Narooma Rotary Club has awarded a Vocational Excellence Award to Narooma Preschool Director Kathy Phipps and her Team recognising their initiative in developing an authentic local indigenous curriculum unit in association with the local Yuin community.

“It’s not just about doing a great job… it’s for also sharing the impressive teaching kits they created with 20 other early childhood centres in our local area,” said Narooma Rotary Director Laurelle Pacey

Mrs Phipps said they are all very proud of what they have achieved.

“It’s been a huge undertaking with lots of discussion along the way about how we could best meet the Department of Education’s mandatory requirements of an indigenous unit but do it authentically with local relevance,” she said.

“Thanks to our staff, particularly Kate Heffernan, we were able to involve wonderful resource people from our local Yuin community, especially Trish Ellis, Natalie Bateman and Eddie Moore.

“The unit tells traditional Yuin stories and incorporates the local Dhurga language, thanks to Trish and her sister Kerry, which our staff have been learning through TAFE.

“Children love beautiful things and the stunning artwork on the storyboards by Natalie and the wonderful artefacts made by Eddie are loved and respected by all our children.” About one-third of Narooma Preschool’s students are from Aboriginal families.

The team created 20 basket trunks of unique storyboards, books, artefacts and other teaching materials that were then gifted to other early childhood centres around the Eurobodalla. The Preschool is now developing a PowerPoint to suggest to other centres how they might best use the material.

This programme was funded by a $100,000 grant from the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.