Creating inclusive and supportive schools that foster connection, belonging and safety

It was a great privilege for me to be an invited speaker at the ‘National Indigenous Empowerment Summit’ in Brisbane (May 12 and 13). The title of my talk was ‘Creating inclusive and supportive schools that foster connection, belonging and safety.’ My talk presented educational research aIong-side stories shared about my school, Claremont College. To be honest it was a little overwhelming to give my talk straight after Meena Singh, the Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. Meena made some excellent points about the rights of children, particularly in relation to their safety and wellbeing and she challenged me to constantly reflect on, and to be aware of the biases and racist attitudes/beliefs that I might have, even without realising.

For my talk I focussed on three main points;

• Understanding the key elements of connection for thriving at school
• Providing teacher education on trauma informed practice to deepen understanding of underlying challenges 
• Fostering trust among students, teachers and families through open communication, listening, collaboration and consultation 

I was incredibly proud to talk about my school, our students, our teachers and school community. What we have at Claremont is something that is very special. The audience especially loved a video clip I showed of one of my students giving an Acknowledgement of Country #proudprincipal.

I am always grateful to attend conferences, to learn and come away with new ideas and perspectives. Some key things that I took away from the conference were a better understanding of the importance of connection to home and community, the concept of fostering ‘cultural safety’ at school and to consider ways to address and tackle racism head-on within a school or organisation. I was also challenged to think about how teachers can be trained (especially as part of their university training) to better understand and incorporate truth telling into their lessons and incorporated more broadly into the curriculum. Australia wide, there are so many important stories that need to be told, listened to and remembered. Healing and reconciliation will only happen with recognition. The many indigenous languages from across Australia also need to be valued, preserved and taught for the generations to come.

Above all, it was a privilege to meet and learn from some really amazing educators who are doing inspiring work with indigenous students, their families and communities. I am particularly in awe of the many passionate and talented young indigenous educators who are leading the way. 

Once again, I am more convinced than ever that great teachers and inclusive schools bring hope to our student's lives and their futures.