. We look forward to the next 50 Years of Deadly NAIDOC celebrations.
