St George Illawarra have announced Good Samaritan, Fairy Meadow student Chloe Olima as the Dragons' 2022 school learning icon competition winner
Good Samaritan was one of 13 schools who entered the competition, with a total of 223 entries.
The competition is designed to get schools and students thinking about the importance and relevance of the Aboriginal history on the lands of which their school is situated and from where they are learning from.
After working with local Aboriginal families, associations and elders, the students are asked to design a 'learning icon' which reflects on this ancient history of our First Nation's people: their culture, their uniqueness and their respect of country.
The school learning icons are hoped to complement their school logo, sitting proudly with it, displaying the schools commitment to recognising the importance of our true history.
Proud competition sponsors Woolyungah Indigenous Centre (UOW) were so impressed with the quality of the 2022 entries.
"Every entry was outstanding. We are delighted that we can support such an important initiative. Congratulations to all the students that took part in this competition in 2022,” Woolyungah Indigenous Centre director Jaymee Beveridge said.
This year, the winning school received:
- $1000 voucher from the UOW Resource/bookstore (kindly donated by Woolyungah Indigenous Centre)
- A Dragons jersey to help the school with fundraising efforts.
- The Dragons hosting a breakfast at the winning school (see above video)
- Class(es) involved to receive individual Dragons packs
Chloe Olima
Good Samaritan Primary School, Fairy Meadow
The icon I have designed represents our school and the local community. This drawing includes many native species that you can find in our area, Dharawal Country. It incorporates many spiritual guides and totems of the Dharawal people.
The Whale (Burri Burri) is a totem of the Dharawal people and represents the relationship between students, staff and parents at our school. I also included a red-bellied black snake (Bahnaga) because snakes are another totem of the Dharawal people and the Lyrebird (Wiridjirbin Nura) and Cockatoo (Garraway-Kirrawee) which can both be found on our land.
I have incorporated into this artwork the Illawarra flame tree, which is connected to a cross and heart. The cross and heart represent my school logo and motto "Moved to Compassion" because we must always care for our environment and planet and strive to make it a better place for future generations to live in.
The Illawarra Flame Tree is a beautiful tree especially when it explodes with colour when it blooms and is iconic for our Illawarra community.
Notable mentions:
Pambula Public School Year 3 students: Coco Harrison & Mali Wittig
Sunshine Bay Public School; Wiki Tangitutu
