Melanie Riley
REIDY Park Primary School Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have recently completed a project that will see a new logo added to the school’s uniform.
Aboriginal education teacher and student well-being leader at Reidy Park Primary School, Hannah Ford said the idea behind the additional design was a collaborative effort.
“We wanted to recognise and represent the culture of our Indigenous students and the vital role that plays in creating a sense of identity, belonging, and pride among students and their communities,” she said.
The students had previously worked with Boandik elder, Aunty Michelle Jacquelin-Furr on permanent artworks as part of the recent refurbishment at the school.
Under the guidance of Aunty Michelle, the students created a range of symbols representing flora, fauna and the region’s notable landmarks.
With Ms Proud, the students took inspiration from these artworks to create the new logo to brainstorm sketches that represented the message ‘Reidy Park Primary School – Community and Country.’
With the Indigenous symbols taken from the artwork previously created with Aunty Michelle, the students created a design, which they then presented to her for consideration.
The lake symbols in the design are representative of the land the school is built on, the circles are representative of the homes the families come from and the circles in the centre of the design represent the school and the animal tracks represent the link between school and home.
Ms Proud said incorporating Indigenous culture into the school uniform was important to her and the school.
“This addition to our uniform recognises and appreciates the Aboriginal culture and the valuable learning, art and storytelling that it provides our students and community,” she said.
“It also recognises the importance of the land our school is built upon and the deep connection our students have to it.”
The students were “incredibly enthusiastic” about the logo design project and Ms Proud said they all showed an “immense amount of dedication and pride.”
“When viewing their finished product their smiles said it all,” she said.
The t-shirts with the new logo embroidery were presented to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students recently.
“Because this project began in 2023, some students graduated before seeing the finished product, so we made sure those students were also able to receive a shirt or jumper that had the design embroidered on it,” Ms Proud said.
The school acknowledged the incredible work of everyone involved in the project, and looked forward to having the new logo as a central representation of the whole school community.
