Ngala Staff Development Day

Posted on: Tue 15 September 2009

Learn, Listen and Be Challenged was the theme for the Ngala Staff Development Day. Our Team Leaders along with Kate and Karen attended this month. Our first topic of the day was Celebrating Differences, during this time we explored the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. This started off with a Welcome to Country by Maree Taylor, which highlighted that, although there are many differences between our cultures, one of the things we share in common is our great value of family and our deep respect for children. Gail Burrows, from Kulunga Research Network, took us on a journey through the history of the Aboriginal culture in WA, and in particular the Perth region. She gave us a better understanding of the Aboriginal culture and helped to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions that society has formed over time. Sandy Maher, Co‑ordinator of Ngala’s Indigenous program, and Ted Penny, an Aboriginal Elder, shared with us their personal stories during “Yarning Time” of how the history of their culture has affected them, and stories of other people’s experiences within the history of their culture. This gave us an insight into how the history of Australia has affected the Aboriginal culture and how the Aboriginal people have helped to shape the nation we all call home.

A visit from Common Ground Entertainment, a traditional Aboriginal dance group, also helped to immerse us more in the Aboriginal culture. Through allowing us to participate alongside them we were involved with the traditional sharing process of the Aboriginal people through song, dance and story-telling. We can now use this wealth of information to enable us to work in partnership with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with respect and understanding. It also highlighted the importance of introducing the Aboriginal culture, and indeed many different cultures, to our children so that they too can build a foundation of respect and understanding for all people they may interact with throughout their lives.

The afternoon was spent furthering our interpersonal skills with a workshop around responding to challenging behaviours. This involved some very exciting and challenging role plays. Some of the staff were a little too convincing in their challenging roles! We also focused on child protection which involved the process of updating Ngala’s Child Protection policy, which highlights the process for identifying and assisting children and families at risk. Finally, we were updated on the progress of all the different program areas running at Ngala. It was great to see the different services that were being offered and the dedication of the organisation as a whole to helping families and children develop in a positive and holistic way.

 Article submitted by Amiee, 3-6 room Team Leader, July 2009

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