Inclusion & Diversity

HVGS employs two Aboriginal Education Coordinators (AEC). They work to support all Indigenous Australian students to pursue the academic, leadership and co-curricular opportunities available to them here.

Our AEC’s regularly attend the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) to stay up to date with the policies implemented in other schooling sectors. They find ways to contribute meaningfully on a local community level.

We’ve been working on several initiatives to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students experience a sense of belonging at school, supported in an environment where all students value and respect Indigenous Australian culture.

Aims and achievements to date:

• Annual Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs) and compiled as a three-way system

• Establishment of a Junior Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (Jnr AECG)

• NAIDOC Week celebrations across the whole school

• Participation in local leadership activities through the hospice of Maitland AECG

• Traineeships and tertiary education opportunities and scholarships

• Fundraising for Indigenous literacy week and local communities

• Participation in local art collaboration with MRAG called ‘Stories from Wonnarua’, which has since won the National Museums and Galleries Award for Interpretation, Learning and Audience Engagement

• Compilation of Acknowledgement of Country in partnership with the Wonnarua community, with Acknowledgement of Country posters included in all classrooms

• Inclusion of Acknowledgement of Country on School signage and at all school assemblies

• Inclusion of Indigenous related topics and culture within the ELC and Junior School curriculum

• Creation of a Yarning Circle on the school grounds

• A Bush Tucker Garden in the Junior School

• Communication of important dates from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait calendar.

The Hunter Valley Grammar School Yarning Circle was officially opened during our NAIDOC Week celebrations in 2019.

This culturally meaningful learning space sits beautifully nestled under the shade of native Spotted Gums and Ironbarks – remnants of the Eucalyptus sclerophyll forest which once dominated the area. Framed by a freshly planted bush tucker garden, it’s a place of cultural and educational significance, and also a stepping-stone to further promote the process of reconciliation.