“ N a v i g a t i n g Y U M I t o a S u c c e s s f u l F u t u r e ”

T A G A I S T A T E C O L L E G E

Book Worms in Peku Classby Rachel MurrayYear 1/2/3 TeacherIama Ngurpay Lag

In Peku class we love to read! During reading rotations we play games as a way to encourage the use of reading strategies.

We have been learning to be vocabulary detectives, where we zoom into powerful or

tricky words and use the clues to figure out the meaning.

At buddy reading times we always listen attentively to our friends whilst we eat our healthy snack.

Koeyma Eso to our community helpers, whom visit our class on a weekly basis to support us with our reading. Last term we were lucky enough to receive piles of beautiful books from the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Keep up the excellent reading book worms!

by Kay AhmatHead of CampusBadhulgaw Ngurpay Lag

Once again Badhulgaw Ngurpay Lag has hosted another successful NAIDOC celebration for the community.

Thanks to Ms Susan Baira and Mrs Geiza Stow who made sure that we had lots of different activities for our students and community. Koeyma Eso to all the community members who came up to our school to participate. Your support is essential to the effectiveness of our campus.

Celebrating NAIDOC at Badu

Tagai State College31 Hargrave Street | PO Box 1000Thursday Island QLD 4875

Web www.tagaisc.eq.edu.auPhone 07 4030 6333 | Fax 07 4030 6303Email contact@tagaisc.eq.edu.au

T A G A I S T A T E C O L L E G ENAIDOC Week at Erub

by Andrew ShawHead of CampusErub Erwer Uteb

Term 3 is always a very busy term in most schools. Last term, Erub Erwer had Parent/Teacher and

Student learning goal setting interviews, NAIDOC week celebrations, Cross Country (Go Kos! Go Ari Ari!), Book Fair, Garsau Camp and school photos! Wow, what an action packed term!

This year the campus and community worked hard to make NAIDOC week activities relevant to the theme: Our Languages Matter.

We wrote stories in traditional language, designing booklets of human body parts which showed both the traditional language and Standard Australian English. We aimed to enable as many community volunteers as possible to run and participate in culture activities at the school.

The day was a huge success with over 50 parent volunteers staying until the 3pm bell. Our elders were also treated to sop sop made from organic kumula from our own traditional garden.

The NAIDOC March through Medigee Village by the four tribes of Erub was led by Language and Culture teacher Mr Moa Sailor.

The Erub Elders had a tough job in deciding which Strait Start student was the best dressed in traditional costume.

Language and Culture lessons at Mabuygiwby Vanessa SumnerHead of Campus, Mabuygiw Ngurpay Lag

Last term our unit of work was called ‘Songs and Dances (Nawul a Girelal). The students

have been learning all the words associated with Songs and Dances.

Miss Lency Bani has been joining us on Friday afternoons to help in teaching songs and dances.

by Peter HincksHead of CampusMer Eruer Uteb

I am very excited to be part of the incredible team at Mer Eruer Uteb and would like to congratulate the

teachers and teacher aides for the impressive results from NAPLAN this year.

The grounds look immaculate, thanks to our dedicated cleaners and grounds person as well as the amazing My Pathway team who are providing much appreciated support to prepare the school oval for the sport’s carnival.

I believe it takes a whole community to raise a child and I am looking forward to working closely with the P&C as well as the elders and spiritual leaders of Mer to ensure we develop students with a holistic approach.

It is my belief that the best educational outcomes are achieved when we develop students holistically, catering not only for

their individual academic needs but also for their unique cultural, spiritual and social needs. I believe that a school is at the core of the community it serves. It empowers families to be part of the process that moulds and develops their children to be highly successful citizens who are proud of their heritage. The skills and knowledge that they gain at school equip them to become the future leaders and ambassadors for the Torres Strait culture and community.

I have taught in many unique classroom settings from year 3 through to year 12 that included bilingual classrooms and agile learning environments. I have had the privilege of working for Tagai State College as an Acting Head of Campus from the beginning of April this year, which has taken me to many campuses that include Mer, Mabuiag, Erub, Warraber, Poruma and Badu.

I grew up in Sydney and moved to Cairns to study at James Cook University.

My beautiful wife, Mary, is pregnant and we are expecting a baby boy on the 29 November. She is equally excited to be part of the Mer community and can’t wait to bring our son to live here in the new year.

A message from Mer’s new Head of Campus